Editing MacCready Gossamer Albatross (section)

==Design and development==
The aircraft was designed and built by a team led by Paul B. MacCready, a noted American aeronautics engineer, designer, and world [[Gliding competition|soaring champion]]. ''Gossamer Albatross'' was his second human-powered aircraft, the first being the ''[[Gossamer Condor]]'', which had won the first Kremer prize on August 23, 1977, by completing a {{convert|1|miles|km|adj=on}}-long figure-eight course. The second Kremer challenge was then announced as a flight across the English Channel recalling [[Louis Blériot]]'s crossing of 1909.

The aircraft is of "[[canard (aeronautics)|canard]]" configuration, using a large horizontal stabilizer forward of the wing in a manner similar to the [[Wright brothers]]' successful ''[[Wright Flyer]]'' aircraft and powered using pedals to drive a large, two-bladed propeller. The ''Gossamer Albatross'' was constructed using a [[carbon fiber]] frame, with the ribs of the wings made with expanded [[polystyrene]]; the entire structure was then wrapped in a thin, transparent plastic ([[BoPET|mylar PET film]]). The empty mass of the structure was only {{convert|71|lb|kg|abbr=on}}, although the gross mass for the Channel flight was almost {{convert|220|lb|kg|abbr=on}}. To maintain the craft in the air, it was designed with very long, tapering wings (high [[aspect ratio (wing)|aspect ratio]]), like those of a glider, allowing the flight to be undertaken with a minimum of power. In still air, the required power was on the order of {{convert|300|W|hp|abbr=on}}, though even mild turbulence made this figure rise rapidly.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gossamer Albatross|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19810428000|publisher=[[Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum]]|access-date=March 26, 2015}}</ref>