Students in Singapore have built a 49 kilogram (108 pounds) paraglider tricycle, the lightest of its kind, which can carry one person and will be featured on the National Geographic Channel.
The project was part of the National Geographic Channel’s “Machine Impossible” challenge, which had tasked the Design-Centric Programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS) with creating a flying vehicle – any flying vehicle – that would be fun and photogenic. The paraglider trike, named the Delta, has two propellers and runs on Lithium polymer batteries, and serves as the world’s most lightweight personal flying machine.
“The challenge in designing and building The Delta was three-fold: we had to find the lightest airfoil possible, a wing, blade or sail crucial for flight, which we found in a conventional cloth paraglider; we had to find the lightest motors to provide enough thrust for The Delta to be airborne; and we had to build it so that it is light enough to fly yet sturdy enough to be safe,” said Dr. Rangarajan Jegadeesan, a lecturer at NUS and one of the project supervisors.
The project was conducted within the student-run green vehicle studio FrogWorks. Previously, they had built a single-passenger flying machine called Snowstorm.
The Delta is built on top of an off-the-shelf paraglider, around which was built an aluminum frame. The pilot is protected by a roll cage, while fiberglass rods were integrated into the design to potentially soften a crash landing. Like the common tricycle that inspired it, the front wheel is connected to the steering. The two 8 kilowatt electric motors are arranged behind the pilot, while the paraglider wing provides lift. It takes a speed of up to 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 miles per hour) for the paraglider to start to lift off.
The paraglider trike was featured on National Geographic on July 28, and will be shown again on July 30. It has been operational since March 19, when it successfully took off on the first try at the Sungai Rambai Aerodome in Malaysia.
“We will continue to fine-tune The Delta, and at the same time, we also look forward to creating more sustainable recreational vehicles, be it on land, at sea or in the air,” said Associate Professor Martin Henz, project supervisor and advisor at the DCP at NUS.