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) and Gossamer Albatross (1979; the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel). He later set world distance and duration records in a small pedal-powered blimp named "White Dwarf."
Biography
Allen graduated from Tulare Union High School in Tulare, California. He then attended the College of the Sequoias, and Cal State Bakersfield.
, he was employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, working as a software engineer in the area of Mars exploration.
Honors
In 2025, Allen was inducted as an honorary fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
References
External links
- "Martian" bio for Bryan Allen
- Bryan Allen's home page