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
Sikorsky Cypher Sikorsky Cypher The Sikorsky Cypher and Cypher II are types of unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Sikorsky Aircraft. They are vertical takeoff and landing aircraft which use two opposing rotors enclosed in a circular shroud for propulsion. In the late 1980s, Sikorsky Aircraft flew a small UAV named "Cypher", with coaxial rotors inside a torus-shaped airframe. The torus shroud improved handling safety and helped increase lift. The first proof-of-concept Cypher was 1.75 meters (5.75 feet) in diameter and 55 centimeters (1.8 feet) tall, weighed 20 kilograms (43 pounds), and was first flown in the summer of 1988. This design was