4 ms·

The helicopter requires pedalling with both hands and feet. Upper body strength is not something that goes hand-in-hand with cycling, due to the extra weight.

davidw 13y ago
Well, they do seem to have picked cyclists as test pilots. It may be, too, that the hand pedals are more of a distraction. It's something that has been tried with bicycles, and in general doesn't work out very well. Granted, in part this may be because you also have to steer a bike, whereas for a short effort like this, that's not so important. There's something to be said in any case for an otherwise rigid frame that you can hold onto with your hands, and really just sink all the leg power you can into it, kind of like standing up on a bicycle as you go uphill: you actually do pull on the bars.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  They did a little bit of testing: http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/gamera2-human-power.html http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/gamera2-human-power.h... Page also mentions that their pilots weigh less than 145 pounds. I bet it matters a lot and wonder where the pros you are citing come in.
  - davidw 13y ago
    Great link; it's interesting to see that indeed, they do get a lot more out of the hand cranks. > I bet it matters a lot and wonder where the pros you are citing come in. Where they come in is that a small climber has an excellent power to weight ratio. This guy weighs 48 kg, for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rujano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rujano
    - stouset 13y ago
      Power to weight ratio varies over time as well. Smaller guys are great at climbing long distances, because they can maintain a higher power-to-weight ratio for an hour or longer. Bigger guys tend to be sprinters (Chris Hoy is 205lbs) because their peak power can be much, much higher and compensate for the extra weight. For a one-minute effort, I'd suspect that a somewhat heavier sprinter profile would be an advantage over a lightweight climber profile. Even moreso because the weight of the craft will be a smaller percentage of their overall weight. A 150lb cyclist capable of outputting 10W/kg for a minute will have an effective 6.6W/kg on a 75lb craft. A 180lb cyclist capable of the same 10W/kg would have an effective 7.0W/kg on the same craft. And a 180lb cyclist capable of 11W/kg would manage an effective 7.7W/kg.
  - jeffasinger 13y ago
    The Pros tend to be pretty light. Guideline for weight of a cyclist is (Height in Inches) x2 = (Weight in Pounds).
- mistercow 13y ago
  > It's something that has been tried with bicycles, and in general doesn't work out very well. Granted, in part this may be because you also have to steer a bike, whereas for a short effort like this, that's not so important. I would expect pedaling with your hands to be a huge stability problem on a bike, and once again, not so much of an issue with a helicopter.
- Retric 13y ago
  This is a 90 second anaerobic sprint where cycling is an aerobic activity. Thus building up lactic acid in the upper body lets you extract more energy where the lungs can't support the extra load in aerobic cycling.
  - davidw 13y ago
    There are plenty of anaerobic efforts during most road races. Sure, it's primarily an aerobic activity, but you need to be able to 'go anaerobic' too. Exhibit A would be the finish of the Fleche Wallone. This video (at about 8:00 ) shows it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-kNDQuiIo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-kNDQuiIo - just about 90 seconds. Perhaps a more even distribution of lactic acid lets you generate more power overall... I don't know.

davidw 13y ago

Well, they do seem to have picked cyclists as test pilots. It may be, too, that the hand pedals are more of a distraction. It's something that has been tried with bicycles, and in general doesn't work out very well. Granted, in part this may be because you also have to steer a bike, whereas for a short effort like this, that's not so important. There's something to be said in any case for an otherwise rigid frame that you can hold onto with your hands, and really just sink all the leg power you can into it, kind of like standing up on a bicycle as you go uphill: you actually do pull on the bars.

maxerickson 13y ago
They did a little bit of testing: http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/gamera2-human-power.html http://www.agrc.umd.edu/gamera/gamera2/gamera2-human-power.h... Page also mentions that their pilots weigh less than 145 pounds. I bet it matters a lot and wonder where the pros you are citing come in.
- davidw 13y ago
  Great link; it's interesting to see that indeed, they do get a lot more out of the hand cranks. > I bet it matters a lot and wonder where the pros you are citing come in. Where they come in is that a small climber has an excellent power to weight ratio. This guy weighs 48 kg, for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rujano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rujano
  - stouset 13y ago
    Power to weight ratio varies over time as well. Smaller guys are great at climbing long distances, because they can maintain a higher power-to-weight ratio for an hour or longer. Bigger guys tend to be sprinters (Chris Hoy is 205lbs) because their peak power can be much, much higher and compensate for the extra weight. For a one-minute effort, I'd suspect that a somewhat heavier sprinter profile would be an advantage over a lightweight climber profile. Even moreso because the weight of the craft will be a smaller percentage of their overall weight. A 150lb cyclist capable of outputting 10W/kg for a minute will have an effective 6.6W/kg on a 75lb craft. A 180lb cyclist capable of the same 10W/kg would have an effective 7.0W/kg on the same craft. And a 180lb cyclist capable of 11W/kg would manage an effective 7.7W/kg.
- jeffasinger 13y ago
  The Pros tend to be pretty light. Guideline for weight of a cyclist is (Height in Inches) x2 = (Weight in Pounds).
mistercow 13y ago
> It's something that has been tried with bicycles, and in general doesn't work out very well. Granted, in part this may be because you also have to steer a bike, whereas for a short effort like this, that's not so important. I would expect pedaling with your hands to be a huge stability problem on a bike, and once again, not so much of an issue with a helicopter.
Retric 13y ago
This is a 90 second anaerobic sprint where cycling is an aerobic activity. Thus building up lactic acid in the upper body lets you extract more energy where the lungs can't support the extra load in aerobic cycling.
- davidw 13y ago
  There are plenty of anaerobic efforts during most road races. Sure, it's primarily an aerobic activity, but you need to be able to 'go anaerobic' too. Exhibit A would be the finish of the Fleche Wallone. This video (at about 8:00 ) shows it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-kNDQuiIo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-kNDQuiIo - just about 90 seconds. Perhaps a more even distribution of lactic acid lets you generate more power overall... I don't know.