Erik Lindbergh and “first families of flight” press electric aircraft development

Erik Lindbergh, the grandson of flight pioneers Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, announces his support for electric aircraft development by some of aviation’s “first families,” including members of the Wright, Zeppelin, Piccard, Dornier, Sikorsky and Lindbergh families, along with HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.

“Electric aviation is our new horizon,” Lindbergh says. “It represents a cleaner, quieter and safer future in air travel.”

Lindbergh made the announcement at the Sun ’N Fun International Fly-In and Expo in Lakeland, FL.

Members of the pioneering aviation families will come together with Prince Albert on April 13 during a forum at the Aero general aviation show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The forum will be presented by LEAP, a nonprofit organization founded by Erik Lindbergh to promote solutions to social, technical and environmental problems. LEAP is also the grantor of the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize, which will be awarded at the Aero show.

Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., will co-sponsor the LEAP forum with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

During the 1930s, Igor Sikorsky and Charles Lindbergh collaborated on designs for Pan American’s Clipper seaplanes.

“This partnership of the Lindbergh and Sikorsky namesakes marks a continuation of the relationship started by Igor and Charles,” VanBuiten says. “We hope it will help to inspire the next generation of problem solvers to tackle the toughest technological and environmental challenges in flight.”

Lindbergh spoke at Sun ’N Fun with members from the LEAP Student Team at Hale Academy high school in Ocala, FL. The LEAP team is documenting and working with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University students on that school’s “Eco-Eagle” electric aircraft, which will be entered in the NASA Green Flight Challenge.

LEAP Student Teams identify problems, research solutions with leading thinkers and document their findings on videos. Their work is a key component of LEAP’s support for developing a new generation of innovators.

“The future of flight doesn’t lay solely in technology,” Lindbergh says. “It’s in the hands of our kids. It can’t happen without passionate young people engaged in creating a better future.”