Human Powered Helicopter for Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics sent me to Toronto to photograph Atlas, a human powered helicopter team led by Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson that went on to win the $250,000 Sikorsky Prize.

The Sikorsky Prize went more than 30 years without a winner because of its incredibly difficult set of rules: the craft must fly for 60 seconds, must rise to an altitude of at least 3 meters (about 10 feet), and must remain within a horizontal area no bigger than 10 meters by 10 meters (33 feet by 33 feet).

The actual flight, completed at this indoor soccer stadium near Toronto, lasted 64 seconds and reached a maximum altitude of 3.3 meters.

A Special thanks to photo editor Allyson Torrisi.