Bryan L. Allen | |
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Alma mater | Cal State Bakersfield |
Bryan Lewis Allen (born October 13, 1952) is an American self-taught hang glider pilot and bicyclist. 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]
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 [update], he was employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, working as a software engineer in the area of Mars exploration. [5]