Regular Class

This class required us to create passenger aircraft, where tennis balls represented passengers, and each had their own luggage. The teams that carried the most passengers and luggage would generate the most revenue, and thus get the most points.

Our aircraft had a wingspan of 12 feet, and a total weight of 52 pounds.

I contributed to the aerodynamic design and avionics of the aircraft by deriving the dynamic equations of the aircraft to estimate the takeoff distance. I did so by solving differential equations with velocity and displacement as variables, taking into account factors such as dynamic thrust, planform parameters, aircraft weight, runway surface, and drag. We used this model to help choose our airfoil, platform, and powerplant for both aircraft.

Micro Class

We were required to design an aircraft that could fit in a 13" x 12" x 3" box, which could be deployed within 120 seconds.

Points were awarded for payload fraction and a quick assembly. Our aircraft could carry 1.7 times its own weight and had an assembly time of 9 seconds.

Design Reports and Presentations

The Design Report is a 30-page document detailing the design of the aircraft, the tests and trade studies performed, as well as optimizations and predicted performances in various conditions.

The Oral Technical Presentation was a 10-minute presentation to be delivered to competition judges, covering the Design Report in brief.

Under my leadership, we stood 2nd among 20 teams for our Micro Class Design Report, as well as top-10 finishes for both the Regular Class presentation and the report. With these strong scores, we stood 4th worldwide out of the 45 teams in Regular Class.