New Human Powered Helicopter
Neal's latest helicopter has been in progress for over 10 years. The design has been completed with computer airflow simulation and computer stress analysis. Most of the pieces have been completed and we will spend the next few months assembling the rotor and testing the powertrain.
The new helicopter is called Upturn. Not only is "Upturn" descriptive of the helicopter, but it's also something we've been waiting for in the economy. It's about time!
Call for pilots
We are actively looking for professional bicycle riders to fly the helicopter. The difficult part is that the rider must weigh under 140 pounds and be a powerful bicycle road racer. This is because we wanted to build the smallest possible helicopter. Even with a small pilot, the helicopter still has to be enormous in order to lift off on the small amount of power a human can output. It must be flown indoors. The enormous size limits the number of locations where it can be flown.
Sikorsky Prize
Our latest goal is to win the American Helicopter Society Sikorsky Prize. We are fully devoted to capturing the prize this year.
The Sikorsky Prize is an open challenge to build a human powered helicopter that can hover for one minute and at some point reach a height of three meters. The helicopter has to be solely powered by muscle power with no stored energy. It also has to stay within a three meter square area which eliminates the use of a airplane.
The prize money for winning the Sikorsky prize has recently been increased from $20,000 to $250,000. Since it requires much more than $20,000 to build a successful helicopter, it is now possible to win the competition and not lose money.
A human powered helicopter is possibly the last great challenge in aviation. Building a human powered helicopter is much more difficult than building a human powered airplane. In simple terms, airplanes work by climbing on a ramp of air while helicopters have to lift themselves straight up. Lifting straight up is many times more difficult than using a ramp. This is why there have only been three human powered helicopters to ever get off the ground despite the fact that it has been attempted dozens of times by teams from all over the world.
New Helicopter
Rotor Blade Section
Rotor Diameter = 85 feet
Rotor RPM = 10.4
Weight = 95 pounds
Target Pilot Weight = 125-135 pounds
Power Required to Hover @ 9 feet = 1.0 hp
Tip Propeller Diameter = 6 feet
Tip Propeller RPM = 424
Drivetrain Parts
by Cameron Woods
First Test 10/23/2011
Pilot in Cockpit
Tip Propeller
Covering Rotor Blades
Cutting The Tip Propeller Cores
(click for video)
A Big Thanks to the Flight Crew and Sponsors
We've had many tests with some setbacks and many sucessful steps forward. Every test is a grueling endevor and it can't happen without the volunteer effort from the flight crew. Many thanks.
These sponsors are unique in there ability to see the future and are willing to help build it:
Speedplay
Tread Creative
Zero Motorcycles
Cam Engineering
Evil Mad Science
San Luis Sustainability
Santa Cruz Bicycles
Help Sponsor the HPH
Support the Human Powered Helicopter
We are very close to breaking a world record with the helicopter, but we need to shed some weight. We are raising a small amount of additional funding to cover the costs as we get near our goal. Visit our project on Kickstarter.com
All of our crew is donating their time and money. Please help us fly!