4min chapter

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford cover image

Bless the Coal-black Hearts of the Broadway Critics

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

CHAPTER

The Cramer Prize

The cramer prize was a large cash award for the first human powered aircraft capable of taking off without aid and flying a one mile figure eight course with a ten foot hurdle at the start and finish. The power for such a plane could come from, say, a professional cyclist, whirring legs, spinning a propeller but even a cycling pro can only produce just over half a horse power for a sustained burst. If you want to fly a plane the right brothers put 20 times that power into their plane. A modern light aircraft is at least 300 times more powerful than a cyclist. Every time they crashed, their planes were destroyed.

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