Record-breaking Daedalus project marks 20th anniversary

Twenty years ago, on April 23, 1988, a team of MIT students, faculty and alumni succeeded in a project that set a pair of aviation records that still stand to this day. On that day, a lightweight airplane called Daedalus--completely under human power--flew across the Mediterranean Sea from the Greek island of Crete to just a few meters from the shore of the island of Santorini.

The plane was named for the character in Greek mythology who escaped from King Minos of Crete by flying away with the help of wings made of feathers attached to his arms with wax. The modern Daedalus used a set of bicycle pedals and a chain transmission to power a large, slow-moving propeller. Made largely of carbon-fiber composite and Mylar, it weighed just 69 pounds.

On its record flight, Daedalus traveled 115 kilometers (about 71.5 miles) across the sea before being buffeted by winds, breaking its tail spar and crashing into the waves just 7 meters offshore from its destination. The pilot (and powerplant), champion bicyclist Kanellos Kanellopoulos, swam to shore unhurt, and the wreckage of the craft was sent to the Smithsonian, where it remains in storage. An identical craft used in the initial tests is on display at Boston's Museum of Science.

The flight set the all-time records for duration (3 hours and 54 minutes) and distance of a human-powered flight, handily beating the previous record of just under 36 kilometers set by Gossamer Albatross in a crossing of the English Channel in 1979. And in the process, the testing and development of the craft, including a series of tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California's Mojave Desert, produced information that helped to bring about new technology for high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, according to NASA.