Paul McCready, inventor of the McCready speed ring used by glider pilots across the world to determine speed-to-fly, died in his sleep aged 81 in August. Whilst famous in gliding circles for his work with the speed-to-fly theory, McCready’s work in the field of aviation went much further than that. Specialising first in human-powered aircraft, McCready created the Gossomer Albatross in 1979, a 35 kg aircraft with a 28 m wingspan, which he flew across the English Channel . Moving on to solar power he created aircraft such as the Helios, an aircraft with an incredible 82 metre windspan that could climb to 30,000 metres ! Subsequent work took him into the field of solar cars. McCready even attempted to build a hamster driven aircraft, however after several prototypes failed he concluded, “Hamsters are lazy!” With his death the world clearly loses not only a brilliantly creative mind, but also someone who really tried to make an effort help the planet.