Gamera II - The X-Shaped Human Powered Helicopter Gets 60 Sec Flight Duration

Gamera is a project from a team of aerospace engineers who belong to the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at University of Maryland. It is a x-shaped, human-powered helicopter that made its first successful flight in 2011. After that, the team again went to the drawing board and came up with a significantly improved Gamera II. The redesigned helicopter is 30% lighter than the previous version and is capable of flights of over 60 seconds. With this project the team is competing for a prize of US$250,000 American Helicopter Society's Sikorsky Prize.





The Gamera II's engine has a human pilot, with the addition of three pilots who will man the hand and foot cranks of the cockpit. The helicopter's x-shaped body is made up of extensively used micro-truss structures that was developed for the original quad-rotor craft. The end-points of the cross feature an enhanced rotor blade and an increased taper ratio has shouldered improved aerodynamics and root stiffness of the blade spar, which results in increased ground effect and keeps tip deflections low. The team will set the helicopter for test flight next week with hopes of breaking the existing records.

Till then, check out their teaser video below -

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