One of the big draws at any aviation expo is innovation. Pilots, manufacturers, and enthusiasts go to see new aircraft and technology, learn fresh techniques, and hear about solutions to problems ranging from flying under new regulations to debugging app coding to the best way to rebuild an antique warbird. To celebrate and encourage aviation innovation, Tuesday, July 25, will be Innovations Day at this year’s EAA AirVenture.
The main event this year will be the awarding of the Founder’s Innovation Prize. It’s not just an award ceremony, however. The winner has yet to be decided. On Tuesday evening, the five competition finalists will pitch their solutions for in-flight loss of control to a panel of judges (and event attendees).The finalists are Colin Michael Foale, Ethan Brodsky, Henry Vos, Andrew Meyer, and, entered as a team, Thomas Baron, Maxwell Lord, and Justin Zhou.
After the ideas are presented, the panel will announce 1st-3rd place. The members of the judging panel are former space shuttle commander Charlie Precourt, aerobatic champion Michael Goulian, former NTSB senior air safety investigator Gregory Feith, civilian test pilot Dave Morss, and Van’s Aircraft founder and chief designer Dick VanGrunsven. The winner will receive $25,000, second place $10,000, and third place $5,000.
Also present to celebrate the aviation industry’s ability to imagine and create will be past and future innovations including Scaled Composites’ Proteus and the Stratos 714.
Learn more at EAA.
