Musculair

Rochelt designed Musculair 1 and completed building it in 1984. His son, Holger, won a Kremer prize in the same year for his flight over a 1,500 m (4,900 ft) triangular course, improving the record to 4 minutes and 25 seconds. In the same year, he set a world speed record at 35.7 km/h (22.2 mph), receiving a second Kremer prize. Later that year, Holger and his sister Katrin, at that time still a child, became the first passengers in a human-powered aircraft.

Drawing of Musculair 1, build by Gunther Rochelt in 1984

• Length: 7.20 m
• Wingspan: 22.00 m
• Wing area: 16.50 m²
• Glide ratio: 1:38
• Height: 2.20 m
• Mass of the aircraft: 28 kg
• Propeller diameter: 2.72 m
• Required minimum power: 200 watts
• Required performance (11m / s): 280 watts

Günther designed Musculair 2, and Holger slimmed down to just 41 kilograms (90 lb) to reduce the total mass of craft and human, leading to him setting a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world record for a human-powered aircraft at 44.32 kilometres per hour (27.54 mph) on 2 October 1985.[1] The record, which still stands as of 2023, was set over a circuit at the Sonderlandeplatz Oberschleißheim airfield, near Munich.[1]

Drawing of Musculair 2, build by Gunther Rochelt in 1984/85. Drawing modified by Dr. Wessmann, 2006

• Length: 6.00 m
• Wingspan: 19.50 m
• Wing area: 11.70 m2
• Glide ratio: 1:37
• Height: 1.50 m
• Mass of the plane: 25 kg
• Propeller diameter: 2.68 m

Today, Musculair I is on display at the main Deutsches Museum, Munich. Musculair 2 is on display at the specialist Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim in Oberschleißheim.

• Solair
• List of human-powered aircraft

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musculair.

• Data on Musculair 2