M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
ALLEN Flying Bicycle ornithopter (Richard 'Bobby'Allen, Bradford, Yorkshire)
Designed by a policeman, the 'Bobby' Allen Flying Bicycle was exhibited at Stoney Bridge and Peel Park Gala in June 1908. It was built as a bamboo structure on a bicycle and had a wingspan of 33ft.
The machine had three pairs of narrow chord, beating wings driven by a belt passing over the rims of the cycle wheels. Further pulleys at the top of the structure, with cranks converted the drive into reciprocating motion, which actuated the wings. A tall rectangular fin and rudder were mounted at the front, the latter controlled by the cycle handlebars.
The machine refused to fly or even to move along the ground.