Competition chairman
Fred To and his late partner, David Williams, designed and constructed the world’s first solar-powered aircraft, which first flew on the 19th of December 1978 at Lasham airfield in Hampshire.
He also designed and constructed the successful inflatable human powered aircraft “Phoenix”, which first took-off from a disused lorry parking strip at London Docks on the 28th of March 1982.
He has also worked for a seven year period as senior engineer in Switzerland for the research company Prospective Concepts from 1994 to 2001 on inflatable projects, including the inflatable aircraft “Stingray”.
He was vice chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s human powered flight group and, together with Bill Brooks, was a founder member of the British Human Powered Flying Club.
