DAYTON — Several people put their drone innovations to the test in the Miami Valley on Sunday.
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As reported on News Center at 11:00, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hosted the final flight trials of the Lift Challenge on Sunday.
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It is a national competition to revolutionize heavy vertical-lift aviation.
Competitors were awarded over $6 million in prizes on Sunday night.
“If there were no limits, if there was nothing that was stopping me, if there’s nothing that’s holding me back, what would I do?” said Stephen Winchell, Director of DARPA.
As part of the flight test, DARPA brought intense competition to the Air Force Museum.
“It’s been phenomenal to be here at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” said Winchell. “This is really the birthplace of a lot of innovation.”
On Sunday, they set out to push what is possible in aviation.
“One of our goals is to inspire the next generation of young aerospace engineers to get started early and start imagining the impossible and doing it,” said Winchell.
Peter Jakaeowsky travelled from Vienna, Austria, to participate. The goal was to carry four times the weight of his team’s aircraft.
They almost made it happen.
“Our craft weighs a little bit below 55 pounds; it’s 54.9, and we are lifting around 190 pounds, so it’s a factor between 3.4 and 3.5,” said Jakaeowsky.
Winchell said DARPA hopes this innovation expands the capabilities in multiple markets.
“I hope it’s not once in a lifetime, right?” he said. “I hope we can get people started on this path to innovate and give them the tools they need to build successful companies and actually produce these things for the commercial market and for the military market.”
Peter’s team, Xtreme Aerial Concepts, won third place.
Avidrone and M Tech Operations took the top spots.
DAPRA said that even though nobody reached the goal of four times their drone’s weight, this contest marked a new wave in aviation.
A man traveled all the way from Austria to participate.
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