Human-Powered Helicopter Hovers For 50 Seconds [Video]

A team of students and professors from the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland has set an unofficial world record for a human-powered helicopter with their machine called Gamera II.

According to a news release from the school, it is still an unofficial record as judge Kris Maynard will submit the 50-second hover time of the Gamera II to the National Aeronautic Association for validation which may take a few weeks.

The Gamera II has beaten the first Gamera helicopter which the same school built and which achieved an 11.4-second hover time last year.

“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,” stated Clark School Dean Darryll Pines. “If you want to know where to find the future of engineering and great new technologies that will make our lives better, this is it.”

The goal of the Gamera II was for students of the school to win the American Helicopter Society’s Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition. That competition has some serious requirements though, including a hover height of 3 meters and a hover time of 60 seconds.

Nonetheless, it’s entertaining, to say the least, to watch the Gamera II take flight. Watch Ph.D. candidate Kyle Gluesenkamp pilot the Gamera II in the video below:

Source: A. James Clark School of Engineering via The Verge