Southend MPG Mayfly

The Southend MPG Mayfly was a British two-seat human-powered aircraft built by members of the Southend Man-Powered Group in the 1960s. It was one of the first two-person human-powered aircraft to have been built and tested, although it never flew.

Development
The Southend Man Powered Group was formed by Brian Kerry, an aerodynamicist then working at Aviation Traders company, in order to help realise a two-person human-powered aircraft he had designed, though several other members of the group later provided design input. The original design dated from 1960, and construction started during the summer of 1961. Originally intended to be completed by May 1962, resource and construction issues meant that the first flight trials did not take place till July 1965. Although some observers claim they saw light under the wheels on some runs, no flights were made.

Issues around poor design and execution impacted the enthusiasm of the members of the Southend MP Group, with that declining as the project wore on. In 1967, a partial collapse of a Nissen hut, in which the aircraft had been stored, damaged the wing sections, effectively ending the project. One contemporary author said of the Mayfly, that it never flew, due to "plain bad luck".

One member of the group, Martyn Pressnell, went on to form the Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts, who built the first successful two-person human-powered aircraft, the Toucan.

Design
The aircraft had a tractor monoplane configuration, with the two occupants sitting side-by-side at the very nose of the fuselage. It was a high-wing monoplane. The wing had a constant-chord centre section, with the chord measuring 4 ft 6 in, and tapering outboard sections. Conventional ailerons were fitted, and measured 18 ft in span. The tailplane was all-flying and measured 11 ft by 3 ft. Construction was a mixture of light wood and steel tube. The aircraft was largely covered in aluminised Meculon plastic film.

The Mayfly's crew sat in a reclining position and powered the tractor propeller, mounted on top of a pylon, using a novel steel cable transmission system which avoided the need for gears and bevels.