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Bryan Allen (hang glider)

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Bryan L. Allen
Born (1952-10-13) October 13, 1952 (age 71)
Education

Bryan Lewis Allen (born October 13, 1952) is an American self-taught hang glider pilot and cyclist. He achieved fame when he piloted (and provided the human power for) the two aircraft that won the first two Kremer prizes for human-powered flight: the Gossamer Condor (1977; the first human-powered aircraft that met the specified criteria of the first Kremer prize)[1] and Gossamer Albatross (1979; the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel).[2] He later set world distance and duration records in a small pedal-powered blimp named "White Dwarf."[3]

Biography

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Allen graduated from Tulare Union High School in Tulare, California. He then attended the College of the Sequoias, and Cal State Bakersfield.[4]

As of 2018, he was employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, working as a software engineer in the area of Mars exploration.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "10 Amazing Pilots You've Probably Never Heard Of". Flying Magazine. April 8, 2015. Bryan Allen: hardest-working pilot ever. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "MacCready "Gossamer Albatross"". National Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "The White Dwarf Flies Again". Archived from the original on May 25, 2015.[user-generated source]
  4. ^ Wilkinson, Stephan (June–July 1986). "Who Is Bryan Allen?". Air and Space Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 2. Photos by James Sugar. p. 49-55. JSTOR community.31044268.
  5. ^ Wilklow, Colette M.; Allen, Bryan; Clarke, Kelly; Lee, Young; et al. (2005). The care and feeding of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Ground Data System (GDS) (Report). Pasadena, CA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. hdl:2014/37642. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010.[failed verification]
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