science

To Phoenix

To Phoenix is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand To Phoenix rather than just read about it. In short: The Phoenix was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built in the 1980s by the British architect Frederick To. It was notable for being an inflatable tailless design and for its low airspeed.

Key takeaways

To Phoenix belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect To Phoenix to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of To Phoenix from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Phoenix was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built in the 1980s by the British architect Frederick To. It was notable for being an inflatable tailless design and for its low airspeed. Taking inspiration from Daniel Perkins' work with the Reluctant Phoenix, Fred To wished to resolve issues with storage and crashibility that previous human-powered aircraft had suffered from. To this end, the Phoenix was designed to have a simple layout, be easily stored, and be robust enough to survive accidents without damage.

Design and development The Phoenix was a flying-wing configuration, with a rectangular wing planform. A reflex aerofoil, based on a Wortmann 15% aerofoil, but increased to 20% thickness was used. An aspect ratio of 6 was selected as that was considered to be the practical limit for pitch stability for such a design. The wing was built up using polyester film, and was constructed using a series of conjoined tubes running the full span of the wing. The wing was also skinned using polyester film, with a series of curved riblets applied at intervals across the span helping to maintain the desired aerofoil cross-section. When fully deflated, the wing could be folded down and stowed onto a car's roofrack. Downturned winglets at each wingtip provided directional control. The fuselage was constructed from carbon-fibre tubing, with the pilot seated in an upright cycling position and powering the tractor propeller via a chain drive. Control was by elevons and rudders in the winglets. These were operated by RC servoes controlled by the pilot.

Flight tests Initial flight tests were conducted in August 1981 at sportgrounds in Chiswick, West London, when a series of three towed flights took place. During the last of these flights, the aircraft crashed from a height of 25 ft (7.6 m), without any damaged being incurred. The first human-powered flight took place on 28 March 1982, at the London Docklands, with Ian Parker acting as pilot. Further flights were made that day, all of about 20 seconds duration. It was noted that the Phoenix took a long time to reach flight speed, which To determined was due to the air mass contained within the inflatable wing being some 200 lb (91 kg). Contemporary articles mentioned that To was designing a smaller, hybrid-powered inflatable HPA, with it weighing 60 lb (27 kg) spanning 50 ft (15 m) and flying at 15 mph (24 km/h).

Specifications

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1982-83General characteristics Crew: 1 Length: 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in) Wingspan: 31.09 m (102 ft 0 in) Height: 4.22 m (13 ft 10 in) Wing area: 154.9 m2 (1,667 sq ft) Aspect ratio: 6 Airfoil: Wortmann reflex Empty weight: 50 kg (110 lb) Gross weight: 109 kg (240 lb) Powerplant: 1 × cyclist pilot , 0.373 kW (0.500 hp) Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch, 5.49 m (18 ft 0 in) diameter turning @ 45 rpm Performance

Cruise speed: 13 km/h (8.1 mph, 7.0 kn)

Illustrations

To Phoenix: Side view of the Phoenix — Side view of the Phoenix

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with To Phoenix

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what To Phoenix claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to To Phoenix before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about To Phoenix ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of To Phoenix

In research: To Phoenix appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses To Phoenix in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: To Phoenix is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1980s British experimental aircraft, Aircraft first flown in 1981, Aircraft with fixed bicycle landing gear, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for To Phoenix outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study To Phoenix in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what To Phoenix means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain To Phoenix out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is To Phoenix in simple terms?

The Phoenix was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built in the 1980s by the British architect Frederick To. It was notable for being an inflatable tailless design and for its low airspeed.

Why does To Phoenix matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study To Phoenix?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on To Phoenix.