Slovenian Light Aircraft Awarded US$ 100,000 by NASA

The Virus, a light airplane model produced by Slovenia's Pipistrel, won on Saturday a NASA award worth US$ 100,000 for being the closest of the four competitors to a prototype for so-called air cars, the cnet website wrote on Sunday.

The awards commission deemed the plane best of all after assessing its speed, takeoff distance, efficiency, handling, noise, and all categories combined.
The commission awarded the Virus, which sells for around US$ 70,000 in the US, for its light weight, its ability to carry more useful load (passengers, fuel, and baggage) than it weighs and because it can fly at more than 225 kilometres per hour and do over 80 kilometres per gallon (3.8 litres) of fuel.
The competition is organised by NASA and the CAFE Foundation for measurement and analysis of aircraft performance.

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