The Icarus Cup – As Green As It Gets

Dean Sigler Sustainable Aviation 2 Comments

Dreams of human-powered flight go back at least to the myth of Daedelus and Icarus attempting to flee their Cretan prison by fashioning wings from feathers and wax.  Your editor doesn’t know why we continue to name festivals of flight for Icarus, since he was the young, foolish soul who flew too close to the sun and melted his wings.  His older, wiser father heeded his own advice and made the trip safely because he was not so bold.  Maybe we use Icarus’ name out of respect for his sacrifice. In the spirit of the two mythical aviators and Leonardo daVinci, Italian designer Enea Bossi and builder Vittorio Bonomi oversaw several bungee-launched flights in 1936 with their spruce, balsa wood and light fabric covered Pedaliante.  A 17-meter (55 feet) wingspan, twin propeller airplane, the 220-pound vehicle made as many as 40 flights, but the records are apparently hazy on their duration and distance under human power. World War II intervened …