Clark School Makes Four-Second Flight In Human-Powered Helicopter | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-10.06.25

AirborneNextGen-
10.07.25

Airborne-Unlimited-10.08.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-10.09.25

AirborneUnlimited-10.10.25

Sat, May 14, 2011

Clark School Makes Four-Second Flight In Human-Powered Helicopter

University of Maryland's "Gamera" Claims World Record with Female Pilot Aboard, Confirmation Is Pending

A team of more than 50 students at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering has succeeded in flying their human-powered helicopter, Gamera. At approximately 1730 EDT on Thursday, pilot Judy Wexler, a 24-year-old biology graduate student at UM, pedaled furiously, taking the craft 3-5 inches into the air for about 4 seconds, setting a world record for human-powered helicopter flight with a female pilot.


YouTube Frame Capture Of Gamera Flight

Gamera was designed and built by graduate and undergraduate students of the A. James Clark School of Engineering. Kristan Maynard, a judge from the National Aeronautics Association (NAA), announced that the flight looked successful, but the video must be reviewed before they will announce the official results. 


UMD Clark School Team

According to Mr. Maynard, no previous human-powered helicopter flight has been certified. So if the Gamera flight is certified, the vehicle will be the first in history to do so. Even if not certified, the Gamera flight will be the first to be piloted by a woman ... considered a major accomplishment for the Clark School of Engineering and its fantastic faculty, staff and students.

"I am incredibly proud of this amazing feat of engineering and physical prowess, and grateful to faculty mentors Drs. Inderjit Chopra, V.T. Nagaraj, and J. Gordon Leishman. Today’s flight of Gamera is a fitting symbol of our excellence in rotorcraft research and education, and our first step toward winning the Sikorsky Prize."

To claim the Sikorsky Prize, a human-powered rotary-wing aircraft must complete a flight of 60 seconds duration reaching an altitude of 3 meters (9.8 ft) while remaining in a 10 meter (32.8 ft) square.

FMI: www.eng.umd.edu

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (10.09.25)

“...inaccurate assumptions about the low-altitude operating environment, which could inadvertently weaken established safety frameworks and introduce unnecessary hazards into>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.09.25)

Aero Linx: British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) BALPA is the union and professional association for pilots in the UK. Our members work together to protect the piloting profe>[...]

Airborne-NextGen 10.07.25: Drone-V-Crane, Skydweller, FlyNow eCopter

Also: USAF Reactivates Squadron For Drone Ops, Beyond Aero, Vertical Aerospace, Archer Midnight Amazon Prime Air has halted its unmanned delivery operations after two of its MK30 d>[...]

Airborne 10.08.25: Deltahawk Seminole Sale!, FAA Move, French ATC NON-Strike

Also: New NOTAM Service, 737 Production Cap, RNZAF NH90 Helis, ATC Sick Days Trend Up Just over three months after hitting the market, Piper Aircraft’s diesel-powered multi-e>[...]

Aero-FAQ: Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories -- ITBOA BNITBOB

Dave Juwel's Aviation Marketing Stories ITBOA BNITBOB ... what does that mean? It's not gibberish, it's a lengthy acronym for "In The Business Of Aviation ... But Not In The Busine>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC