We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone that supported us during our Kickstarter campaign earlier in the summer. This week we received the order of patches and t-shirts, finished up the engineering drawings and put together a beautiful set of framed Atlas ribs. We’ve shipped all of the packages, so depending on… Continue Reading
Flight Video of 17 Second Controlled Flight
We’ve just uploaded video of our best flight so far. Check it out at: http://youtu.be/pJYISQ-EAIw On September 3rd, Atlas demonstrated the first controlled, non-tethered, flight of a human-powered helicopter. The flight lasted a total of 17 seconds, during which the drift of the helicopter was controlled by the pilot through the actuation of control surfaces… Continue Reading
Rotor Trimming Optimization Yields 20% Power Savings!
This week we spent several days at The Soccer Centre optimizing the rotor and canard angle settings (Angle of Attack, in aerodynamics) in an effort to save power. Throughout trimming and flight testing in August, the rotors were set at or just below the angles for which they were designed in HeliCalc (our design and… Continue Reading
Rotor Surgery for a New and Improved Design
This week we undertook a small bit of surgery, which should simultaneously resolve three of the critical issues we saw in the first round of flight testing. The end result is that the rotors will be tilted up more at the root, which will, first, give them more ground clearance and help prevent the ground… Continue Reading
Check Out the Updated Photo Gallery!
Hey everyone, We’re in the process of re-vamping the website, and we’ve just uploaded our best photos from this summer’s construction and from flight testing! These are hosted on our AeroVelo Google+ Page (formerly Picasa Web Albums). The albums are categorized by activity or sub-system (e.g Rib Production, Drive System), and should give an excellent… Continue Reading
Rotor Testing Rig and Test Plan
The team is going to be back testing soon, trimming rotors and adjusting the structure prior to full flight tests! Since Battle Mountain and Mythbusters, we’ve been laying the groundwork for our next steps in preparation for a return to flying Atlas. We plan to be flight-testing the full helicopter again by the first week… Continue Reading
Performance Tests at the Peak Centre for Human Performance
Shortly after the flight of the Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter in 2010, I started working with the Peak Centre for Human Performance. Since then, I’ve raised my functional threshold power (the power you can sustain for 1 hour) from 273 Watts to 344 Watts, and my one-minute power from 678 Watts to 773 Watts. The Peak… Continue Reading
Working with MythBusters
Immediately after an intense week of racing (and repairing) our bikes in Battle Mountain, we drove to San Francisco to join the Jamie, Adam and the rest of the MythBusters team for an upcoming shoot. The collaboration was started when both Todd and Jamie were quoted in a Huffington Post article, giving their thoughts on the soon-to-be debunked youTube video of Jarno… Continue Reading
World Human-Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain!
After two weeks of intense flight testing several members of the Atlas team switched gears, travelling to Battle Mountain, Nevada for the 2012 World Human-Powered Speed Challenge! The WHPSC is an annual event where competitors in high-tech streamlined bikes try to break the human-powered land speed record. The record is currently held by Sam Whittingham… Continue Reading
Featured Sponsor: CSR Inc, Makers of High-Tech Rope
Our current featured sponsor is CSR Incorporated, manufacturer of high-tech and high-performance ropes and lines. CSR has generously donated a great deal of Vectran rope to the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter, always with the best customer service we’ve seen and often with very little notice! Vectran is a liquid-crystal polymer (LCP) fiber with high-strength, high-stiffness, and… Continue Reading
