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The highlight of the third annual Citizen
Science Conference at the University of Nevada on 13-15
January 2005 came when Paul B. MacCready gave the Winfree
Lecture on Friday evening.
Dr. MacCready, widely known as the
Father of Human-Powered Flight, is famous for designing
and constructing the first successful human powered
aircraft. He began the lecture by reviewing some of
his pioneering research in cloud seeding and his accomplishments
in flying gliders. He then described how he and his
team built the first successful human-powered aircraft.
The Gossamer Condor won the Kremer Prize in 1977 by
successfully flying a figure eight. The Gossamer Albatross
won the second Kremer Prize less than two years later
by successfully flying across the English Channel.
While he is best known for his achievements
in aviation, Dr. MacCready has long been involved in
environmental monitoring, the development of miniature
remotely-piloted reconnaissance aircraft, the first
solar-powered aircraft, and battery-powered vehicles.
He supplemented his PowerPoint slides with fascinating
video clips of some of these projects.
Dr. MacCready struck a chord with this
reporter when he commented on the crucial importance
of teaching basic science to children when they are
as young as five. Based on the successful collaborations
he has enjoyed with his sons, his advice is well founded.
A Paul MacCready lecture does not end
when the PowerPoint and videos are over. When Dr. MacCready
completed his talk, he produced various miniature flying
machines and other devices and invited the audience
to inspect them up close. One of these devices was a
tiny ornithopter, a fly-weight aircraft with flapping
wings powered by a rubber band. This amazing aircraft
flew to the top of the meeting room before descending
to a chair below.
An aisle in the lecture hall soon became
a runway. Enthusiastic audience members strode down
the aisle while a novel flying wing rode an invisible
bubble of moving air that flowed over their outstretched
hands. (See the accompanying news story for photographs.)
Paul MacCready's Winfree Lecture was
a never to be forgotten experience. The opportunity
to meet and hold conversation with someone of his stature
was worth the trip to the 2005 Citizen Science Conference.
To find out more about Paul MacCready's
company, AeroVironment, visit the firm's web
site. For more about his accomplishments, see previous
articles in The Citizen Scientist, including
this brief
biography and this account of his appearance at
the second
Citizen Scientist Conference. For more about this
genius of flight, go to www.google.com
and search on "Paul MacCready."
Forrest M. Mims III 
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