Personal aircraft prototypes pluck prizes

Boeing is the lead sponsor of the two-year GoFly Prize competition announced in 2017, opening to the world a race to create “a personal flying device for anyone, anywhere.” Other aerospace industry companies and organizations—including AOPA—have also contributed expertise, assistance, and dollars for a prize pool that totals more than $2 million. Engineers in universities, small shops, and plucky startups sharpened pencils (well, more likely fired up laptops) and pitched their vision to change the world with aircraft able to lift off vertically (more or less) and carry a single person up to 20 miles.

More than 3,500 participants from 101 countries joined the quest, and 31 teams made the cut for Phase II of the competition. After two rounds of judging, a panel of experts selected five winners of the $50,000 prizes who now advance to a Final Fly-Off in 2020.

“The level of ingenuity and dedication from each of these competitors is truly impressive,” said GoFly CEO Gwen Lighter, in a March 26 news release announcing the Phase II winners. “Each device is unique, revolutionizing the way we envision personal flight.”

Three U.S. teams, one Dutch collaboration, and one team hailing from Russia and Latvia are among the Phase II winners. Texas A&M University engineering students collaborated with research scientists from NASA and the University of Maryland to produce the Aria, which looks like an egg on helicopter skids with a pair of integrated rotors at the base and a helmeted pilot standing just above the rotors, partially ensconced in the egg-shaped airframe.

Trek Aerospace produced FlyKart2, a reclined seat surrounded by ducted fans, the brainchild of Robert Bulaga, a ducted propeller expert with more than 30 years of design experience, and Jose Fierro, a retired Marine Corps F/A–18 pilot who holds advanced degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University, according to a team bio provided by GoFly.

Mariah Cain is the team captain, project manager, and test pilot for Dragonair’s Airboard 2.0, an all-electric, scaled-up multirotor drone with a pedestal perch for a single standing pilot. Teams from Russia and Latvia, as well as the Netherlands, produced different takes on the flying motorcycle concept, one powered by a cluster of several ducted fans, the other by two, one on each side.

“We’re inspired and excited to see the strong progress that GoFly competitors have made on their bold, creative designs,” said Boeing Chief Technology Officer Greg Hyslop in the news release. “Their work confirms a principle that’s at the core of both Boeing and GoFly: aerospace innovation changes the world.”