GA Technology Challenge

[tnowak]

Interesting info from NASA:

PRIZES AWARDED AT NASA'S GENERAL AVIATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE

WASHINGTON -- NASA awarded a total of $97,000 in prizes at the 2008
General Aviation Technology Challenge. The challenge asked
competitors to demonstrate innovations that would lead to aircraft
that are safer, more affordable, easier to fly and also have less of
a negative impact on the environment and on the communities that
surround airports.

The challenge was managed by the Comparative Aircraft Flight
Efficiency, or CAFE, Foundation at the Sonoma County Airport in Santa
Rosa, Calif., from Aug. 4 through Aug. 10. All competitors had
experimental licenses, as required by the Federal Aviation
Administration, since aircraft were modified with new innovations for
this competition.

The largest prize awarded was $50,000 for the aircraft with the
overall best safety features which went to Vance Turner's team from
El Dorado Hills, Calif., flying a modified Pipistrel Virus. The
Pipistrel team also won prizes for the shortest takeoff distance and
best angle of climb. Turner's team shared the lowest cabin noise
prize with a team led by John Dunham of Carson City, Nev.

Dunham's team used a customized Lambada aircraft to win $20,000 for
the community noise prize. Pilot Bob Basham, flying a Flight
Design-CT, won a prize of $3,750 for best glide ratio at 100 mph.

A $50,000 Green Aviation Prize purse was offered, but no team was able
to exceed the minimum requirement of 30 miles per gallon, although
all the competitors came close. The prize money not won this year
will roll over to next year's competition, which will have over
$600,000 in prize money.

The General Aviation Technology Challenge is one of seven NASA
technology prize competitions. The prize program began in 2005 and is
known as Centennial Challenges, in recognition of the centennial of
powered flight. In keeping with the spirit of the Wright Brothers and
other American innovators, the Centennial Challenge prizes are
offered to independent inventors who work without government support,
including small businesses, student groups and individuals.

The prize competitions are targeted at a range of technical challenges
that support NASA's missions in aeronautics and space. The goal is to
encourage novel solutions from non-traditional sources. For the
program, NASA provides the prize money while each of the competitions
is managed by an independent allied organization at no cost to NASA.
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program Office manages the Centennial
Challenges program.

For more information on the program, visit:

http://centennialchallenges.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Innovative Partnership Program,
visit: http://ipp.nasa.gov