AeroVelo Says It Is Waiting For Confirmation That Its Atlas Human-Powered Helo Has Met The Requirements

AeroVelo, a Canadian team that is competing to win the $250,000 Sikorsky Prize for a human-powered helicopter, said on its blog earlier this month that it has unofficially satisfied all of the requirement set out to win the prize.

The team wrote June 14th that their Atlas aircraft flew for about 65 seconds at an altitude of about 3.3 meters and stayed within the 10 meter box for the duration of the flight the previous day. They stress that the results are unofficial, and are waiting for official confirmation of the accomplishment.

The Atlas aircraft is similar to the University of Maryland's Gamara II, which has come close to satisfying the requirements, but has not been able to do so. Gizmag reports that AeroVelo first flew the Atlas in August 2012. It was the fourth human-powered helicopter to fly.

AreoVelo grew out of the University of Toronto's Human-Powered Vehicle Design team that was established in 2006.

The Sikorsky prize is being offered by the American Helicopter Society, which is currently reviewing the data submitted by the AeroVelo team.

(Image from AeroVelo YouTube video.)

FMI: www.aerovelo.com