Description

This object consists of the wood and metal parts for the vertical wing section (right side) from BURD II (Biplane Ultralight Research Device).

BURD II was a human-powered flight vehicle built by students in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics who were attempting to compete in the international Kreamer Prize human-powered airplane competition in the early 1970s. The wing section documents one of the distinctive features of this aircraft's biplane design. BURD's upper and lower wings are connected at each end by a "plate". This "plate" looks like a small wing as the goal was to offset the amount of parasite drag produced by struts and cables.

BURD II was stored at Draper Laboratory's Flight Research Facility at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA following its unseccessful attempts to fly. The large size of the aircraft made it difficult to store and the aircraft was disassembled. Parts were used in other experiments by students in the department. In 1979, these pieces were transferred to the museum.