Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition
The Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition was established in 1980 by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International. The award, the AHS Sikorsky Prize, was given for the first human powered helicopter (HPH) to meet a set of extremely challenging flight requirements. In summary, the requirements to win the AHS Sikorsky Prize included a flight duration of 60 seconds and reaching an altitude of 3 meters, with the center point of the aircraft hovering over a 10-by-10-metre square.
Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition
AHS International announced AeroVelo as the winner of its Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition on July 11, 2013. Left to right: Cameron Robertson and Todd Reichert, AeroVelo; Mark Miller, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp; Mike Hirschberg, AHS International.
AHS Sikorsky Prize-winning flight of AeroVelo's "Atlas" human-powered helicopter
A human-powered helicopter (HPH) is a helicopter powered solely by one or more humans carried on board. As in other human-powered aircraft, the power is usually generated by pedalling. It remains a considerable engineering challenge to obtain both the power-to-weight ratio and rotor efficiency required to sustain a helicopter in flight.
AeroVelo's Atlas human-powered helicopter shortly after its first flight