It has been several months since our Fly Off, and much has changed in the world since we were last all together. We are sending our best wishes to you across the globe. We hope you and your loved ones are safe and well.  

We were fortunate with the timing of the Fly Off, but given that the global pandemic may prevent large gatherings for the foreseeable future, GoFly has adjusted its format to reflect this new normal.

As you all know, the $1,000,000 Grand Prize is still available. 

Given the continuing competition and the realities of awarding a prize within the pandemic, we are reaching out today with an update on our plan which provides for an individual team demonstration rather than a large event gathering. The requirements of the competition have not changed, only the process to a flight demonstration to be eligible for the Grand Prize. 

Please review the Competition Guidelines for updates and details, or please see the updates to the Guidelines below. Additional FAQ’s have also been added to the FAQ tab of the website. 

If you are a Phase 1 team and wish to continue participating, or a new team to the competition, please email  for more details on the required documents. 

We look forward to sharing Updates in the coming weeks and months. Please reach out to us with any questions. 

Ready. Set. GoFly!

 

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The $1,000,000 Grand Prize will be awarded to the first officially registered and approved GoFly Team that demonstrates meeting all GoFly Prize criteria and thresholds, as observed and verified by GoFly. GoFly will arrange a formal on-site observation for the Grand Prize in coordination with a Team after the Team has provided compelling evidence to GoFly that they have completed their own independent verification of compliance with all required tasks and measurements. 

Process:

Teams will provide their evidence through an online form, formatted as a checklist covering sections 2 and 4.1 of the guidelines where, for each item, the Team will describe the method of demonstrating each requirement and provide the evidence and documentation. 

GoFly will coordinate with the Team to choose a suitable demonstration site, with preference given to the site used for the Team’s prior flight demonstrations, though final determination of the location will be made by GoFly in its sole discretion. Note that prior to an on-site observation, Teams must also demonstrate safe and deterministic behavior in the event of lost RF link(s) and/or GNSS fix, as applicable.

As an optional step for Teams, GoFly is available to give feedback regarding acceptability of Teams’ planned means to demonstrate their own independent verification of compliance with all required tasks and measurements before they make a full flight demonstration. 

To initiate a review of planned means of demonstration or to gain access to the online form, simply email  a link to a full continuous video of a flight of your device meeting all of the following requirements:

  • 20 minutes in-air flight time
  • Operator/Dummy at full 200 lb weight
  • At least 6 nmi of ground track covered
  • At least 30 ktas reached at some point during the flight

Except for registration of new Teams (Teams that did not participate in Phase II or III should email  to begin the registration process), there is no action necessary for Teams to take until after Team has completed development of a fully capable device.

Scheduling and prize priority:

GoFly will review submissions in the order in which they are received. However, since some review and resubmission of evidence is to be expected, the order for scheduling an on-site observation will be based on GoFly’s determination regarding when a team has fully demonstrated compliance with all required tasks and measurements with evidence GoFly has deemed compelling. In other words, Teams may submit and complete their review while another Team is in the review and submission process.

GoFly will endeavor to set a firm date for an on-site observation within one month of determining that evidence is compelling, subject to travel restrictions and pandemic precautions. A formal observation will be scheduled for two days only (with acceptable weather conditions). If a Team is unsuccessful at claiming the Grand Prize during the formal observation, the team must restart the process (though data from the formal observation may be used as evidence, so, depending on the reason(s) the team is unsuccessful, the length of the restarted process may vary considerably). During that time, other team observations may occur.

If a Team cancels or postpones the formal demonstration by notifying GoFly at least one week ahead of the planned date, it may be rescheduled as soon as a suitable make-up date can be arranged, though other Team’s formal observations may proceed as planned. 

If GoFly must postpone a formal observation, other formal observations may occur but the postponed observation team retains its priority for the prize if a formal observation occurs within 60 days of the original date and the team meets all criteria and thresholds at that observation.