Bryan Allen

Bryan L. Allen (born October 13, 1952) is an American self-taught hang glider pilot and bicyclist. He achieved fame when he piloted (and provided the human power for) the two aircraft that won the first two Kremer prizes for human-powered flight, the Gossamer Condor (1977; the first human-powered aircraft to fly and meet specified criteria) and Gossamer Albatross (1979; the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel). He later set world distance and duration records in a small pedal-powered blimp named "White Dwarf."

As of 2013, he is employed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, working as a software engineer in the area of Mars exploration.

Bryan Allen in A World of Difference
When Sarah Levitt prepared to take the Damselfly to rescue two Russians in distress in the Minervan wilderness, she compared herself to Bryan Allen on his 1979 flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross. Advantage: her distance was only half that long. Disadvantage: if Allen had crashed, he only would have gotten wet. If Sarah crashed, the forbidding Minervan terrain would kill her swiftly.