This Day in Aviation History
May 12th, 2011
Gamera I was flown by Judy Wexler, the first female to pilot a human-powered helicopter.
 
Team Gamera was formed at the University of Maryland in 2008 to explore the possibility of a human-powered helicopter that could fulfill the AHS Sikorsky Prize requirements. The team consisted of graduate and undergraduate engineering students, with most original team members affiliated with the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at UMD.
 
On 12 May 2011, the team’s first human-powered helicopter, Gamera I, was flown by female pilot Judy Wexler for 4.2 seconds at a height of a few inches. On July 13, 2011, Judy Wexler piloted a slightly modified version of the same aircraft for a U.S. record of 11.4 seconds, but still short of the 1994 Yuri world record….
 
Source:
Wikipedia, Human-powered helicopter: http://gstv.us/1TPP6Ii
 
YouTube, Gamera Human-Powered Helicopter Setup for May11th 2011 First Flight: http://gstv.us/1T81arx
 
YouTube, Gamera’s May 12, 2011 Flight: http://gstv.us/1T80Skm
 
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Photo from: http://gstv.us/1TPPdng
 
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