The Gossamer Condor
First successful human-powered aircraft, flown first at Minter Field, Shafter, Kern County, 1977
In 1959, British industrialist Henry Kremer offered a prize of £50,000 to the first team that could fly a human-powered aircraft over a mile-long, figure-8 course. All competitors in this challenge came up short until Paul MacCready and Peter Lissaman of AeroVironment Inc. developed a highly lightweight, glider-like plane, piloted by a single person in an under-wing gondola. With champion cyclist Bryan Allen of Tulare at the helm, the Gossamer Condor at last fulfilled the Kremer prize’s specifications. Two years later, AeroVironment’s similar Gossamer Albatross became the first human-powered vehicle to fly over the English Channel, again with Allen as pilot. The Condor is now on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum.