Project: Hartford University & Central Connecticut State University

The Hartford/CCSU project was started in 1998 under the supervision of Alfred Gates, the chairperson of the engineering department at CCSU. It was still active as of 2001. 

Quote from an article in 2001 on Alfred Gates: "Several CCSU senior projects under Gates' supervision have exhibited similar ingenuity. "Since 1998 students from CCSU and the University of Hartford have jointly designed and evaluated a human-powered helicopter that weighs less than 80 pounds," he notes. "We're studying low-speed rotor blade aerodynamics. Conceivably, the research could be used to develop a rotary aircraft for low-orbit satellites," says Gates, "a cheaper substitute for space satellites, which are retrievable only with great expense."

2006-07-18, Update from Alfred Gates: "We have made a CNC foam cutting machine to cut the blades. We will first test our concept with adjustable rotor blades, angle of twist and blade separation distance. We hope to do this next spring. If we can prove that our design can provide enough lift we will build the HPH."   NEW

If you have any more information about this project, please contact me.