MacCready Gossamer Penguin
{{DISPLAYTITLE:MacCready Gossamer Penguin}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name = Gossamer Penguin | image = Gossamer penguin.jpg | caption = Test flight of the Gossamer Penguin }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type = experimental aircraft | national origin = United States | manufacturer = AeroVironment | designer = Paul MacCready | first flight = May 18, 1979 | introduction = | retired = | status = Sole example in possession of The Science Place Foundation[https://scienceplacefoundation.org/home/] | primary user = | more users = | produced = | number built = 1 | program cost = | unit cost = | developed from = Gossamer Albatross | variants with their own articles = | developed into = Solar Challenger }} |
The Gossamer Penguin was a solar-powered experimental aircraft created by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. MacCready had built the Gossamer Condor in 1977 which won the Kremer prize for the first human-powered flight, and the Gossamer Albatross, a similar but larger aircraft. The Gossamer Penguin was developed from the Albatross and used that ultralight design to demonstrate solar flight at testing ground at Minter Field, outside of Shafter, California."Plane flies on sun power", by Terrance W. McGarry, United Press International report in the Spokane (WA) Chronicle, June 5, 1980, p12 The Gossamer Penguin was the third solar-powered aircraft to fly, and the second crewed solar-powered aircraft.
The Penguin was a three-quarter scale version of the Gossamer Albatross II; it had a {{convert|71|ft|m|adj=on}} wingspan and a weight, without pilot, of {{convert |68|lb |abbr=out}}. The propeller was driven by an AstroFlight Astro-40 electric motor, powered by a 541 watt solar panel, consisting of 3920 solar cells.
Initial test flights were performed using a 28–cell, NiCad battery pack instead of a solar panel. The test pilot for these flights was MacCready's 13-year-old son Marshall, who weighed {{convert |80|lb |abbr=on}}.
The official pilot for the project was Janice Brown, a charter pilot with commercial, instrument, and glider ratings who weighed slightly less than {{convert | 100|lb |abbr=on}}. She flew the Penguin approximately 40 times before a {{convert | 1.95| mi |adj=on}} public demonstration flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on August 7, 1980.
Specifications
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|ref=MacCready, Lissaman, Morgan, and Burke 1983
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|fuel capacity=28 x D type Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) cells or 3920 solar cells
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|eng1 name=Astro-Flight Astro-40
|eng1 type=double brush DC electric motor with 133:1 reduction
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See also
{{commons category|Gossamer Penguin}}
{{Portal|Aviation|Renewable energy}}
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References
{{Reflist|refs=
- {{cite journal|author1=P.B. MacCready|author2=P.B.S. Lissaman|author3=W.R. Morgan|author4=J.D. Burke|title=Sun-Powered Aircraft Designs|journal=Journal of Aircraft|date=June 1983|volume=20|issue=6|pages=487–493|issn=0021-8669|doi=10.2514/3.44898}}
- {{citation | publisher = NASA | place = USA | url = http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Albatross/HTML/ECN-13413.html | title = Solar-powered Gossamer Penguin in flight}}.
- {{cite book|last1=Boucher|first1=Robert, J.|title=History of Solar Flight (AIAA-84-1429)|date=June 11–13, 1984|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|location=20th Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio|doi=10.2514/6.1984-1429}}
}}
{{AeroVironment aircraft}}
{{Photovoltaics}}
Category:AeroVironment aircraft
Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft
Category:Solar-powered aircraft
Category:1980s United States experimental aircraft