UMD Student Team Rises to One of Last Great Aviation Challenges

	Gamera II in flight. Photo by Earl Zubkoff, Essential Eye Photographics. Click here for larger image.

The University of Maryland's Gamera II human-powered helicopter student engineering team has set a new, as yet unofficial, flight duration record of some 40 seconds, and in the process drawn new attention from the media, including this powerful piece in the Atlantic. However, the Clark School of Engineering team has its sights set higher. They are seeking to conquer one of the last great aviation challenges, the American Helicopter Society's 30-year-old Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition, and to win its $250,000 prize.

To do this the team's Gamera II helicopter, powered solely by the strength of one of its pilots, must reach a highest altitude of at least 3 meters, stay airborne for at least 1 minute and remain within a 10 meter by 10 meter square. See and read more about UMD's flight toward history.

	Team readies Gamera II for flight.

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