Human-Powered Helicopter Gamera II Breaks Flight Record (Video)

Video by TeamGameraHPH

A group of students from the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering broke the record for the duration of a human-powered helicopter flight last Thursday, the school announced over the weekend.

Far surpassing the duration of the team’s 2011 world record of 11.4 seconds with a human-powered helicopter named Gamera I, Kyle Gluesenkamp, a 135-pound Ph.D candidate, powered and maintained helicopter Gamera II in the air with both foot pedals and a hand crank for 50 seconds.

“Over the last few days we have witnessed top Clark School student engineers flying an amazing craft they designed and built, resulting in an unofficial new world record of 50 seconds,” Clark School Dean Darryll Pines said in a statement.

Pines and faculty mentors Inder Chopra and V.T. Nagaraj challenged the team to win the American Helicopter Society’s Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition, which requires that a human-powered helicopter to fly for 60 seconds. The 50-second record now brings Gamera II closer to the requirement than any other craft.

The team will now continue to refine their craft.

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