This is 33 years in the making, at least for the reward. The AeroVulo team from the University of Toronto won $250,000 in a competition established in 1980 by the American Helicopter Society to create the first human-powered helicopter. Like any competition, there were rules. The helicopter would have to be entirely human powered and fly for for a minute, reach 10 meters in altitude and remain within a 10-meter square.
We can probably all agree that this is pretty damn cool. A dude was able to hover in the air only using his legs and an incredibly well-engineered machine. The AeroVulo team better use some of that dough to go out and celebrate their feat.
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[via RYOT]
