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MacCready with a battery-powered Micro Air
Vehicle.
Dr. Paul B.
MacCready Jr., 84, passed away August 28,
2007. He had been an AMA member since his
early teens. He was a husband, father,
businessman, inventor, and aeromodeling
pioneer, and he set records and made
inventions that are still remembered and
used today.
MacCready was born in 1925 in
New Haven, Connecticut, to Dr. Paul Beattie
and Edith Margaret MacCready. He was the
youngest of three children and the only boy.
His interest in flight began at age 7. His
family spent summers during the 1930s at
Johnson's Point, on Long Island Sound, which
was rife with insects. There he spent the
nights catching moths and butterflies; he
was fascinated by their ability to maneuver
through the air.
MacCready built his first
airplanes from kits purchased at a dime
store and later moved on to designing his
own models. In 1939, at the age of 14, he
set a world record for model autogiros with
a canard design that stayed aloft for 12.7
minutes.
At 16 MacCready received his
license for solo flight in powered aircraft.
In World War II he flew in the US Navy
flight-training program.
By 1947 MacCready
received his physics degree from Yale
University and switched his hobby interest
from powered aircraft to gliders. At age 21
he placed second in the National Soaring
Championships at Wichita Falls, Texas. He
went on to win the National Soaring
Championships in 1948, 1949, and 1953.
From
1946 to 1956 MacCready worked on sailplane
development, soaring techniques, and
meteorology. He invented the MacCready Speed
Ring airspeed selector, which is still used
by glider pilots worldwide.
MacCready
represented the US at contests in Europe,
and in 1956 he became the first American to
achieve the title of International Champion.
At roughly this time he was earning his
master's degree in physics at the California
Institute of Technology and his Ph.D in
aeronautics from the same institution. He
founded Meteorology Research, Inc., which
became a leading firm in weather
modification and atmospheric science
research.
In 1971 he founded AeroVironment,
Inc.: a technology company that is primarily
involved in energy systems, electric vehicle
systems, and UAVs (unmanned aerial
vehicles). The company is probably best
known for developing a series of
lightweight, human- and solar-powered
vehicles. MacCready did extensive work in
the fields of flight and technology. Along
with AeroVironment he developed and flew the
first man-powered aircraft—the Gossamer
Condor—and won the Henry Kremer Prize, of
$95,000, in 1977. That made him
internationally known as the "father of
human-powered flight." He went on to win two
more Kremer Prizes.
Dr. MacCready earned the Henry Kremer Prize
with his Gossamer Condor:
the first man-powered aircraft.
The Gossamer Albatross
flew across the English Channel in 1979,
winning AeroVironment $213,000: the largest
cash prize in aviation history. MacCready
also won a prize of $30,000, in 1983, for
developing the Bionic Bat, which was
required to exceed 20 mph around a 1-mile
course.
In addition he developed the
Gossamer Penguin—the world's first
successful solar-powered airplane—and the
Solar Challenger. In 1985 the Smithsonian
Institution commissioned MacCready to build
a life-size, flying pterodactyl. It can be
seen in the IMAX film On the Wing.
MacCready's first solar-powered airplane—the
Gossamer Penguinon a trial flight in 1979.
MacCready's interest in environmentally
sound technology was not limited to
aircraft. He built the solar-powered Sunraycer to compete in a race across
Australia in 1987. Then he collaborated with
General Motors in 1990 to develop the
Impact—an electric car that could accelerate
from zero to 60 mph in eight seconds.
MacCready was inducted into the National
Aviation Hall of Fame in 1991 based on his
contributions to flight technology. He is
also affiliated with the National Academy of
Engineering, the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the
American Meteorological Society.
In addition
to serving as international president of the
International Human Powered Vehicle
Association, he received numerous awards and
wrote many articles, papers, and reports on
the topics of physics and aeronautics.
Dr.
Paul B. MacCready Jr. was a legend in the
world of aeronautics. His research and
inventions touched all areas of technology
and are still embraced today. Each of his
inventions began with a model, which
inevitably helped him improve them, thus the
hobby we enjoy today. MA
www.modelaircraft.org/mag/PaulMcCready/interview.htm
Ashley
Rauen
AMA Communications Specialist
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