The Virus 912, a light airplane produced by Slovenia's Pipistrel, last week won the US$ 300,000 NASA-funded General Aviation Technology Challenge in the light sport aircraft category at a competition held in Sonoma, California, the company said on Monday.
According to Pipistrel, the competition was even tougher than last year's, when a Pipistrel model won a NASA award worth US$ 100,000 for an air car prototype.
In the CAFE Challenge, named after the CAFE Foundation for measurement and analysis of aircraft performance, the judges assessed flying safety, speed, takeoff distance, efficiency, agility, noise, fuel efficiency and other elements.
The two-seat ultralight aircraft won eight of the twelve disciplines. This year's competition included five teams, with two being eliminated due to technical difficulties, Pipistel said.
The prize-winning short-wing version of Virus 912 has a 10.4m wingspan, while an empty aircraft weighs 297 kilograms. The maximum take-off weight for such aircraft is 550 kilograms, the company added.
Pipistrel director Ivo Boscarol told the press that the company produces about 35 Viruses a year, which are sold at around US$ 70,000.
The competition is organised by NASA, the CAFE and the Boeing Company.
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