The Highs And Lows Of Human-Powered Flight

Greek mythology's Daedalus and Icarus famously got airborne under their own steam, and set the stage for a lively cast of historical characters that flew the noble flag for science while taking to the skies - and more often than not, the ground again a little too quickly.

Early attempts at human-powered flight were unsuccessful because of the difficulty of achieving the high power-to-weight ratio. As of 2008, human-powered aircraft have been successfully flown over considerable distances. However, they are primarily constructed as an engineering challenge rather than for any kind of recreational or utilitarian purpose.