British industrialist Henry Kremer set up the Kremer Prize in 1959, offering £50,000 to the first group that could fly a human-powered aircraft over a 1-mile (1.6-km) figure-eight course. The aircraft also had to clear a 10-foot (3-m) pole at the start and finish line. Early attempts with heavy aircraft failed, so engineer Paul MacCready took a radically different approach in designing the Gossamer Condor, and his team won the first Kremer Prize in 1977. What was their inspiration? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary