Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition AeroVelo's Atlas human-powered helicopter conducted a flight that met all the requirements of the AHS International competition, and received the $250,000 prize. In the history of the prize, dozens of teams have designed and built human-powered helicopters, although few have made it airborne. The AHS competition was named in honor of Igor Sikorsky, one of the founders of the technical society. AHS initiated the prize purse at $25,000, but later raised it to $250,000. The first HPH to get off the ground was the "Da Vinci III" in 1989, designed and built by students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Igor Sikorsky 1912. In early 1912, Igor Sikorsky became Chief Engineer of the aircraft division for the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works ("Russko-Baltiisky Vagonny Zavod" or "R-BVZ") in Saint Petersburg. His work at R-BVZ included the construction of the first four-engine aircraft, the S-21 "Russky Vityaz", which he initially called "Le Grand" when fitted with just two engines, then as the "Bolshoi Baltisky" (The Great Baltic) when fitted with four engines for the first time, each wing panel's pair of powerplants in a "push-pull" tandem configuration previous to the four tractor-engined "Russki Vityaz". He also served as the test pilot for its