Da Vinci Project - History and Status

History and Status

The project was established in 1996. It is named after Leonardo da Vinci, who, among innumerable other inventions, was the first recorded person to design an aircraft. The project was staffed entirely by volunteers.

The project unveiled a mockup of their spacecraft, Wild Fire, on August 5, 2004 at a hangar at Downsview Airport in Toronto. At this point, it was considered a contender for the Ansari X PRIZE, and Tier One had just given notice of their planned competitive flights. When announcing the unveiling, the da Vinci Project also appealed for funds to fly Wild Fire. An agreement was reached with GoldenPalace.com, and the project subsequently gave the required 60 day notice that they would make Ansari X PRIZE competitive flights. GoldenPallace.com, known for its marketing gimicks, will place a soccer ball kicked out of the stadium by David Beckham during the 2004 Euro World Cup inside the space craft.

The da Vinci Project initially announced that it would fly first on October 2, 2004, launching from Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This was only three days after the first expected X PRIZE flight, by Scaled Composites, on September 29, 2004. However, on September 23, 2004 the da Vinci project announced that they would not be ready. Scaled Composites won the X PRIZE on October 4, 2004.

There is no evidence that flight-capable hardware was ever produced by the project.