Aug 12 2008
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had awarded a total of US$97,000 in prizes at the 2008 General Aviation Technology Challenge, one of NASA’s seven Centennial Challenges offering technology prize competitions for independent inventors. The General Aviation Technology Challenge took place from 4 August 2008 through 10 August 2008 at the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California. The contest encouraged inventors to design aircraft that were easier to fly, less expensive, safer, and less of a disturbance to both the environment and the communities surrounding airports. NASA provided the prize money, and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation managed the contest. Frank Vance Turner’s team from El Dorado Hills, California, won the largest prize, a US$50,000 purse for the airplane with the best safety features. Turner’s team also won prizes for the shortest takeoff distance and best angle of climb. In addition, the Turner team shared a prize for lowest cabin noise with John A. Dunham’s team from Carson City, Nevada. Dunham’s team also won the community noise prize. John Robert “Bob” Basham won a prize for the best glide ratio. NASA had offered a US$50,000 prize for any aircraft with a fuel efficiency of less than 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) per gallon, but none of the contestant aircraft met the requirement. NASA planned to use the unawarded prize money in the 2009 competition.
NASA, “Prizes Awarded at NASA’s General Aviation Technology Challange,” news release 08-206, 12 August 2008, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/aug/HQ_08206_Centennial_Challenges_ Cafe_400_Winners.html (accessed 7 July 2011).
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