The Kremer prizes are a series of monetary awards, established in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer, that are given to pioneers of human-powered flight

Human-powered aircraft

A human-powered aircraft is an aircraft powered by direct human energy and the force of gravity; the thrust provided by the human may be the only source; however, a hang glider that is partially powered by pilot power is a human-powered aircraft where the flight path can be enhanced more than if...

. The competitions and prize awards are administered by the Royal Aeronautical Society

Royal Aeronautical Society

The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community.-Function:...

's Human Powered Aircraft Group

Human Powered Aircraft Group

The Royal Aeronautical Society's Human Powered Aircraft Group is the governing body responsible for the administration of the Kremer Prizes founded by the late British industrialist Henry Kremer. It was founded in 1959 when the "Man Powered Group" at the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield...

. .

The first Kremer prize of £50,000 was won on August 23, 1977 by Dr. Paul MacCready

Paul MacCready

Paul B. MacCready, Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the Kremer prize...

 when his Gossamer Condor

Gossamer Condor

-See also:-Further reading:*Morton Grosser. Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight. MBI Press, 2004; Dover Publications, Inc., 1991; Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981*Morton Grosser. On Gossamer Wings. York Custom Graphics, 1982...

, piloted by Bryan Allen

Bryan Allen (cyclist)

Bryan L. Allen is self-taught hang glider pilot and bicyclist. He achieved fame when he piloted the aircraft that won the first two Kremer prizes for human-powered flight, the Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross...

, was the first human-powered aircraft to fly a figure eight around two markers one half mile apart, starting and ending the course at least 10 feet (3 m) above the ground.

The second Kremer prize of £100,000 was won on June 12, 1979, again by Paul MacCready, when Bryan Allen flew MacCready's Gossamer Albatross

Gossamer Albatross

-See also:-Further reading:*Allen, Bryan. Winged Victory of "Gossamer Albatross". National Geographic, November 1979, vol. 156, n. 5, p. 640-651...

 from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

A Kremer prize of £20,000 for speed was won in 1983 by a design team of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 for flying their MIT Monarch B craft on a triangular 1.5 km (0.93205910497471 mi) course in under three minutes (for an average speed of 32 kilometre per hour).

There are currently three Kremer Prizes that have not yet been awarded, for a total of £150,000.

• 26 mile Marathon course in under an hour (£50,000),
• Sporting aircraft challenge stressing maneuverability (£100,000),
• Local challenge that is limited to youth groups (under 18 years) in the UK.

External links

• Human Powered Aircraft (Concise History)
• Musculair (German Wikipedia Definition)
• Royal Aeronautical Society Human Powered Flight Group