Greener Skies: Quiet, Fuel-Efficient Airplanes Race in NASA Challenge

This past weekend, a NASA-sanctioned 400-mile "personal air vehicle" race was held in Santa Rosa, CA, to see who had created the quietest, most fuel-efficient plane that's still reasonably fast. Those involved hope pushing these ideas forward will make personal airplanes cost effective someday. These PAVs run as quiet as a pickup truck while averaging a fuel efficiency of 25 to 30 miles per gallon. Four planes showed up for the challenge and $100,000 in prize money was awarded, though the most intriguing craft of them all, a modded DA-20 that runs partially on biodiesel, was unable to compete because of a faulty sensor. In the end, the big winner was the Pipistrel Virus, a two-seater with tech-happy features such as three GPS modules, terrain visualization screen and a rocket-propelled parachute that deploys in the event of a mid-air collision. Here's a look at all four contenders: More »