Aerospace America reported that a team from Clarkson University won the 2018 Design/Build/Fly competition in Wichita, Kansas, on Sunday, “besting fellow students from around the United States and world.” The team’s aircraft was one of the lightest radio-controlled planes in the competition, and was made in part from the “takeout container box from a Chinese restaurant.” This year’s challenge was to design a “regional and business aircraft” that would carry one plastic ball “passenger” on one ground mission and three flight missions. The event attracted “720 students from 77 teams in 16 countries, making it the largest [Design/Build/Fly] competition in the event’s 22-year history.”
Full Story (Aerospace America)
Tag: design build fly
Weekend Competition Will Test University Students’ Aircraft Designs to Deliver Vaccine Components
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
More Than 700 Students Gather for Annual Design/Build/Fly Competition
April 18, 2022 – – Reston, Va. – – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is returning to Wichita with its annual Design/Build/Fly (DBF) contest, April 22-24. The weekend event is hosted by Textron Aviation. More than 700 talented engineering students from universities in 13 countries, including the University of Kansas, will gather to test the radio-controlled aircraft they designed and built to deliver and drop vaccine components. Credentialed members of the media are invited to witness the flyoffs and awards presentation.
WHEN:
Friday, April 22
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Flight line open for university teams
Saturday, April 23
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Flight line open for university teams
Sunday, April 24
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Flight line open for university teams
5:30 p.m. Awards presentation
WHERE:
Textron Aviation Employees’ Flying Club
10335 E. Central Avenue
Wichita, KS, 67206
Visitors will be allowed at the competition site, but not elsewhere on campus without prior coordination and an employee accompanying them.
WHAT:
- Daily flights of radio-controlled aircraft by university teams
- Missions will include deployment of the aircraft, staging of vaccination syringes, and delivery of environmentally sensitive vaccine vial packages.
- The objective is to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an uncrewed, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile.
- The goal is a balanced design possessing good flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.
HEALTH and SAFETY:
COVID protocols will apply for entering the facility and all indoor spaces, including wearing masks. AIAA will be implementing its major event health and safety protocols for DBF. Journalists must follow all instructions for uploading proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results. Refer to https://aiaa.org/dbf/health-and-safety for more information.
CONTACT:
To attend in person, contact:
Amanda Jennings
AIAA Social Media Specialist
470-214-7464
[email protected]
Kate Flavin
Textron Aviation Communications Specialist
316-252-7780
[email protected]
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow the competition on AIAA Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag: #AIAADBF
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About DBF
The Design/Build/Fly (DBF) competition (aiaa.org/dbf) is celebrating its 26th year. Started in 1996 by the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design and Flight Test Technical Committees, DBF is an opportunity for university students to apply real-world aircraft design experience by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies.
Student teams design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an uncrewed, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.
To encourage innovation and maintain a fresh design challenge for each new year’s participants, the design requirements and performance objective are updated for each new contest year. The changes provide new design requirements and opportunities, while allowing for application of technology developed by the teams from prior years.
2022 DBF Sponsors: Textron Aviation, Raytheon Technologies, AIAA Foundation, AeroVironment, General Atomics Aeronautical, MathWorks, Spirit Aerosystems.
AIAA Announces Design/Build/Fly Winners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Michele McDonald
703.264.7542
[email protected]
USC, Georgia Tech, UNLV take top prizes
April 24, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) today announced the winners of the 24th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Missile Systems Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition.
Originally scheduled for 16–19 April in Wichita, Kansas, the Design/Build/Fly fly-off was cancelled to safeguard the health of the national and international teams due to the coronavirus pandemic. AIAA has gathered footage of many 2019–2020 teams flying their aircraft at home.
The competition is divided into two sections—a fly-off and a formal report. The formal report part of the competition did continue.
The 2019–2020 winners are:
- First Place ($3,000 and $100 for Best Report Score): University of Southern California
- Second Place ($2,000): Georgia Institute of Technology
- Third Place ($1,500): University of Nevada, Las Vegas
“The Design/Build/Fly Competition is a highlight of the year and we sorely miss the enthusiasm, talent and creativity on display at the fly-off,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “Aerospace trains us to adapt to the unexpected. It’s a good lesson for students as they enter this vibrant and meaningful field. I, for one, am enjoying the home videos of the teams flying their aircraft. Congratulations to the winning teams!”
DBF received 143 proposals and selected 113 to compete. Of the 113 teams selected, 101 submitted a formal report. The formal reports are scored for design as well as manufacturing and testing plans.
