MacCready Gossamer Penguin


The Gossamer Penguin was a solar-powered experimental aircraft created by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment.. MacCready, whose Gossamer Albatross had made the first human-powered flight in 1977, told reporters two weeks in June, 1980 that "The first solar-powered flight ever made took place on May 18." The testing ground was at Minter Field outside of Shafter, California.
The Penguin was a 3/4 scale version of the Gossamer Albatross II, and had a 71 ft. wingspan and a weight, without pilot, of. The powerplant was an AstroFlight Astro-40 electric motor, driven by a 541 watt solar panel consisting of 3920 solar cells.
Initial test flights were performed using a 28 cell NiCad battery pack instead of a panel. The test pilot for these flights was MacCready's 13-year-old son Marshall, who weighed.
The official pilot for the project was Janice Brown, a charter pilot with commercial, instrument, and glider ratings who weighed slightly less than. She flew the Penguin approximately 40 times before a public demonstration at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on August 7, 1980.

Specifications