Egyptian gods and Greek myths

A tailor leads the way

The Berblinger Prize was first awarded in 1986 for emulating Berlinger's attempt to fly over the Danube in an identical glider. Many failed, but a few participants did actually manage to cross the river without getting their feet wet. Due to the great success of this competition, the city of Ulm decided to award the prize every two years for special achievements in aviation. These prizes were not bound to a specific topic; any achievement in the field of aviation could be considered. Then in 1992 again a specific task was set: "Who can build the best solar aircraft?"

Even before the prize was advertised, the jury had approached the universities of Ulm and Stuttgart to check whether the requirements could actually be fulfilled. This work was carried out in research for student diploma dissertations demonstrating the feasibility of individual components.

The participants then had time until 1996 to construct a fully functional solar aircraft. In addition to fulfilling many technical requirements, the aircraft also had to be capable of being put into practical use.