This year’s theme was a Banner Towing Bush Plane with a 5-foot maximum wing span. Separate missions included number of laps, number of passengers and luggage, and deploying a banner. More details about the mission requirements can be found on the DBF website.
Russ Althof, director of the DBF organizing committee, said, “We owe our thanks for the success of the DBF competition to the efforts of many volunteers from Textron Aviation, Raytheon Missile Systems, and the AIAA sponsoring technical committees: Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Flight Test, and Design Engineering. These volunteers collectively set the rules for the contest, publicize the event, gather entries, judge the written reports, and in all other years, organize the fly-off.”
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 85 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana Wins 23rd Annual Student Design/Build/Fly Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Blacksten
703.264.7532
[email protected]
Teams from 21 Nations Competed
April 15, 2019 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation congratulates the winning teams in the 2018–2019 Textron Aviation/Raytheon Missile Systems/AIAA Foundation Student Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition, held April 11–14, at the Tucson International Modelplex Park Association (TIMPA) Airfield, Tucson, Arizona.
The team representing the University of Ljubljana (pictured right) won the event’s $2,500 first-place prize, while the team from Georgia Tech won the event’s $1,500 second-place prize. The winner of the event’s $1,000 third-place prize was Austria’s FH Joanneum of Applied Sciences.
The University of Southern California won the “best report” award.
Out of 104 eligible teams, 77 competed. Twenty-one teams were international. The competing teams comprised 785 students. There were 96 successful flights, and 26 teams completed all three missions.
“Hands-on experience is the best way to learn how to become an engineer and there are few better teachers than the Design/Build/Fly contest,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “I applaud all the teams here for a job well done!”
Now in its 23rd year, the DBF competition encourages and recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering skills at the undergraduate and graduate levels by challenging teams to design and fabricate a radio-controlled aircraft conforming to strict guidelines, submit a written report about the aircraft’s design, and fly their aircraft over a defined course while carrying a payload and landing it without damage. This year, the design simulated a multi-purpose aircraft to support carrier operations.
“More than 30 years ago, I was part of the MIT team that designed and built the record-setting human-powered Daedalus aircraft,” said John Langford, AIAA president and CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing company. “The sight of it flying inspires me to this day. I am certain many of these teams will be inspired for years to come by the work and comradery they experienced at DBF.”
Official results and rankings for all participants will be available from the DBF website after their final verification and validation. For more information about the Textron Aviation/Raytheon Missile Systems/AIAA Foundation DBF Competition, please visit http://www.aiaadbf.org.
*View DBF 2019 Photos
About the AIAA Foundation
The AIAA Foundation seeks to “make it exciting, make it empowering, and make it fun.” That simple, compelling philosophy drives the Foundation’s commitment to math, science, and technology education. The AIAA Foundation offers a wealth of resources to support educators from K–12 through university: scholarships, classroom grants, design competitions, and student conferences, improving scientific literacy and advancing the arts and sciences of aerospace. For more information on the AIAA Foundation and its programs for students, teachers, and professionals, please visit www.aiaafoundation.org.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 88 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter @AIAA.
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 200, Reston, VA 20191-5807
Phone: 703.264.7558 Fax: 703.264.7551 aiaa.org
University of Southern California Wins 18th Annual Student Design/Build/Fly Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DUANE HYLAND
703.264.7558
[email protected]
18th Event Drew 73 Teams from 29 States and 15 Countries
April 16, 2014 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation congratulates the winning teams in the 2013–2014 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile Systems/AIAA Foundation Student Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition, held April 11–13 at Cessna Aircraft Company’s Cessna Field, Wichita, Kan. This year’s competition brought together 73 teams from 29 states and 15 countries, making it the largest DBF competition yet held. There were 750 people at this year’s event.
The team from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., won the event’s $2,500 first-place prize, scoring 407.24 points. The team from the University of California – Irvine, Calif., received the $1,500 second-place prize, scoring 352.86 points. The team from San Jose State University,San Jose, Calif., received the $1,000 third-place prize, scoring 326.37 points. The team from the University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, was the highest placing foreign team, placing fourth overall, scoring 256.76 points. AIAA Executive Director Sandra Magnus and Cessna’s Senior Vice President of Engineering Michael Thacker presented the winning teams with their prizes.
“Design, Build, Fly is a great event! It was wonderful to see so many students, from all over the world, out there testing their designs in some pretty challenging winds,” said AIAA Executive Director Sandra Magnus. “I thought everyone did a great job and there was an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm evident during the whole weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone again next year!”
