Bicycle-powered helicopter makes flight 'previously thought impossible'

[ChrisSmolinski]

A Canadian-built helicopter that is powered by a human riding a bicycle has become the first winner of a decades-old $250,000 engineering prize, the US awarder said Friday.

The American Helicopter Society had never given out its Igor Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Award - initiated 33 years ago - until the team from the University of Toronto snatched it this week.

The challenge was to create a flying machine that would be able to reach a height of three meters (yards), fly for 30 seconds by human power alone, and stay in a 10 by 10 meter area.

"It was long seen as impossible to win this," AHS International executive director Mike Hirschberg told AFP.

The winning vehicle is called the Atlas, and was designed by a team of about 20 students and young professionals.

The aircraft is extremely light - just 121.4 pounds (55 kilograms) - but it spans a sprawling 162 feet (49.4 meters).

"This is not about creating a practical machine," said Hirschberg.

Full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10898078

[Pigmeat]

"This is not about creating a practical machine."  Hmmmm..... that's the same thing Fansome said when he launched that lead submarine.

[skeezix]

Not practical, but lucrative, at least for this one time deal.