SAE Aero Design East Competition 2004

In January 2004, I was asked to be the advisor for three of our finest students whose Senior Design project was to design and build a remote-controlled aircraft from scratch which was entered in the SAE Aero Design Competition. We came in sixth out of 30 teams who traveled from as far as Michigan, New Jersey and Brazil! This webpage documents their outstanding efforts. The goal of the design competition was to design and build a radio-controlled aircraft based on a prescribed engine and a minimum wingspan. The competition tested their ability to predict the performance of their original design as well as determine how much weight their aircraft could carry aloft from a 200-foot takeoff limit, around a prescribed course and return to land within a 400-foot limit on the same strip. The competition was divided into two parts: design and flight. In the design event, the contestants presented their design strategy and demonstrated the accuracy of their calculations in predicting the maximum payload the aircraft could lift. The flight event determined which aircraft could lift the most weight. The basic requirements for the contest were as follows:

1. The minimum wingspan could not be smaller than 120 inches.

2. The minimum cargo volume was prescribed such that the aircraft had to be capable of carrying and fully enclosing a rectangular block measuring 6 inches by 5 inches by 4 inches.

3. The required engine was a single, unmodified O.S. .61FX with E-4010 muffler.

Follow this link to see who we competed against. As you can see, this was serious business! Even though we started only in January, we were able to fly our plane several times prior to the competition. This was extremely helpful, since making design modifications in the lab at Wright State was very easy compared to making them at the competition. Here is a movie (2MB) of our maiden voyage.

Here are some photos of us the day before we left for Orlando. On Friday April 15, we took our qualification flight (12.2 Mb) where we lifted the required 8-lb qualification weight. Piece of cake! Did you see how that puppy jumped into the air? After we completed the qualifying round, the team went to the hotel to give their oral presentation. This photo shows the dream team getting ready for their presentation: Cool as cucumbers, right? Actually, Andy wanted to have a baseball and his glove to work out some anxiety! Here is the presentation (10.4 Mb) that the team gave. It was definitely one of the best presentations I have ever seen. The judges asked some very tough questions, which were answered precisely each time.

On Saturday, the competition was very intense! After the first round (11.5 Mb), we were in third place overall. In the second round (3.5 Mb), the rear landing gear collapsed and our airplane pancaked onto the runway, which dropped us to seventh place. The team made the necessary repairs, and increased the payload weight lifted by two pounds in round five (8.6 Mb), which was also on Saturday. On Sunday, we showed up at the flight line loaded for bear. In round six (3.3 Mb), we tried unsuccessfully to increase the payload. In the seventh and final round (11 Mb), we increased our payload weight by another two pounds up to 23.5 pounds, were able to lift off successfully, fly gracefully around the circuit, and put it back down on the deck. Unfortunately, our tail cracked and dropped down! Fortunately, the judges said that since we were able to lift the entire plane off the ground as a single (but broken) unit, that the score would count. Interestingly, during that last round there were about a dozen aircraft still operational, so we didn't know who won until the very end. We received a great deal of positive comments from the other students, faculty members and retired radio-controlled modelers concerning the quality of our plane in terms of construction and appearance. In addition, we generated a huge amount of excitement in the crowd when our pilot, Eddy Noble, would fly our craft. From the beginning, he said his approach would be to fly low and slow, as opposed to the rest of our competition, who flew high and fast. This made for some very dramatic flights! Eddy's flying skills were spectacular, even in the face of significant cross-winds (up to 15 knots!). We witnessed quite a few heart-wrenching crashes, inspected a lot of excellent aircraft designs, and met many interesting and friendly engineering students and faculty. The professionalism of the group was evident, because after every flight (good or bad), the students, faculty and other on-lookers all gave the team a hearty round of applause. The intensity of the members of this year's WSU team was formidable: They never despaired, always kept a positive outlook, and were in this competition to win until the very end. I would stack our team, Greg Palm, Andy Fleming, and Bekah Puterbaugh, up against any in the nation! They had a great time because, in part, they realized that they *could* compete with any of the other universities. They learned a great deal about aircraft, aeronautics, project management, and how to work effectively in a team environment. I learned that, while this type of project is very time-intensive, it is also very rewarding for me as an engineering educator. Here are the final results of the competition for the regular class. The next step is for the students to rebuild the airplane so that they can show it at the College of Engineering and Computer Science Awards Ceremony at the end of this quarter, and to give a flying demonstration for their fellow Senior Design students. I would like to personally thank Dean Brandeberry for his generous support during this project, and I'd also like to thank my colleagues and friends who have given a lot of good advice on aircraft construction and aerodynamics, especially Mr. Tim Leger. And I'd certainly be remiss if I didn't thank Mr. Eddy Noble, who gave his time and energy to be our pilot and mentor. And finally, we can’t forget our most excellent mascot, Honest Abe! He’s shown here sitting on the fuselage tube. Next year, we're going for first place!