How It Works
Questions regarding rules interpretation will be submitted using the online submission system at https://www.aiaaawards.org/a. Questions submitted by email will not be accepted.
Rules interpretation questions may be submitted after the entry date (when all participant email addresses are known), so that all teams will have equal access to all rules information. The online submission site will open on 1 November for the first Q&A. Questions with answers will be posted on the website Q&A and delivered by email to all teams.
At the discretion of the DBF Organizing Committee, based on the number of questions received and the criticality of answers, the online submission site will be closed for the first Q&A. Once the questions have been received and answers documented in the Q&A on the website, the online submission system will reopen for the next set of questions. This process will be repeated until a few weeks before the fly-off, at the discretion of the committee.
Requirements
▸All questions must be submitted using the official DBF Q&A form on the DBF website. Questions submitted without using this form will be ignored. The form may not be altered and must be saved with the university name in the following format: DBF_Q&A_(university name).xlsx.
▸Teams are limited to no more than five (5) questions for the initial Q&A release. Once a Q&A is published, teams may submit up to 3 questions for each subsequent Q&A.
▸Each question must be limited to a single topic.
▸Proposed questions MUST be reviewed by ALL team members AND the Faculty Advisor prior to submittal to assure everyone has thoroughly reviewed the rules, FAQ and prior Q&A for the answers to the questions. The Faculty Advisor must assert on the form that this requirement was satisfied.
▸Questions requesting approval of a specific design approach or implementation will not be answered. Teams must submit question to clarify a rule, not to approve a design. Review of generic design concepts may be accepted if it aligns with guidelines herein.
▸Questions submitted that do not meet ALL of the above requirements will be ignored
Guidelines
▸Questions are limited to rules interpretation and clarification only, including answers or updates to rules provided in previous Q&A documents, needed to design, build, and test airplanes and payloads.
▸Questions should be limited to no more than two sentences, preferably a single-sentence question. Discussion or background information explaining why a team is asking the question is unnecessary. A valid question does not need additional information included with it. Keep in mind that questions are copied directly into the Q&A document, and additional information becomes burdensome when creating the document with appropriate answers.
▸Questions submitted out of curiosity or asking why a rule was written will be ignored.
▸Questions asking how something will be executed at the fly-off will be ignored. Details of fly-off execution will be provided in the Contest Information sheet and during the daily pilot briefings.
▸Graphics may be submitted with questions but should be used only when absolutely necessary to clarify the question. Graphics must be inserted into the form in the space provided. Any graphic should be of sufficient quality to be copied into the Q&A document with clarity.
