Human-Powered Helicopter: Straight Up Difficult
Producer: Maggie Starbard
Nothing is impossible! ...no problem, just challenge :-)
It's difficult to build a working four-rotor helicopter, when the engine is a person with a power of only some hundred watts. But one team of engineering students is trying to do just that.
Students from the University of Maryland are chasing one of aviation's last milestones: the Sikorsky Prize. The American Helicopter Society (AHS) has promised $250,000 to the team that can build a human-powered helicopter. All it has to do is hover for a minute, reach a height of 3 meters, and stay in a 10-meter box.