University of Maryland Gamera II Human Powered Helicopter
| University of Maryland Gamera II | |
|---|---|
| Role | Human-powered helicopter |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | University of Maryland |
| Designer | A. James Clark School of Engineering students |
| Introduction | 2012 |
| Status | First flight completed |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | University of Maryland Gamera I Human Powered Helicopter |
The University of Maryland Gamera II is an improved human-powered helicopter designed to win the US$250,000 Sikorsky Prize.
The Gamera II is purpose-designed quadrotor helicopter to attempt an official flight duration record sanctioned by the National Aeronautic Association, and is step in the progression of designs built to meet the criteria of the 1980 American Helicopter Society Igor I. Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition. It is the advanced follow-on model of the Gamera I developed the year prior. Two other teams have made Sikorsky Prize attempts unsuccessfully. On June 13, 2013, the University of Toronto Team's AeroVelo Atlas, managed to keep its helicopter in the air for 64.11 seconds, reach a peak altitude of 3.3 meters and drift no more than 9.8 meters from the starting point, claiming the prize.
The requirements to win the Sikorsky Prize include achieving a flight duration of 60 seconds and reaching an "altitude" of 3 m (9 ft 10 in). At the same time the aircraft must prove that it is controllable by remaining within a 10 m (32 ft 10 in) square.
Since the University of Maryland's mascot is a terrapin turtle, the craft is named Gamera II, a tribute to popular Japanese Kaiju series of films featuring a flying turtle.
Gamera consists of a "X" shaped fuselage frame using a micro truss structure that helped reduce overall weight by 33 percent from the Gamera I. The transmission, cockpit and rotors have been refined from the original Gamera I. The transmission now includes a flywheel to reduce "jerky" impulses on the rotors. The rotor weight was reduced by 39 percent by reducing material in the webbing of the triangular truss spars that deflect only 1 ft versus 25 inches on Gamera I. The rotors are now tapered with a Selig S8037 airfoil and rigged with a 3 degree anhedral to compensate for coning so the blades fly almost level with the ground. 35 Percent less power is required to hover the Gamera II than the Gamera I with the same weight pilots.
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