To Phoenix

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = To ''Phoenix'' | logo = | logo_size = | image = To Phoenix.jpg | alt = | caption = The To ''Phoenix'' in flight, 28 March 1982 | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Human-powered aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United Kingdom | manufacturer = Fred To | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1981 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Phoenix''' was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built in the 1980s by the British architect Frederick To. It was notable for being an inflatable tailless design and for its low airspeed.<ref name=AEROSPACE/><ref name=POPSCI/>

Taking inspiration from Daniel Perkins' work with the ''Reluctant Phoenix'', Fred To wished to resolve issues with storage and crashibility that previous human-powered aircraft had suffered from. To this end, the Phoenix was designed to have a simple layout, be easily stored, and be robust enough to survive accidents without damage.<ref name=AEROSPACE/>

==Design and development==

The ''Phoenix'' was a flying-wing configuration, with a rectangular wing planform. A reflex aerofoil, based on a Wortmann 15% aerofoil, but increased to 20% thickness was used. An aspect ratio of 6 was selected as that was considered to be the practical limit for pitch stability for such a design. The wing was built up using polyester film, and was constructed using a series of conjoined tubes running the full span of the wing. The wing was also skinned using polyester film, with a series of curved riblets applied at intervals across the span helping to maintain the desired aerofoil cross-section. When fully deflated, the wing could be folded down and stowed onto a car's roofrack.<ref name=AEROSPACE/>

Downturned winglets at each wingtip provided directional control. The fuselage was constructed from carbon-fibre tubing, with the pilot seated in an upright cycling position and powering the tractor propeller via a chain drive. Control was by elevons and rudders in the winglets. These were operated by RC servoes controlled by the pilot.<ref name=KITPLANES/><ref name=AEG/>

==Flight tests==

Initial flight tests were conducted in August 1981 at sportgrounds in Chiswick, West London, when a series of three towed flights took place. During the last of these flights, the aircraft crashed from a height of {{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}}, without any damaged being incurred. The first human-powered flight took place on 28 March 1982, at the London Docklands, with Ian Parker acting as pilot. Further flights were made that day, all of about 20 seconds duration. It was noted that the ''Phoenix'' took a long time to reach flight speed, which To determined was due to the air mass contained within the inflatable wing being some {{convert|200|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name=AEROSPACE/><ref name=HPF/>

Contemporary articles mentioned that To was designing a smaller, hybrid-powered inflatable HPA, with it weighing {{convert|60|lb|kg|abbr=on}} spanning {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}} and flying at {{convert|15|mph|kph|abbr=on}}.<ref name=POPSCI/><ref name=JANES82/>

==Specifications== right|Side view of the ''Phoenix'' {{Aircraft specs|ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1982-83<ref name=JANES82/> |prime units?=met |crew=1 |capacity= |length m=5.49 |length ft= |length in= |span m=31.09 |span ft= |span in= |span note= |upper span ft= |upper span in= |upper span note= |mid span m= |mid span ft= |mid span in= |mid span note= |lower span m= |lower span ft= |lower span in= |lower span note= |swept m= |swept ft= |swept in= |swept note= |dia m= |dia ft= |dia in= |dia note= |width m= |width ft= |width in= |width note= |height m=4.22 |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm=154.9 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |swept area sqm= |swept area sqft= |swept area note= |volume m3= |volume ft3= |volume note= |aspect ratio=6 |airfoil=Wortmann reflex |empty weight kg=50 |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=109 |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |more general=

}}

==See also== {{aircontent  |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= * HMPAC Puffin * Malliga 1 * Paxton man-powered aircraft * Perkins ''Reluctant Phoenix'' * Weybridge ''Mercury'' * Wright ''Micron'' * Wright MPA Mk 1

|sequence= |lists= * List of Human-powered aircraft }}

==References== <references>

<ref name=AEG>{{cite web |title=The 50th Anniversary of Human-Powered Flight|url=https://www.a-e-g.org.uk/the-50th-anniversary-of-human-powered-flight.html |website=Aircraft Enthusiast's Group |access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=AEROSPACE>{{cite magazine|last=To |first=F.E.|date=June–July 1985 |title=Phoenix: A Polyester-Film Inflatable Man-Powered Aircraft|magazine=Aerospace |location=London, UK |publisher=Royal Aeronautical Society |pages=nk |issn=2052-451X}}</ref>

<ref name=HPF>{{cite web |title=Human Powered Flight - Early 80s |url=https://www.humanpoweredflight.co.uk/page/human-powered-flight-early-80s |website=Human Powered Flight |access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=JANES82>{{cite book |editor-last1=Taylor |editor-first1=John W. R. |date=1982 |title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83 |location=London |publisher=Jane's Publishing Co. Ltd. |pages=518–519|isbn=0710607482}}</ref>

<ref name=KITPLANES>{{cite web |last=Sigler |first=Dean |title=Alternative Energies |url=https://www.kitplanes.com/alternative-energies-21/ |website=Kitplanes |date=16 December 2013 |access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=POPSCI>{{cite magazine|last=Kocivar |first=Ben |date=March 1982 |title=Inflatable pedal plane |magazine=Popular Science |location=New York, NY |publisher=Times Mirror Magazines, Inc.|pages=70–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QFYKqzNP8FwC&dq=%22%22fred+to%22+phoenix+popular+science&pg=PA70 |access-date=12 January 2025}}</ref>

</references>

==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/@insultantable/videos Fred To's Youtube channel] *[https://www.humanpoweredflight.co.uk/hpfMedia/media/7/2010-RAeS-HPFG-lecture-1.zip 2010 RAeS lecture by Fred To: Inflatable Structures and their Application to Human Powered Flight]

Category:Human-powered aircraft Category:High-wing aircraft Category:Inflatable aircraft Category:Tailless aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:1980s British experimental aircraft Category:Aircraft with fixed bicycle landing gear Category:Aircraft first flown in 1981

To Phoenix

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