NASA Spends $25M On Unmanned Planes, Awards Aviation Prizes

An anonymous reader points out a NetworkWorld story about NASA's purchase of two unmanned aircraft for use in "observing remote locations of Earth not feasible or practical with piloted aircraft." The planes are Northrop Grumman Global Hawks, and NASA selected them for their extreme range and the fact that most other unmanned vehicles don't have the FAA's approval for regular use over the US. NASA also distributed prizes for its General Aviation Challenge this weekend. The goals of the challenge include improving fuel efficiency in aviation, reducing emissions, and aircraft safety. None of the teams were able to achieve the $50,000 prize for managing 30 miles per gallon, but the top team was able to complete the 400-mile course at 28.8 miles per gallon.

Comments

Hyper mailing and tailgating

[LiquidCoooled]

Wait until the drones start hypermiling and catching the draft of passing jets.
Then we will see MPG figures increase.

Of course someone with a honda will just tape wings onto their car and beat it hands down, but they tend to be frowned upon.

Re:Oil independence

[rossdee]

MPG doesn't really matter if you're not going anywhere. The Global Hawk is a loitering type of reconnaissance plane, not a fly-over-as-fast-as-you-can type like the SR71. What matters is the gallons per hour, not the miles per gallon.

Re:Odd

[SimonGhent]

The Pipistrel won $250,000 from NASA last year http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9758741-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20/

And in TFA:

One of the biggest prizes it granted was $50,000 for aircraft safety to the lone returning competitor, the Slovenian-built Pipistrel known as Virus. The plane, which was the big winner at the 2007 event, had added such precautions as a cabin integrated with Kevlar and an installed ballistic parachute system, or a deployable rocket that would launch a parachute 100 feet above the plane in the event of an emergency

But in answer to your question (again from TFA!):

The Pipistrel, for example, used a carbon-fiber propeller on its aircraft this year to reduce its noise by at least 10 percent, but that shift cut the plane's fuel-efficiency by as much as 50 percent.