Man-Powered Zepplin...Need Help
Rob Booth
If this is the wrong group to post this I'm sorry. But if thats the case
could you please tell me where to go.
Now, I'm looking to build a manpowered zepplin, and I was hoping that
someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
Any help would be appreciated.
Rob
Peter S. Lert
It's been done--by Bryan Allen (probably best known as the pilot/engine
of the Gossamer Albatross) and Bill Watson. It was called the "White
Dwarf," and the envelope was that of the largest available
"adver-blimp"-- the kind you see tethered above car dealerships etc.
Suspended beneath was a long girder fuselage a` la Santos Dumont (or, if
you want to be all-American, Roy Knabenshue) with a saddle seat and bike
pedals for a big slow-turning prop.
The prop could also be vectored upward and downward, providing a
modicum of vertical control without the need for ballonets, valving gas,
or dropping ballast (although there was droppable water ballast in fore
and aft tanks as well). A big rudder was controlled by a handlebar
arrangement. I had a chance to fly it briefly at Oshkosh a few years
ago--great fun downwind, and a lot of work upwind. Also lots of fun to
drop small amounts of water ballast on the upturned faces of the crowd a
few feet below...
Ronald James Wanttaja
In article <5ppjh0$i...@nntp02.primenet.com>,
Rob Booth <eog...@primenet.com> wrote:
>
>Now, I'm looking to build a manpowered zepplin, and I was hoping that
>someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
>products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
Don't know of any manpowered Zeppelins, but seems to me there have been
several man-powered blimps. The name "White Dwarf" comes to mind...and
didn't the comedian Gallager have one built?
Ron Wanttaja
want...@halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/wanttaja/
David A. Gregory
Kit Planes magazine had a picture of one in last month's issue on first
flights. But they didn't give any details as I recall.
Bill Robie
In article <33C07B...@montrose.net>,
Peter S. Lert <pete...@montrose.net> wrote:
>It's been done--by Bryan Allen (probably best known as the pilot/engine
>Suspended beneath was a long girder fuselage a` la Santos Dumont (or, if
>you want to be all-American, Roy Knabenshue) with a saddle seat and bike
>pedals for a big slow-turning prop.
If you really want to be historically accurate and all-American (see note),
you should have made the comparison to Cromwell Dixon, one of the first of
the "boy aviators". Dixon, another Ohio lad who liked bicycles, built
a one-person dirigible that was copied after the Knabenshue (Strobel,
actually) airships. The major difference was that Dixon used a bicycle
pedalling mechanism rather than a motorcycle-type engine as the motive
force. Dixon was a contemporary of Knabenshue, Vaughn, Beachey, and the
rest of the Toledo bunch who exhibited dirigibles from about 1905-1910.
His downfall literally came when he shifted over to "aeroplanes" and
crashed during an exhibition flight not long afterward. With cries of,
"Here I go! . . . Here I go!" his short career in aviation ended. He was
14 years old when he began flying his own dirigible, and may have been
16 when he died an an airplane.
Even his mother tried flying the pedal-powered dirigible. There is a
photo of the event extant of her pedalling through the air in her
button shoes, floor-length dress, and large hat. Anyone who ever
sees this photo will suspect that the creators of the film Wizard of Oz
were thinking of it when they did the tornado scene.
(Note: While DuMont's famed flights took place in Paris, he was a
Brazilian--making him very much "all-American", if not
"all-United-Statesian". He was an early member of the Aero Club of
America.)
Bill Robie
WILLIAM BERLE
In <5ppjh0$i...@nntp02.primenet.com> eog...@primenet.com (Rob Booth)
writes:
>Now, I'm looking to build a manpowered zepplin, and I was hoping that
>someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
>products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
>Any help would be appreciated.
You need to travel to the Republic of Potsdorf, located near Belgium I
believe. Once there, look up the prince, he can be found participating
in a huge pie fight right after abdicating his throne to Artemus Gordon
from The Wild Wild West. The prince knows lots about man powered
Zeppelins, he actually was the only person to ever use one in combat.
Unfortunately, that historic Zeppelin was lost during its first bomb
run, maiming the prince and his assistant Lt. Columbo. Ironically, the
prince and the assistant, both under a previous A.K.A., were also
maimed repeatedly while testing a runaway rocket powered train and a
Curtiss type pusher aircraft. These stalwart individuals were also
nearly drowned on an ice floe in the Arctic, this after being shot up
in the southwestern frontier town of Boracho. I believe the former name
the prince was using was Professor Fate, although he was suspected to
have used several other aliases including Felix Unger and Ensign
Pulver. I believe the prince has maintained a web site for
transcontinental automobile racing, but it has a link for man powered
Zeppelins and their development:
http://www.TheGreatRace.com/Fate/push_the_button_Max...Maaaaax!
