Icarus Cup 2025

Written by: Dr. Jesse van Kuijk

The British Human Powered Flying Club (BHPFC) Icarus Cup 2025 was again held at Lasham, home of the Lasham Gliding Society. The last two years we had been at Manston, for the runway is much larger there.
But the weather in Lasham is better for HPAs, less windy, so we returned!

The Gliding Society generously allowed us to have the airfield every morning until 9 am.
The weather forecast predicted good flyable morning conditions for Monday to Thursday.
And indeed, four days in a row the weather held. That meant: A 4 am wakeup, rigging the HPAs outside the storage marquee, flight ops until 9 am, and putting the HPAs back in the marquee. After all the walking, standing, and pedaling, it was time for a typical British breakfast: Sausages, beans, and toast!

This year, I was part of Team Airglow. Barney Townsend, assoc. prof. from London South Bank University, and his team currently own Airglow, and entered it in the competition.
Barney brought some staff and students over for flight operations this Icarus Cup, and to witness the magic of human powered flight. I volunteered to help out as pilot because of my extensive HPA flight experience.

In the end we managed to get almost everyone of Team Airglow flying. Some first flights were well controlled and lasted for more than 100 m. Great!
Over these days I made some short and long flights in Airglow. It flies a bit easier than Aerocycle 301, which I flew in previous years. Airglow was beautifully trimmed out in pitch. Without crosswind, you could fly it hands-off! The electronic controls (‘fly by wire’) worked fine, but a purist would rather have the controls also human powered.

I made some flights of several hundred meters, with at least two of them more than half a kilometer. This time I also made an effort to gain more altitude, up to 3 and even 4 meters AGL. That is a lot, because you need not only to keep flying, but to lift all the mass of yourself and the aircraft to that altitude as well! Flying an HPA at any altitude makes it feel like you are flying three times as high. It is such a unique experience and definitely an adrenaline rush!

I also got a flight in Aerocycle 302, the slightly larger version of Aerocycle 301 that I flew in previous years. My first flight in 302 was also a couple hundred meters.
I have now flown 9 different HPAs, which is extremely rare even for HPA pilots worldwide! These HPAs are: Abhilasha, Anjali, Anuja, Aerocycle 301, Lazarus, LeDash, Betterfly, Airglow, Aerocycle 302. The first three are my own designs!

It so happened to be that I made the first flight of the competition. Thus for a little while, I was leading the scoreboard.
In the end I ended up second place. Not bad at all, given that I came here mainly to help out with Team Airglow.
Many other people, including new pilots, got a flight in Aerocycle 301. A new Lazarus version, using a wing similar to Aerocycle, made its first flights at Icarus Cup 2025, but suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly later. That will need some mending for next year.
Nevertheless, on Thursday we had four HPAs on the airfield and flying.

With a PhD in aerospace engineering, and an interest in cycling, I know a thing or two about the laws of physics and physiology. But to feel their effects so directly was different. Airglow needed a bit less power than Aerocycle, which made it immediately easier for me to fly a bit longer. This inspires me to design and build another, even better HPA in the Netherlands. First I need to find a workspace!

See the pictures below for an impression of Icarus Cup 2025, and a video of me flying Airglow.

 

 

At the Icarus Cup camping; from right to left: Jesse van Kuijk, Fred To, Peter White, Tony Prentice, and a man who helped Fred build his inflatable HPA in the 80s.
Team SUPHA (Southampthon), helped by HPF Strath (Strathclyde), is covering the last section of their new wing with Mylar. Maxwell McClellan is concentrating on the double sided tape.
Team Airglow has a briefing in the marquee. Barney Townsend explains to the students and staff of LSBU (London) how to handle and assemble the aircraft.
Flight briefing for the next morning. Lewis Rawlinson reminding us of the do’s and don’ts on the airfield.
A 4 am morning at Lasham airfield in the summer. The damp mist provides a chilly environment until the first rays of sun burn it off.
The middle panels of the wing are brought out of the marquee as one piece. That saves assembly time at dawn. The marquee holds 3 HPAs!
After assembling the wing panels into one complete wing, Russ (orange) and Barney (yellow, right) check if all security pins are in place.
John McIntyre, the original designer of Airglow, attaches the propeller blades.
Jesse van Kuijk doing some wing walking, and helping out with assembly of the HPA. That fleece vest definitely comes off when its time to go flying!
Walking the HPA along the peritrack to the start of the runway. Beautiful quiet mornings, with the first sun dancing on the last bits of mist.
Colin Parry from Team Airglow checks out the fly-by-wire controls. These are neatly hidden in the tailboom! Airglow is now ready for takeoff. Note the two other HPAs in the background.
The Icarus Cup marshalls follow each flight and note duration, distance, and any slalom points. Tony has given two persons a first-row view of the Icarus Cup. Left to right: Tony Prentice, Fred To, David Chinn.
And suddenly it is time to fly! Jesse van Kuijk in the cockpit of Airglow, doing a control check, while the wing runners are standby.
And Jesse is flying! A beautiful shot by Barney Harle, who is following me on a bicycle.
Gaining some altitude. Flying 3 to 4 meters AGL is a real feat, because it costs so much power to lift yourself and the aircraft up. Photo: Barney Harle.
While pedaling furiously, I only control the aircraft with one hand, while the other hand steadies my body. Photo: Barney Harle.
Jesse van Kuijk flies Airglow at Lasham on June 17th, 2025 (nearly no sound). You can see me look left and right while flying, fully absorbing the experience of flying under my own power. (Video: Jo)
Of course other people flew Airglow as well. Here Barney (right) congratulates Russ (left, a strong cyclist) after his splendid long first flight in Airglow. Barney was also thrilled with his flight in Airglow.
At the end of the morning, all HPAs go back into the marquee. Here we ground handle Airglow straight back to the marquee.
John Edgley, designer of the Aerocycles, and Fred To, who designed the first solar powered aircraft (Solar One), discussing airplanes over a drink.
Ed Ling, Tony Prentice, and Hania Mohiuddin are happy because of another successful morning with various HPA flights.
Jesse also got to fly Aerocycle 302. Here almost ready for takeoff.
Jesse is flying Aerocycle 302 about 1.5 m off the ground. This HPA is a bit faster than Airglow, and therefore needs a bit more power to fly. The correspondingly smaller wing, however, is less wind sensitive.
Another flight of Jesse in Airglow. Here he is very busy pedaling during the takeoff roll. You don’t pull back on the stick like in a normal aircraft, but especially in Airglow you really just ‘ooze’ off the runway when pedaling hard enough. Wonderful!
Jesse flying Airglow to a nice altitude! It feels so high up, and what little wind there is makes you slowly drift over the runway. Therefore I gave a bit right rudder to counteract the crosswind component.

Icarus Cup 2025 was fantastic. Let’s start a new HPA adventure in the Netherlands too! SHPFN is looking for affordable workspace, about the size of a double garage (or larger), to develop a new HPA. Contact us for more information.