Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft - SUMPAC

This aircraft was designed and built at Southampton University and in 1961 made the first wholly successful man powered flight in Britain.

The project originated in the Spring of 1960, being stimulated by the Kremer competition which offered a prize for the first British man powered aircraft to complete a defined figure of eight circuit.

The aircraft was designed between July and September 1960 by a group of postgraduate students in the Department of Aeronautics under the supervision of Professor G M Lilley to a specification intended to meet the requirements of the Kremer prize. When completed the design was submitted to the Man Powered Aircraft Committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society which resulted in a grant of GBP1500 being made to support the construction.

Construction began in January 1961 and was completed in time for the first flight to be made at Lasham, Hampshire by Mr Derek Piggott, Chief Flying Instructor at the Lasham Gliding Centre, on the 9th November 1961; a maximum height of 1.8m and a distance of 15.2m was achieved on this occasion. The best flight by this aircraft was made in February 1962 with a distance of 622 m (650 yd) and a height of 3.65m, (15ft)

Construction is of spruce, balsa, and aluminium covered with nylon. The propulsion system consists of the pilot driving pedals which are connected via a bicycle chain to the main undercarriage wheel which is driven for take-off; the drive is also taken by a flexible belt drive to the propeller which is mounted on a pylon above the centre fuselage. Control is by ailerons and all moving tailplane and fin connected to a yoke which provides control in all three planes.

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