Sikorsky Prize
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sikorsky Prize is a $20,000 reward establed in 1980 by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) to the first controlled flight of a human powered helicopter. It was named in honor of Igor Sikorsky. The prize has not yet been won as of July 2006. The competition is international and is open to individuals or teams from any part of the world.
In summary, the requirements to win the Sikorsky prize include a flight duration of 60 seconds and reaching an altitude of 3 meters.
Many have attempted to fly human powered helicopters both before and after the creation of the Sikorsky Prize. None have met all of the prizes's requirements. Very few aircraft in the history of aviation have succeeded in leaving the ground under official witnessing. The first one was the Da Vinci III in 1989, designed and built by students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California, USA. It flew for 7.1 seconds and reached a height of 8 inches. The second was the Yuri I in 1994, designed and built by students at Nihon University in Japan. It flew for 19.46 seconds and reached an altitude of 0.2 meters.
