2011 NASA GREE FLIGHT CHALLENGE SPONSORED BY GOOGLE

NASA Green Flight Challenge

The CAFE Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google was held at the CAFE Foundation Flight Test Center at Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California in September 2011. The Green Flight Challenge marks the first time in history that full-scale electric-powered aircraft will fly in competition.

Day 1 - Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google

On the first day of this historic competition in September 2011 the teams weigh in their aircraft and get them qualified to compete.

Day 2 - pMPG Competition - Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google

Each aircraft's efficiency is evaluated using special hardware to measure total energy output, whether as electricity or liquid fuel. The resulting metric of Passenger Mile Per Gallon or pMPG is used as a component of each team's final score. Aircraft must achieve 200 pMPG across all competition phases to qualify for the US $1.5M prize.

And the Green Flight Aviation Award Goes To...

NASA awards CAFE Green Flight Challenge winners, team Pipistrel-USA.com of State College, Pa. the largest prize in aviation history, $1.35 million.

TEDxPSU - Jack Langelaan: NASA Green Flight Challenge

Jack Langelaan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University.

In 2011 he was leader of Team Pipistrel-USA.com, winner of the NASA Green Flight Challenge. The Team's aircraft, the world's first four-passenger electrically powered aircraft, flew 403 passenger miles per gallon over a 195 mile course at 107 miles per hour: this is more than double the fuel efficiency of a Toyota Prius at double the speed, and roughly seven times the fuel efficiency of typical small aircraft.

Aero-TV: Team e-Genius - The Green Flight Challenge's Quietest Aircraft

The e-Genius evolved from the Hydrogenius fuel-cell powered airplane project which won the Berblinger Prize 2006. The prize-winning concept was optimized by the University of Stuttgart's aircraft design specialists under the leadership of Prof. Rudolf Voit-Nitschmann, head of the Institute of Airplane design at University Stuttgart. A long standing working relationship and exchange of experience between the solar flight pioneer Eric Raymond and Prof. Rudolf Voit-Nitschmann led to a variant of the aircraft's participation in the Green Flight Challenge 2011.

Embry-Riddle Team Profile - Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google

Team Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took a decidedly different outlook to the Green Flight Challenge with a hybrid-electric propulsion system and found it rewarding.