One Heck of a Helicopter

Why Are Human Powered Helicopters So Big?

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Rhett has the breakdown, but if you want the basic idea, here it is: helicopter thrust requires throwing air down with a certain momentum (mv), but less air moved quickly requires more energy than lots of air moved slowly, and since this is human-powered, you opt for the almost-surreal, slowly moving, huge rotors.