NASA sponsored competition rewards efficiency mods in private aircraft

[MetroMPG]

Via Gizmodo ...
Greener Skies: Quiet, Fuel-Efficient Airplanes Race in NASA Challenge

This past weekend, a NASA-sanctioned 400-mile "personal air vehicle" race was held in Santa Rosa, CA, to see who had created the quietest, most fuel-efficient plane that's still reasonably fast. Those involved hope pushing these ideas forward will make personal airplanes cost effective someday. These PAVs run as quiet as a pickup truck while averaging a fuel efficiency of 25 to 30 miles per gallon. Four planes showed up for the challenge and $100,000 in prize money was awarded, though the most intriguing craft of them all, a modded DA-20 that runs partially on biodiesel, was unable to compete because of a faulty sensor.

I like the fact that they're looking for "real world" performance as well as fuel efficiency - ie. they also factor in climb rate, glide rate, takeoff distance, best time over the course.

Full post: Greener Skies: Quiet, Fuel-Efficient Airplanes Race in NASA Challenge