This buglike contraption won the Igor I. Sikorksy prize as the first human-powered helicopter to hover at least 9.8 feet (3 meters) off the ground for a minute or longer. The $250,000 prize went unclaimed for 33 years as craft after craft failed liftoff or crashed.
But Toronto-based AeroVelo’s four-rotor, 115-pound bicycle-powered vessel, dubbed Atlas, stayed aloft for 64.1 seconds thanks to a design by aeronautical engineers and computer modeling that fine-tuned the blueprints.
AeroVelo co-founder Todd Reichert (an aerodynamic engineer and competitive speed skater) powers Atlas during its prize-winning flight over an indoor soccer field.
This modified, extremely light Cervelo R5 racing bike frame lies at the center of the action. | Martin Turner, Visibilize.com
The winning design, drawn by Todd Reichert, shows the basic scheme of the human-powered Atlas. The pilot sits in the middle, surrounded by four rotors. | Todd Reichert
[This article originally appeared in print as "A Leg Up on Human-Powered Flight."]
