General Aviation Challenge Countdown

The General Aviation Challenge is going to start soon.

EAA Chapter 124 has an important role in the Challenge. Their newsletters often mention the Challenge, and of course the August Newsletter is no exception. Some excerpts:

The pilots and crews from the GAT (General Aviation Technology) Centennial Challenge will be joining the Chapter membership for the BBQ and general meeting. This will be an excellent opportunity for Chapter members to meet them and discuss what their plans are to win the competition.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE 2008 GAT CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE

The CAFE Foundation will be putting on the second General Aviation Technology Centennial Challenge in cooperation with NASA during the first week of August 2008, just after Oshkosh. They need about 60 volunteers to make this event run smoothly, and you can help.

They will have a CAEFE GAT Banquet on Saturday, August 9. Details on time, location, and food are in the linked PDF file.

Following the dinner will be the Awards Ceremony with surprise keynote speakers and the suspenseful presentation of cash prizes totaling up to $300,000.

X PRIZE Cars has the following in a weekly news roundup:

Pipistrel: Greener Personal Aircraft, talks about a contest for 100 MPG, 100 MPH personal aircraft. Will we be flying instead of driving to get our 100 MPG?

The linked post covers the Green Prize, one of the competitions at the General Aviation Challenge, and Pipistrel, the winner of the Personal Air Vehicle challenge last year. You can see the relationship to the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE with this ambition:

But the organization behind the race, the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation (or CAFE, pronounced “café”), has a much grander goal in mind. Inspired by the $10-million Automotive X Prize competition for a 100mpg car, CAFE president Brien Seeley is courting private contributors who can fund a prize of up to $10 million for the first plane to fly 100 miles, at 100 miles per hour, on one gallon of gasoline. (Though he has yet to write a check, Google co-founder Larry Page attends all the CAFE meetings.)

I read a similar statement at the CAFE 2008 Electric Aircraft Symposium site.

Sci-Tech: 2008 General Aviation Challenge - Space for All - This shows you when and where the Challenge will be held, and what the main prizes are. From a monetary point of view, the Community Noise Prize is the big one ($150,000), but there's also a lot of interest in fuel efficiency and electric planes. Really, advances in all of the areas addressed by the prizes are needed to reach the goals the CAFE Foundation has for General Aviation and Personal Air Vehicles.

Space for All links to this detailed post on the main prizes from the Daily Galaxy.

In addition to the 4 or 5 main prizes (depending on which ones you count), there are 4 "showcase" prizes. Here's the whole bunch:

Main Prizes:
1) For the winner of the Community Noise Prize, a maximum of US$ 150,000.00 (one hundred fifty thousand U.S. dollars)
2) For the winner of the Green Prize (aka Environmental Efficiency Prize), a maximum of US$ 50,000.00 (fifty thousand U.S. Dollars)
3) For the winner of the Aviation Safety Prize (aka Vehicle Safety Prize), US$ 50,000.00 (fifty thousand U.S. dollars)
4) For the winner of the CAFE 400 Prize (aka Decathlon Prize), a maximum of US$ 25,000.00 (twenty-five thousand U.S. dollars)
5) For the winner of the Quietest LSA Prize (aka the Sustainable Airports Prize), US$ $10,000 (ten thousand U.S. dollars)

Individual "Showcase" Prizes: Winner of each of the following five prizes will receive US$ 3750.00:

1) Quietest Cabin Prize
2) Best Angle of Climb Prize
3) Shortest Takeoff Prize
4) Best Glide at 100 mph Prize

See the "General Aviation" tag below for more posts on this prize.