I completely missed this news two weeks ago while I was traveling, but I saw today in a Bike Hugger post that the AeroVelo team finally was able to capture the $250,000 AHS Sikorsky Prize for human powered helicopter flight. Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about the team from Toronto and their effort to become the first group to fly a human powered helicopter for “60 seconds, reaching an altitude of 3 meters (9.8 ft) while remaining in a 10 meter (32.8 ft) square.” In their successful attempt with the Atlas quad rotor HPH, they reached a height of 3.3 meters and stayed there for 64.11 seconds. Drift was 9.8 meters, and it is interesting to see how the pilot, Dr. Todd Reichert, leaned inward to keep the modified Cervelo within the boundary square.

Congratulations to Dr. Reichert and every member the team for this very impressive feat of engineering. I have watched the video several times today, and it continues to fascinate me.

Check out AeroVelo’s latest blog post for more information about the flight…and while you are at it, watch the video at least one more time. Trust me, it’s the coolest thing you will see all day.