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Gamera II Team Smashes Previous Best Human-Powered Helicopter Flight Time
Zothecula writes "For over 30 years, the $250,000 for the American Helicopter Society's Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition prize has looked decidedly secure, but Gamera II has changed all that. Last week, Clark School of Engineering team pilots came close to breaking one of the competition's major milestones. Ph.D. candidate from Kyle Gluesenkamp from the School's mechanical engineering department, hand-cranking and pedaling like his life depended on it, managed to keep the huge quad-rotor craft aloft for 50 seconds, an impressive new world record that's currently awaiting validation by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA)." We previously covered their attempt to break the record last May.
Although the summary doesn't state it, the Clark School of Engineering is part of the University of Maryland at College Park.
No. The rules http://www.vtol.org/awards-and-contests/human-powered-helicopter/hph-rules (Rule 4.1.4) say that you can not use any form of stored energy. They exclude the rotors, of course.