The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI, The World Air Sports Federation) has awarded the 2012 Prince Alvaro de Orleans Borbon Grant to AeroVelo for the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter Project! We would like to extend our extreme gratitude to the FAI for this great honour and for their ongoing support. You can read the FAI's release here.
The FAI, established in 1905, “is a non-governmental and non-profit making international organisation with the basic aim of furthering aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide, ratifying world and continental records and coordinating the organization of international competitions” (FAI). The organization was responsible in 2010 for overseeing and ratifying the Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter's world-first flight, and is also responsible for overseeing all human-powered aircraft and human-powered helicopter records (we hope to be speaking with them soon on this last subject!)
The Prince Alvaro de Orleans Borbon Grant (valued at $20,000 USD) is awarded every two years to an organization or individual with the goal of supporting research and innovation focused on the advancement of sport aviation and simulated flying. Special consideration is given to organizations which help bring increased visibility and interest to sport aviation, and AeroVelo's past and current work fits this bill extremely well. Our unique engineering projects combine inspiration, education, and innovation in all aspects to produce exciting accomplishments, and the Atlas is an embodiment of this ideal. The Grant guidelines have in fact recently been revised, and AeroVelo is the first recipient of the AOB Grant under these new rules.
This prestigious honour will help the AeroVelo team support continued testing of the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter in 2013, as well as provide for futur engineering education projects. Many thanks again to the FAI!