# Sikorsky Prize (Human Powered Helecopter) Won **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608 "2013-07-15T23:16:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/1 "2013-07-15T23:16:47Z")
The Sikorsky Prize was awarded for a human powered helicopter that: Satyed aloft for \> 1 min, went to an altitude of 3 meters, and stayed within a 10 m x 10 m area. AeroVelo did the attempt back in June at it was verified July 11. Ars Technica: > **[Team wins 33-year-old competition to build a human-powered helicopter](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/07/team-wins-33-year-old-competition-to-build-a-human-powered-helicopter/)** > > Engineer pedals contraption, hovers at 10ft in the air for one minute to qualify. Videos here: [http://www.aerovelo.com/](http://www.aerovelo.com/) Official press release: [VFS - Vertical Flight Society Press Releases](http://www.vtol.org/publications/ahs-press-releases/hph-press-release/hph-competition-winner/) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/2 "2013-07-16T00:19:32Z")
Congratulations to AeroVelo! Me, I keep the Lycoming. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/3 "2013-07-16T00:27:04Z")
Congrats to them as well. It’s kind of the end of an era, we’re not likely to see a man powered rocketship. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/4 "2013-07-16T00:37:51Z")
[Goon Show]Moriarty: You realise, that this means the end of the horse-drawn Zepplin![/GS] ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/5 "2013-07-16T00:39:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s kind of the end of an era, we’re not likely to see a man powered rocketship. So… The beans and broccoli aren’t going to work? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/6 "2013-07-16T00:40:30Z")
man learning to fly a helicopter was enough work by itself without having to provide the power also. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/7 "2013-07-16T00:46:43Z")
That doesn’t even look like it should work - the rotors barely seem to be moving fast enough to act as ceiling fans, but obviously, they get the job done. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/8 "2013-07-17T21:44:31Z")
That’s all kinds of awesome. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sikorsky-prize-human-powered-helecopter-won/663608/9 "2013-07-17T21:47:22Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > That doesn’t even look like it should work - the rotors barely seem to be moving fast enough to act as ceiling fans, but obviously, they get the job done. Part of the solution is a low speed rotor. Lower speeds mean less drag.