--
Bill Berle PP/ASEL/G
as-...@ix.netcom.com
Victor Bravo Enterprises
Victor Bravo Air Racing
v3jknmp
Ronald James Wanttaja wrote:
>
> In article <5ppjh0$i...@nntp02.primenet.com>,
> Rob Booth <eog...@primenet.com> wrote:
> >
> >someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
> >products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
> didn't the comedian Gallager have one built?
Yes, Gallagher had one - I believe the "bag" looked like a big
watermelon (his trademark) - one of his videos ends with scenes of him
flying it around. How to get in touch with him is a good question though
- at one show he said he lives in some place called "Agora" (or a name
that sounds like that) in California.
If it's any help, he has a brother who was a pilot on the Blue Angels
and a Navy test pilot. Maybe you can locate him that way.
A. Constant
DAV REICH
Hi, try this site www.prysm.net/~jnuts/ or www.flying-contraptions.com
and that should lead you in the right direction. Hope this helps. Dave
Badwater Bill
> I had a chance to fly it briefly at Oshkosh a few years
>ago--great fun downwind, and a lot of work upwind. Also lots of fun to
>drop small amounts of water ballast on the upturned faces of the crowd a
>few feet below...
Now that sounds like FUN !!! I'd love to do that!
bWB
Paul Stevens
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Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 11:59:15 -0500
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Subject: Re: Man-Powered Zepplin...Need Help
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Ronald James Wanttaja wrote:
>
> In article <5ppjh0$i...@nntp02.primenet.com>,
> Rob Booth <eog...@primenet.com> wrote:
> >
> >Now, I'm looking to build a manpowered zepplin, and I was hoping that
> >someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
> >products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
>
> Don't know of any manpowered Zeppelins, but seems to me there have been
> several man-powered blimps. The name "White Dwarf" comes to mind...and
> didn't the comedian Gallager have one built?
>
> Ron Wanttaja
> want...@halcyon.com
> http://www.halcyon.com/wanttaja/
Yes, Gallager had one built and used it when he had a comedy concert
in one of the dome stadiums. From what I heard, he entered the stadium
in his manpowered blimp and pedalled it to the stage. Unusual props
are his trademark.
P.S.
John R. Johnson
Hey Bill,
Does you ATP Balloon Rating cover pedal powered dirigibles as well?
John
Badwater Bill
On Wed, 9 Jul 1997 14:26:11 -0500, "John R. Johnson" <jo...@siu.edu>
wrote:
>Hey Bill,
>
>Does you ATP Balloon Rating cover pedal powered dirigibles as well?
>
>John
>
>
I forgot I told you that story! Good one eh? Unfortunately although
I do have an ATP ticket that says Hot Air Balloons on part 2 of 2,
it's limited to hot air balloons with airborne heaters. The blimp is
a "Gas Balloon". Now I could fly it solo you know, although I'd
probably crack it up. I hope you are coming to Vegas this fall John.
Let's pick the first weekend or so since COMDEX is around the middle
of the month and there will be no rooms.
Wasn't I showing that ticket to that big chested Italian girl at
dinner? I didn't know you saw it. Man....she was a beautiful woman,
and you know I'm partial to Italian women since I married a dark
complected Sicilian, i.e. Boom-Boom.
BWB
Roland Escher
Peter S. Lert (pete...@montrose.net) wrote:
: the envelope was that of the largest available
: "adver-blimp"-- the kind you see tethered above car dealerships etc.
Peter gets it all right, except for the above bit. The envelope came
from a tethered aerostat manufactured by TCOM.
For a little more information on man powered blimps see the entry on
Sblimp in the Airship Manufacturer Database at
www.hotairship.com/database/
Not much but I hope it helps nonetheless. Please note the link to
a picture of the White Dwarf at the bottom of the Sblimp page.
Take care,
Roland
PS: For all please note the new domain name for the Airship Resources!
--
Roland Escher Airship and Blimp Resources
rkes...@unix.amherst.edu www.hotairship.com
Alconda
> >Now, I'm looking to build a manpowered zepplin, and I was hoping that
> > >someone may have already designed one. Or if there are already some
> > >products on the market for manpowered filght in general.
> >
> > Don't know of any manpowered Zeppelins, but seems to me there have been
> > several man-powered blimps. The name "White Dwarf" comes to mind...and
> > didn't the comedian Gallager have one built?
Try the International Human Powered Vehicle Association:
http://www.ihpva.org