Aircraft
Paris 2011: Big Frog to stake France’s claim to Reno glory
The Big Frog racer is getting attention for more than just its tongue-in-cheek patriotic name.

The Big Frog racer is getting attention for more than just its tongue-in-cheek patriotic name. The French aircraft is the first carbon-fiber race plane to run on a diesel engine powered purely by jet-A fuel. And it is turning heads here at the Le Bourget show.

Big Frog is the brainchild of three pilots–Frank Doyen, Mario Soave and Willy Gruhier–who dreamed up the project in 2005. They wanted to prove that a high-performance aircraft with a diesel engine could win the prestigious Reno National Championship Air Races, which take place every September in the Nevada desert.