The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) today announces the release of the 42^nd Annual Student Design Competition (SDC) Request for Proposal. The annual SDC sponsorship rotates between Airbus, Bell, Boeing, Leonardo, Sikorsky and the US Army Research Lab.

Each year, the VFS competition challenges students to design a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that meets specified requirements, providing a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities to promote student interest in VTOL engineering and technology.

This year’s sponsor is Airbus, and the request for proposals (RFP) — entitled “Pioneering Hydrogen-Electric VTOL” — is now available for download at www.vtol.org/sdc. As the sponsor, Airbus also supports a total of $12,500 in prize money.

With growing environmental concerns, the aviation sector is seeking to reduce its global carbon footprint. One promising research field is the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier instead of fossil fuels. The goal of this year’s RFP “Pioneering Hydrogen-Electric VTOL” is to conceptually design an electric VTOL aircraft using gaseous hydrogen fuel cell propulsion, while meeting several requirement constraints. The RFP is a unique opportunity for university teams to understand and overcome the specific challenges and requirements of a passenger-carrying hydrogen-powered VTOL aircraft.

Airbus and VFS encourage universities from around the world to form student teams and take part in this exciting vertical flight endeavor.