Mission Log
We’ve just launched our Kickstarter campaign for the Eta Speedbike Project! The goal of this project is to build an ultra-efficient bike capable of breaking the World Human-Powered Speed Record at 133.8 Km/h! We’ve been grateful for the support of our friends, family, collaborators, and public in the past and invite you to be a part of this exciting new undertaking!
As you might have seen, AeroVelo is back this summer to break the human-powered speed record at 133.8 km/h (83.1mph). Check out our new video!
Nearly a year has passed since the Sikorksy Prize Winning Flight of the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter. But don’t worry the fun’s not over yet!!
In addition to our engineering and research positions, AeroVelo is seeking two additional interns to round out our team in this year’s quest to break the human-powered land-speed record of 133 km/hr:
Wednesday April 2nd will be a day years in the making: the Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter will be put on permanent display in the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa! Many thanks to the Kenneth Molson Foundation and the museum organization for making this great event and installation possible.
AeroVelo is seeking high-caliber student interns with skills in technology/engineering design and hands-on fabrication. The selection process will focus on applicants with exceptional experience either with extra-curricular design teams or with independently pursued hobbies and projects. Applications are due by midnight on April 3, 2014.
Hey everyone, Todd and Cameron will be presenting “Doing More with Less: Human Flight on the Power of a Cordless Drill” in Montreal (Wednesday) and Ottawa (Thursday) this week!
Hey Everyone! We’ve been a little quiet on the home front these past few weeks, largely because we’ve been keeping busy with some great outreach opportunities and speaking events! There’s been incredible global interest in the team’s effort to win the Sikorsky Prize, and we’ve been able to share some of our insights, lessons-learned, and greater messages with a variety of enthusiastic audiences. In the spring we’ll be re-focusing on the research and pre-design of our next speedbike, but we’re already arranging events in Montreal, Ottawa, at TEDx U of T, at NASA Ames in California, and in the Middle East!
This year's World Human-Powered Speed Challenge in Battle Mountain, Nevada was super exciting! We had both bikes Vortex and Bluenose reaching top speeds and breaking many personal bests: we walked away with 6 new hats (awarded at every 5 mile/hr milestone).
On September 23rd and 24th we took Atlas out one more time to try to push the current endurance records and give the rest of the team members a chance to fly. Overall it was a great success with Trefor Evans setting a new world record at 86 seconds, Alexis Reichert setting a new women's world record at 53 seconds, and twelve new people added to the list of the few who have lifted off under their own power!
It’s been just over 3 months since the prize winning flight of the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter, but we’re not quite done yet 😉
It’s been an exciting summer, but the fun isn’t over yet! Following the record flight of Atlas on June 13th, the team has been focused on the Human-Powered Speed Championship held each September in Battle Mountain, Nevada. This is where the fastest teams come from around the world shooting for the title of world’s fastest human! The current record is held by Canadian Sam Whittingham at 133.3 km/hr. After a fun packed 35 hour drive the team arrived in Battle Mountain Sunday, ready for the first speed runs Monday morning!
Great news! The American Helicopter Society has officially declared AeroVelo winner of the Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition. After a thorough and rigorous independent analysis of the flight data of June 13th 2013 12:43 EDT, the AHS Human-Powered Helicopter Committee concluded that indeed Atlas' epic flight 1) exceeded 60 seconds duration, 2) exceeded 3m in height, and 3) remained within a 10m x 10m box.
