Human-Powered Helicopter Prize Finally Claimed

Da Vinci would be proud. After 33 years, the straight up difficult challenge of a human-powered helicopter has finally been solved. Or rather, reaching the 3-meter mark and staying afloat for at least 60 seconds has finally been solved. After successfully launching a Kickstarter campaign last year the Toronto-based team behind Atlas have officially been awarded the $250,000 Sikorsky prize. Pedal power was always a natural fit for this competition, and perhaps the real challenge was maintaining altitude inside of a 10×10 meter box; the Atlas eventually drifted to the 9.8m mark! Congratulations to all the makers involved in this successful feat.

[via Wired.co.uk – h/t Dan!]