Prestwick Dragonfly MPA Mk 1
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| Prestwick Dragonfly | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Human-powered aircraft |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Prestwick Man Powered Aircraft Group |
| Number built | 1 |
The Dragonfly was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built by the Prestwick Man Powered Aircraft Group, based at the Prestwick International Airport in South Ayrshire, Scotland.[1]
The aircraft was developed with the specific goal of winning the £50,000 Kremer prize then on offer.[2] Its designer, Roger Hardy, previously had experience with three other HPAs; the SUMPAC, Jupiter, and the Mercury.[3]
An emphasis was placed on it being a practical, easily-built, machine, with the construction requiring a comparatively low amount of work hours.[2][4] It was intended to fly outside of ground effect, reaching an altitude of 60 ft (18 m) in 5 minutes, at what was described as "a small but realistic rate of climb."[1][3] If attempting the Kremer course, such altitude would permit greater room for manoeuvres without suffering from wing tip stalls.[4]
The Dragonfly was a wire-braced high-wing monoplane, with a pylon-mounted propeller, and had no unconventional features. The wing had an aspect ratio of 30, and a relatively high wing-loading. The wing could increase its dihedral under flight load, changing from 6° when static, to 10° in flight. Lateral control was achieved by differential ailerons.[1] The wing had a single wooden box-spar, with a secondary structure made from spruce, balsa and polystyrene. The fuselage was of the pod and boom type, a primary structure made using aluminium alloy, and a secondary structure of balsa. The empennage featured a small all-flying tailplane, or stabilator, and a large fin, half of was the rudder. The entire aircraft was covered in Melinex. The pilot was in a recumbent cycling position, and powered the plyon-mounted propeller.[1]
Construction began in February 1975, and was completed by July. Taxying trials took place in August 1975, however they revealed issues with the craft. It failed to achieve take-off due to the high thrust-line of the propeller and the small moment of the tail-plane.[5] During the following two months, changes made to the aircraft included the strengthening of the rear fuselage, increasing the moment arm of the tail-plane, and changing the pylon-mounted propeller from a pusher to a tractor configuration.[1][6]
Jane's all the world's aircraft 1976-77 wrote that further flight tests may take place from the Spring of 1977 onward.[1] An article in the February 1977 issue AeroModeller stated that Ron Frost had taken over development of the aircraft.[5]