FLIGHT PLAN CALLS FOR WINGS OF GOSSAMER

Flight: Man has not seen the 100th anniversary of his creation but is already at work re-creating it.

This time the barrier is not only gravity, but physical limitations.

The Gossamer Spirit project will allow paraplegic athletes to power an aircraft using only upper-body strength. Terry Airport in Westfield will be home to the Timmy Foundation's latest project.

Work on the Gossamer Spirit began in March, and the team hopes to complete it by December 2003, in time for the 100th anniversary of man's first flight at Kitty Hawk. Dr. Chuck Dietzen, who originated the idea for the project, is relying on the efforts of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI, several corporate partners and countless volunteers to build three Gossamer Spirits and a flight and education center to go along with them.

Key to the project's success is Paul MacCready, who "is probably the most inventive engineer in the world. . . . I consider him to be Leonardo da Vinci of this century," said Russell Eberhart, the acting chair of IUPUI's electrical and computer engineering department.

MacCready created the Gossamer Condor, the first successful human-powered aircraft, and the Gossamer Albatross, a human-powered aircraft that flew across the English Channel.

"Paul MacCready is very good at designing airplanes that can be built, crashed and rebuilt in a few days instead of a few months," Eberhart said.

He described the Spirit as "extremely lightweight. It will have a wingspan of about 96 feet, but it will weigh about 70 pounds."

Eberhart said that although they expect it to crash, they are not worried. First of all, it will fly at about 15 mph. In addition, "if the plane comes down from an altitude of even 10 or 12 feet, the pilot isn't gonna be hurt because . . . it's not going very fast. It's not going any faster than you'd go if you were just jumping."

Wind will prove to be a major obstacle. If there's too much wind, the Gossamer Spirit won't fly.

The coordinators have made a priority of getting people involved in the creation of the Gossamer Spirit rather than meeting a deadline for its completion. About 1,000 people will participate in the project, including many through the Internet. Students from the Indiana School for the Blind are already involved.

"Regardless of if they're in wheelchairs, regardless of if they're blind, the young people will be invited to come on site in large groups to work on the actual design and the construction," said Dietzen.

"Patients from my clinic, children around this area who have disabilities will literally be working elbow-to-elbow with NASA scientists and people who have made spacecrafts and rockets," he said.

Pilots for the project will have to be extremely fit. "We're going to bring them here to put them through physical testing to see how much power they can generate. (We'll) measure their heart rate, blood pressure and all that sort of stuff while they're cranking," Eberhart said.

Engineers are looking for people who can generate a lot of watts per pound of body weight, although they have tried to keep the energy requirements to a minimum.

"We have a technical challenge, and that's simply to fly with as little energy expenditure as possible. In this case we're only looking for (two)-tenths of a horsepower from the upper-body strength," said Mike Middleton, the project manager.

"It takes about 125 watts, about as much power as a really bright light bulb, to fly this plane," added Eberhart.

Other opportunities will be provided for those unable to pilot the invention. The group hopes to have an education center at the airport.

"We want people like you to come in, and even though you've got legs that work, find out just how much effort it takes to push a wheelchair or to fly a plane. It's difficult. It takes an incredible fitness of your heart and lungs," said Dietzen.

The center also hopes to educate young visitors about the work of the Timmy Foundation, which helps children around the world -- victims of natural disasters, war, political and economic oppression -- while offering volunteers a life-changing experience.

"By connecting to IUPUI through our education and flight center, we'll also have an attached warehouse. Students can come in from all over, and we will connect them via the Internet with children in other parts of the world who happen to be poor, and you'll find out what they need. We're gonna help you learn to problem-solve to help those kids," said Dietzen.

"So for example, if you donate a pair of shoes to Miguel down in Brazil or Ecuador, you're going to meet him via the Internet. You'll see him wearing your shoes. You guys can talk back and forth."

It's apparent that flying isn't the major goal of the Gossamer Spirit.

"I want children in this country who have disabilities to understand that there is no limit, that they can actually fly by their own power," Dietzen said. "That's a pretty remarkable thing. And I think that it will help them get a greater understanding of what their potential is."

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Colleen Merkel, 16, and Jessica Davey, 15.

REPORTERS: Andrea Zeek, 13; Kristin Drouin, 11; and Claire Lovell, 10.