“The Design/Build/Fly contest is an Engineering Design competition intended to help university students develop real-world engineering skills,” said DBF Contest Director David W. Levy, principal engineer, aerosciences flight support, Textron Aviation. “They have to demonstrate, at the fly-off, that their aircraft can actually meet the goals of the mission. The lessons they learn about unforeseen issues along the way will serve them well later in their careers. I’m always impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm that the students show at the fly-off. Many thanks to Cessna, Raytheon, and AIAA for their continued support.”,
Now in its 18th year, the DBF competition encourages and recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering skills at the undergraduate and graduate levels by challenging teams to design and fabricate a radio-controlled aircraft conforming to strict guidelines, submit a written report about the aircraft’s design, and fly their aircraft over a defined course while carrying a payload, landing it without damage. This year, the flight segments were: a “rough field” taxi, a ferry flight, a maximum load flight, and an emergency medical mission. Each of the scoring missions had different payloads and flight expectations that the aircraft had to completely fulfill before receiving a score. Final results of the competition were based on each team’s score on its written design report combined with its scores from the flight opportunities.
Official results and rankings of all participants will be available from the DBF website after final verification and validation. For more information about the AIAA Foundation DBF Competition, please visit http://www.aiaadbf.org/.
About the AIAA Foundation
The AIAA Foundation seeks to “make it exciting, make it empowering, and make it fun.” That simple, compelling philosophy drives the Foundation’s commitment to math, science, and technology education. The AIAA Foundation offers a wealth of resources to support educators from K–12 through university: scholarships, classroom grants, design competitions, and student conferences, improving scientific literacy and advancing the arts and sciences of aerospace. For more information on the AIAA Foundation and its programs for students, teachers and professionals, please visit www.aiaafoundation.org.
About AIAA
AIAA is the largest aerospace professional society in the world, serving a diverse range of more than 35,000 individual members from 80 countries, and 100 corporate members. AIAA members help make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. For more information, visit aiaa.org.
1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA 20191-4344
Phone: 703.264.7558 Fax: 703.264.7551 aiaa.org
AIAA Foundation Student Design/Build/Fly Winners Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DUANE HYLAND
(AIAA Communciations 2008–2017)
703.264.7558
[email protected]
17th Annual Event Drew 59 Teams from 25 States and 14 Foreign Nations
April 24, 2013 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation congratulates the winning teams in the 2012–2013 Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile Systems/ AIAA Foundation Student Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition, held April 19–21 at the Tucson International Modelplex Park Association (TIMPA) Field, Tucson, Ariz.
AIAA Executive Director Sandra H. Magnus attended the competition to present the awards to the winning teams. The $2,500 first-place award was won by the team from the University of California – Irvine, Irvine, Calif. The team from San Diego State University, San Diego, Calif., received the $1,500 second-place prize. The team from Rensselaer Polytechnic University, Troy, N.Y., received the $1,000 third-place prize.
Now in its 17th year, the Design/Build/Fly Competition encourages and recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering skills at the undergraduate and graduate levels, by challenging teams of undergraduate and graduate students to design and fabricate a radio-controlled aircraft conforming to strict guidelines, fly it over a defined course while carrying a payload, and land it without damage.
This year’s DBF Competition brought together 595 participants from 59 teams, representing 25 states and 14 foreign nations. Final results of the competition were based on each team’s score on its written design report combined with the scores from its flight opportunities.
Russ Althof, an engineering fellow with Raytheon Missile Systems, and one of the event’s organizers, stated: “Raytheon Missile Systems is proud to sponsor this event along with AIAA and Cessna Aircraft. I would also like to recognize all of the student teams for their effort. Congratulations to the winners as well as all of the students, who have worked so hard to design, build and ultimately fly their airplanes in this competition.”
Final official results and rankings of all participants will be available from the DBF website after final verification and validation. For more information about the AIAA Foundation Design/Build/Fly Competition, visit www.aiaadbf.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Duane Hyland, [email protected] or 703.264.7588
The AIAA Foundation seeks to “make it exciting, make it empowering, and make it fun.” That simple, compelling philosophy drives the Foundation’s commitment to math, science, and technology education. The AIAA Foundation offers a wealth of resources to support educators from K–12 through the university level: scholarships, classroom grants, design competitions, and student conferences, improving scientific literacy and advancing the arts and sciences of aerospace. For more information on the AIAA Foundation and its programs for students, teachers, and professionals, please visit www.aiaafoundation.org.
AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org.