It turned out to be the Shafter Version of the Gossamer Condor. The Photo is most probably from the first Kremer price flight on 23rd of August 1977, the rider/pilot is Bryan Allen.
The Kremer price was established by the British industrialist Henry Kremer in 1959, but for more than 17 years nobody even came near to win it. Dr. Paul MacCready from California startet in 1976 a family and friends team to start a completely new approach to man-powered flight. He took his experience from hang gliders and built a very light design of lightweight plastics and aluminum spars with 29 meters wingspan, more than a DC9, but much much lighter and intended to fly at a very low speed.
After a quick start with promising success, than a long serie of failures, a simple try and error - crash and repair - methode improved the design slowly. In March 1977 the team moved to Minter Field at Shafter Airport in California, where the wind conditions were expected superior. The same time Bryan Allen joined the team and brought professional bicycle racer power into the project. In the meantime a Japanese team had the same approach and their successful flight times were alarming for the Condor team. The design was improved with higher effort and on 23rd of August 1977, Bryan Allen succeeded in completing the Kremer eight-figure course. The Gossamer Condor is now preserved in the collections of the Smithsonian National Space and Air Museum.
 |
| Shafter Version of the Gossamer Condor at the Kremer Price flight on 23rd of August 1977. This photo was published by the Sun Magazine in Baltimore in March 1979 and was some time in possession of the Du Pont Archive. |
 | |
| A later Version of the Gossamer Condor, photo is dated March 1979. |
 |
| This photo is dated June 1979. |
Further readings and sources:
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen