The suspension of the 1 km cable from a helicopter was quite a feat for the Power Beaming Challenge organizers. They deserve lots of plaudits for pulling it off. Here is a video showing the setup during a climb: Helicopter Operations - The Space Elevator Games:
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Usually, crazy sounding ideas turn out to be just that - crazy. However, occasionally, as proven by this helicopter suspension success, a dotty scheme works out just fine. So I try to keep an open mind about crazy concepts since the degree of sanity will be determined by the technical details, not first impressions or gut feelings. Who knows, maybe even the space elevator itself will turn out to be feasible. Looks like progress in the crucial carbon nanotube department is coming along: Making Carbon Nanotubes into Long Fibers - Technology Review - Nov.10.09 (more at NextBigFuture.com).