Born on 7 June 1948 Janice Brown a charter pilot with commercial, instrument and glider ratings who weighed slightly less than 100 lb (45 kg) was selected as the test pilot for Paul McCready's solar powered aircraft Gossamer Penguin. She flew the Penguin approximately 40 times before a 1.95 mi (3.14 km) public demonstration at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre on 7 August 1980.
Piloted by Brown the Solar Challenger was the first solar powered aircraft to cross the English Channel in 1981. On the 25th July 1909 Louis Blériot became the first person to fly across the channel. In 2019 she was honoured by The International Organization of Women Pilots for being the first woman to cross it in a solar powered aircraft.
The Penguin was a 3/4 scale version of the Gossamer Albatross II and had a 71 ft. (21.64 meter) wingspan and a weight, without pilot, of 68 lb (31 kg). The powerplant was an AstroFlight Astro-40 electric motor, driven by a 541-watt solar panel consisting of 3920 solar cells.
Initial test flights were performed using a 28 cell NiCad battery pack instead of a panel. The test pilot for these flights was MacCready's 13-year-old son Marshall, who weighed 80 lb (36 kg).
