Design/Build/Fly Competition

Model Airplane News, Feb 2004 by Day, Roy

For the last seven years, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Cessna Aircraft and the Office of Naval Research have sponsored a university-student competition in the design, building and flying of a radio controlled model aircraft. Each participating university forms a team of eight to 15 engineering students who write a design report, build an aircraft to accomplish the mission parameters set for that year and then compete in a flight competition. The teams earn points for each phase of the project. Cash prizes are $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place. The 2003 competition was held in Ridgely, MD.

Greg Page and Chris Bovais, from the Naval Research Lab (NRL), do a fine job of running the competition. Many volunteers assist in all phases of the competition, including the development of criteria, grading of reports, safety inspections and flight competition.

DESIGN OBJECTIVES

Each year, the design objectives and the flight missions are changed to encourage innovation. This year, the objective was to design an aircraft that could be packed in a 4x2x1-foot box, assembled quickly by no more than three team members and then flown in two of three specified UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) type missions: Missile Electronic Warfare (EW) Decoy, Sensor Deployment and Communications Repeater.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

1. Any configuration is allowed except rotary wing or lighter than air.

2. It must be an electric-powered, propdriven aircraft. The number of motors is free, but only brushed motors from Graupner or AstroFlight may be used.

3. Maximum battery-pack weight is 5 pounds made from commercially available Ni-Cds.

4. Pilot and aircraft must be AMA legal.

5. Maximum motor current is limited to 40 amps by a fuse.

6. All aircraft must undergo a rigorous safety inspection, and entrants must provide proof of prior flight (video or photo).

MISSION REQUIREMENTS

Each team selects two of three missions to fly. The object is to fly as many sorties as possible in a 10-minute period while meeting all mission requirements. The flight score is determined by the missions selected (varying difficulty) and the number of sorties accomplished. All takeoffs must be accomplished within 120 feet.

* Missile Decoy. The aircraft must take off from the runway, complete four laps and land on the runway. The payload is a 5-pound, 12x6x6-inch box. The aircraft must also externally carry a simulated cylindrical antenna made of 6-inch-diameter PVC pipe.

* Sensor Deployment. The aircraft must take off, fly two laps and then land. A 5-pound payload must be dropped to the runway by the aircraft; then it must take off and fly another two laps.

* Communications Repeater. The aircraft must take off, complete four laps and land while carrying the same 5-pound payload.

COMPETITION RESULTS

Thirty-three teams from universities in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Italy participated. Most of the entries had wingspans of between 6 and 8 feet and used 60- to 90-size electric motors. The final score for each team was a combination of their flight results, the score on a written report and a "Rated Aircraft Cost," which is a measure of the complexity and difficulty of building the aircraft.

THE TOP THREE TEAMS

1. San Diego State University

2. California Polytechnic State University

3. La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Design/Build/Fly Competition is an excellent learning experience for engineering students; it combines theory and hands-on work to produce some truly innovative designs. The flying competition for 2004 will be held this spring at Cessna in Wichita, KS; it will return to the East Coast in 2005.