Erik Lindbergh, grandson of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, has formed Powering Imagination, an enterprise founded to promote sustainable aviation and encourage students and innovators to participate in creating a “brilliant future” for flight.
Powering Imagination will use aviation events and adventures as a platform to inspire broader changes in the energy and transportation sectors, he said.
“We are fundamentally a media company, with a goal to inspire people around the world by leveraging stories about adventure, innovation, and sustainability on entrepreneurs around the world,” he said. “Powering Imagination is funded by global brands seeking to break through the marketing clutter by partnering with us to make our adventures and projects part of their marketing campaigns.”
“It is critical to create a sustainable future for aviation,” added Lindbergh. “Emissions and noise are issues that are causing increasing restrictions on aviation around the world. Solving these challenges will ensure that future generations can share our dreams of flight.”
Powering Imagination has developed three innovation initiatives: The Electric Flight Initiative (EFI), the Alternate Fuels Initiative (AFI), and the Quiet Flight Initiative (QFI)
“Pilot and Astronaut are consistently among the top 10 dream careers for children, and adults, around the world,” he said. “Everywhere we go, we discover a lot of enthusiasm from individuals and companies who want to be a part of the next revolution in energy and transportation.”
One of Powering Imagination’s projects involves retracing the historic North to the Orient adventure achieved by Lindbergh’s grandparents. In 1931 they flew around the Pacific, through the Northeastern U.S., Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Japan, and China to link cultures, test the latest aviation technologies, and experience the wilderness and beauty of these amazing parts of the world. In 2016 Erik Lindbergh will depart on a journey inspired by the original voyage, to test alternative aviation fuels on an adventure spanning more than 8,000 nautical miles in a modern floatplane.
“My grandparents came to understand the need for balancing technological progress with stewardship of our natural environment and wilderness,” said Lindbergh. “I was inspired to continue that vision by exerting a positive influence on the private space industry with the Ansari XPRIZE and recently on the electric aircraft industry.”
For the past seven years the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) has rewarded early success stories.
“I’m excited to broaden the scope, adding quiet flight and alternate fuel technologies as we create Powering Imagination,” added Lindbergh.
For more information: www.PoweringImagination.com