“Japanese Student Takes Flight of Fancy, Creates Flying Bicycle” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJrJE0r4NkU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJrJE0r4NkU)
*Edit: Far beyond regulations and air traffic control issues, only regarding to physics:*
I’ve just seen this video of a Japanese student that has achieved making a flight of about 200 or 300m with a mechanism that turns the pedalling we normally do in a bicycle to the turning of a propeller.
Now, if we as humans and a very great bike can reach 40-50 mph (and very light planes such as cessna can take of with only 60mph – not to mention Bush Planes – all of these weighting easely 4 to 5 times the weight of a person + an extra light airplane design, specifically created for that porpouse) – why does this seems too hard to achieve/sustain? I can only guess its a matter of efficiency (or the lack of it), but which one of them?
In: Physics
A fit recreational cyclist can maintain 200W power output while cycling. To pick an example aircraft, a Pegasus Quantum ultralight aircraft weights 400kg fully fueled and its engine outputs 60,000W.
That’s 300x more.
The difference in power output between even the smallest aircraft and a human is absolutely enormous.
Edit: as another comparison, the very first successful heavier than air craft, the Wright Flyer, had a maximum takeoff weight of 338kg and the engine had a power output of 8,900W, and that was only just enough to get it in the air.
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