University of Maryland Gamera I Human Powered Helicopter
| University of Maryland Gamera I | |
|---|---|
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| One of four Gamera Rotors on Display at College Park Air Museum | |
| Role | Human-powered helicopter |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | University of Maryland |
| Designer | A. James Clark School of Engineering students |
| First flight | May 11, 2011 5:30pm Eastern |
| Status | Flights completed. Pieces on display |
| Number built | 1 |
The University of Maryland Gamera I is a human-powered helicopter designed to win the $250,000 Sikorsky Prize.
The Gamera I is purpose-designed quadrotor helicopter to meet the criteria of the 1980 Sikorsky Prize. Two other teams have made prize attempts unsuccessfully, The Da Vinci III, built by a team at the California Polytechnic State University in 1989 and the Yuri I. The current world record is 19.46 seconds of flight at 0.2 m (7.9 in) altitude made by the Yuri I helicopter developed by Nihon University. University of Maryland professor Fred Schmitz proposed an attempt at the prize for the engineering students, with Inderjit Chopra leading the effort.
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) circle.
Since the University of Maryland's mascot is a terrapin turtle, the craft is named Gamera, a nod to popular Japanese Kaiju series of films featuring a flying turtle.
Gamera I consists of a X-shaped fuselage frame spanning 60 ft (18 m). At the terminus of each end of the frame resides a 42 ft (13 m) long rotor. The structure uses combinations of balsa, foam, mylar, and carbon fiber. Composite materials are assembled using filament winding construction for maximum strength to stiffness ratios. The vehicle weighs 101 lb (46 kg), each rotor weighs 7 lb (3.2 kg) each, and the powerplant/pilot weighs 107 lb (49 kg). Power is transferred to the rotors via hand and foot pedals in a pod suspended beneath the structure. The rotor speed required for flight is approximately 18 rpm. An extra 10 percent power is achieved using this more complex method rather than pedal power alone. The rotors operate in extreme ground effect, a distance of less than five percent of the rotor length from its operating height. The cockpit was modified on May 10, due to structure flexing at speed.
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