MIT Chrysalis
Role Human-powered aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Designer Bob Parks, Harold Youngren
First flight June 5, 1979
Retired September, 1979
Number built 1

The Chrysalis was a human-powered biplane, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Professor Eugene Larabee acting as Project Adviser.[1] MIT had previously built two HPAs, the BURD and BURD II, both of which were unsuccessful.[2]

Design work began in late 1978, with a 1/8th scale flying model being built to verify aspects of the design.[3] The Chrysalis was a biplane of conventional configuration, fitted with a tractor propeller. The biplane's wire-braced wings were unstaggered, and the outboard panels of the lower wing were set with a 6° dihedral. The fuselage was of the pod-and-boom type. The aircraft had a primary structure of aluminum tubing, and a secondary structure made of styrofoam, balsa, and carbon fibre.[1] The entire aircraft was covered in transparent Mylar film. The undercarriage had a single, castoring, monowheel.[1] Lateral control was achieved by wing warping, with directional and pitch control being achieved by the all-flying tailfin and tailplane.[1]

Construction of the aircraft took 91 days, and involved 20 people and 3,500 hours of work.[2] It first flew on June 5, 1979, at Hanscom Field airport in Bedford, Massachusetts with designer Harold Youngren piloting the craft.[3] Between then and its dismantling in September, the Chrysalis made a total of 345 flights, with 44 different pilots.[1]

The Chrysalis was notable for being the first aircraft to use a 'minimum induced loss' propeller, the design of which was based on the work of Professor Eugene Larrabee.[4] The MIT team also built the propeller used by the MacCready Gossamer Albatross.[2]

Specifications

Data from Jane's all the world's aircraft 1981-2,[1] and Popular Mechanics[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 39 ft (12 m)
  • Wingspan: 72 ft (22 m)
  • Wing area: 748 sq ft (69.5 m2)
  • Airfoil: Lissaman 7769
  • Empty weight: 93 lb (42 kg)
  • Gross weight: 213–293 lb (97–133 kg) depending on pilot weight
  • Propellers: 2-bladed, 14 ft (4.3 m) diameter

Performance

  • Wing loading: 0.28–0.39 lb/sq ft (1.4–1.9 kg/m2) depending on pilot weight

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1981). Jane's all the world's aircraft 1981-82. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 413–414. ISBN 0710607296. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 M.L. (August–September 1979). "Chrysalis, Human-Powered Airplane: It Flew the First Time Out!". MIT Technology Review. Vol. 81, no. 8. Cambridge, MA, USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. pp. A2–A7. ISSN 0040-1692. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Sahagian, Tom (February 1980). "What it's like to fly the M.I.T. pedal-powered biplane". Popular Mechanics. New York, NY: The Hearst Corporation. pp. 120–121, 172–173. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  4. ↑ Larrabee, E.Eugene (July 1980). "The Screw Propeller". Scientific American. Vol. 243, no. 1. New York, NY: Gerard Piel. pp. 134, 135, 137–144, 147, 148. ISSN 0036-8733.

Further reading

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