Video of the Day: World’s first manned solar helicopter flight

It seems like just yesterday that the incredible Solar Impulse landed in Abu Dhabi, completing the world’s first around the world flight powered by the sun. And yet, here we are checking off another solar aviation first: lift-off of what is claimed to be the first piloted solar-powered helicopter.

As you can see in the video below, the 100-square foot solar-powered helicopter, called Solar Gamera, literally lifted off the earth by about one foot and flew for a total of nine seconds – no circumnavigation of the globe, to be sure, but quite a feat of engineering for the team of University of Maryland students behind the project.

The project dates back to 2011, when students broke records for the longest human-powered flight using the same vessel. In 2014, students rebranded the team as Solar Gamera, adding solar power to the aircraft’s design.

“This project has come a long way in the past six of seven years from human power to solar power. So we are breaking barriers of all sorts of aviation with this one airframe,” said doctorate student William Staruk, a member of both the Solar Gamera team and the human-powered helicopter team.

According to the pilot, Michelle Mahon, the students created put the solar panels together themselves, and the craft flies via electronic controls. And Staruk says it’s “just a matter of drift” before the Solar Gamera can fly for longer periods of time. In the meantime, enjoy the nine seconds of glory.