"'I grew up wanting to fly,' says Graham Bowen-Davies. 'I guess I just settled for being an engineer.'"

"He's standing on an indoor track in southern Maryland, watching a giant helicopter take flight. At the end of each of its four spindly arms — arms he helped design and build — a giant rotor churns the air. In the cockpit sits the engine: a 0.7-horsepower, 135-pound graduate student named Kyle Gluesenkamp."

"Gluesenkamp is pedaling like crazy to keep the rotors spinning and the craft aloft."

"Bowen-Davies and dozens of his fellow students from the University of Maryland are chasing one of aviation's last milestones: the Sikorsky Prize. The American Helicopter Society (AHS) has promised $250,000 to the team that can build a human-powered helicopter. All it has to do is hover for a minute, reach a height of 3 meters (about 10 feet), and stay in a 10-meter box."

"Turns out, that's harder than it sounds. The prize has been unclaimed for more than three decades."