Competition Offers $250,000 to Design Pedal-Powered Helicopter
inhabitat.com
inhabitat.com
They've covered most of the loopholes - including storing energy, etc. Perhaps more interesting, there is no limit on the size of the crew.
So you can have energy in the system, but you can't sit there cycling for an hour charging a battery.
(They also exclude the crew taking stimulants and drugs).
If I recall, the issue wasn't an energy advantage, but the recovery. He could train at maximum level, and simply grab a new pair - whereas his competitors would have to worry about injury. (So I guess there was an energy equation, but a different one - the energy of the artificial legs slowly breaking).
In this case, I'd guess that would be a non issue. However, I equally don't see it as being a huge advantage... At the outside, perhaps a weight one.
There's ground effect because it's so low (0.2 m), but it's still unbelievably cool.
Would be a cool project for a research lab with funding and people.
2. Pedal for hours/days to charge the battery
3. Fly helicopter on battery power
4. Collect $250,000
doesn't sound like my cup of tea.