rob@image.soe.clarkson.edu (Rob Logan) (11/20/89)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
From: LES@SAIL.STANFORD.EDU (Les Earnest)
Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Date: 18 Nov 89 11:27:27 GMT
[From Associated Press; posted without permission] a021 0059 13 Nov 89
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) - A bicycle racer pedaled a helicopter
into the air in the first successful flight of a human-powered
chopper, according to university students who worked on the project.
''It's probably the last great aviation achievement around,'' said
Neal Saiki, 23, a senior at the California State Polytechnic
University, San Luis Obispo, after Sunday's indoor test flight.
As cheers filled Mott Gymnasium, the 100-pound copter, known as the
Da Vinci III, hovered a few inches above the floor under the power of
cyclist Greg McNeil, an aeronautical engineering major who races on
the U.S. cycling team.
The Da Vinci III, with a single 100-foot blade, is the fourth
helicopter to be built by Cal Poly students since 1981. The last
version, the Da Vinci IIb, was damaged in May.
The helicopters are named after Leonardo da Vinci because he
sketched a similar craft, university spokesman Bob Anderson said.
Human-powered planes have flown, but not helicopters, the students
said.
The helicopter has a single 100-foot blade, resting above the
cockpit where the pedaler sits. The seat and pedals swing freely in
the center section, rather than rest on the floor like previous
models.
Saiki, who has worked on the project for more than two years, said
three improvements contributed to the success of the latest version.
''We made it lighter, we made the rotors straighter and we got a
pilot with a better output,'' Saiki said.
But Saiki conceded that people of the future will not pedal about in
their own helicopters, at least not copters like this one. ''It's far
too big to ever be popular,'' he said. ''I mean, it fills up the gym
practically wall to wall.''
AP-NY-11-13-89 0350EST
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