DaSH PA -- Dead Simple Human Powered Airplane: Inspiring Events -- Flugtag 2013 & Battle Mountain World Human Speed Challenge 2013

I got a chance to visit two events somewhat related to our project in various ways, and inspiring on many levels.

First, in the second week of September, I visited the Battle Mountain World Human Speed Challenge, where aerodynamic bicycles under human power try to break the speed record for human powered bikes, riding 5 miles to get up to speed, measured in a 200 m trap at the end of the course.

Then on September 21st I watched the Red Bull Flugtag in Long Beach, one of 5 simultaneous Flugtag celebrations going on around the country. Many of the entries could be characterized as basically art projects getting pushed off the end of the ramp to go kerplop!, but our friends and colleagues on the Chicken Whisperer's team designed a plane that could really fly and set a new Flugtag record of 258 feet, crushing the previous world record of 229 feet, and handily beating all the other entries around the country (longest flight of which was 160 feet).

Battle Mountain World Human Speed Challenge 2013

I hung out with the University of Toronto team, which consists of many of the members of the AeroVelo team that just recently won the Sikorsky prize for human powered helicopter flight. They are great guys and have been informally advising us on the DaSH project.

They had two bikes in competition, their newer bike Bluenose, and their previous bike Vortex. Both bikes are capable of 70+ mph. (this year they achieved, respectively, 77.69 mph pedaled by Todd Reichert and 68.26 mph pedaled by Marc Jutras).

The record had previously been 82.9 mph for the past 5 years or so, but it was broken this year on the last day by a team from Delft University with a speed of 83.13 mph.

Graeme Obree, "The Flying Scotsman", innovator and twice record holder of the hour record, showed up with "Beastie" an unusual prone bike, a fixie single speed, with pump pedals instead of crank pedals. He was able to set the prone speed record on the bike of 56.62 mph, and then tried to qualify in the Vortex to take a shot at the European record but was stymied by windy weather, a broken chain, and unfamiliarity with the bike.

The bikes were very impressive. There was one tandem bike that was capable of the mid-70s, but had a spectacular crash on a windy Thursday evening when it hit the wind shadow of the bridge. Fortunately, the riders were OK except for severe road rash.

In the Civic Center working on bikes

Working on the low drag wheels for Bluenose

Fixing the fairing on Bluenose after a crash

Posters from previous competitions

Bluenose is a video bike (no windows, 2 redundant cameras in tail fin)

Prepping Bluenose

Bluenose drivetrain

Guts of Bluenose

Glowworm after the crash

Preparing for a run

Vortex ready for a run

Todd warming up

Bikes preparing for a run

Getting ready for a run in Vortex

Todd ready for a run in Bluenose

Cameron keeping the pilot cool with a nose fan

Ready to start push start Bluenose (push starts allowed)

Starting the run

5 miles to go!

1 mile before the traps

Catchers help Todd out of Bluenose after a run

Smoking wheel cover bungee cord from Todd's 75 mph run

Both bikes back in the van for another run

Push starting Vortex

Tusmobil Eivie (rider sits on his back going backwards!)

Altair 4

Glowworm tandem right before the crash

Graeme Obree "The Flying Scotsman", got lots of press attention

The "Beastie", Obree's prone bike

Getting into Beastie

Beastie breathing apparatus

Graeme Obree getting psyched up for a run in Beastie

Launching Beastie

Obree tries UoT's Vortex (foiled this time by a broken chain 1 mile in)

Videos:

U of T team repairing Bluenose fairing after crash

Bluenose followed quickly by Glowworm

Glowworm Crash

Red Bull Flugtag 2013 @ Long Beach -- The Chicken Whisperers new WR!

Our friends on the Chicken Whisperers team, some of whom have helped with DaSH, are all Aero engineers and designed a Flugtag plane that can actually fly. They hoped for a new world record, the previous being set the year before in Germany of 229 feet.

The Flugtag rules vary slightly around the world (for instance, the German entry was allowed a much higher launch platform), but with the 30 foot launch ramp and favorable conditions in Long Beach, and a carefully designed airplane, the Chicken Whisperers hoped they could beat the record.

One key to their design was to have enough wing area to actually be able to fly off of the ramp, rather than diving first to gain more airspeed and then pulling out (which would be necessary with a smaller wing area).

It is a good thing they made that decision, because when they showed up, it looked like the Long Beach ramp was more like 20 feet high, not 30. Hopes for a record dimmed.

But then everything went just about perfectly -- light headwind, good strong push, and excellent piloting led to a long flight of 258 feet, despite the shorter-than-promised ramp.