Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane

The Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane was a Canadian human-powered biplane designed and built by two Calgary aeronautical engineers, Alvin Smolkowski and Maurice Laviolette, in the 1960s.[1]

Smolkowski and Laviolette were based at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology at Calgary, and they commenced design of the biplane in December 1960, with a view towards winning the Kremer prize then on offer.[2]

The aircraft had a primary structure made of aluminum alloy, and a secondary structure made of metal tubing, polystyrene, and foam sheets. It was a single-bay biplane, spanning 30 ft (9.1 m), with struts of metal tubing, and rigged with lift and drag wires. The airfoil section incorporated a deflected trailing edge.[3] Unlike contemporary HPAs, the craft was covered with doped fabric, which incurred a weight penalty.[4] The fuselage was of the pod-and-boom type. The pilot sat in a recumbent position, in a semi-enclosed cockpit, and powered the tractor propeller, positioned at the end of a boom, via a set of bicycle pedals powering a chain drive.[3] Both biplane wings and the propeller were fitted with end-plates, in order to mitigate issues with induced drag. The control system incorporated a T-bar column suspended from the upper-wing, operating the elevator and rudder.[3] There did not appear to be any form of lateral control, however the biplane wings were set at a slight dihedral.

Laviolette departed the project before completion, with Smolkowski continuing alone. The biplane was completed in 1964, and it was reported that even with the support of a grant from a Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute committee, and material supplied by Alberta aviation clubs, Smolkowski had to work overtime in order to finance the completion of the craft.[4][5]

When tested, the biplane proved unable to make un-assisted flights, however it did make a number of short flights towed behind an automobile.[1][2]