USU Design/Build/Fly Team Wins Big at Kansas Conference

The Utah State University Design/Build/Fly team returned from its April competition in Wichita, Kansas, in the top 20 percent of all teams.

USU took 22 out of 107, one of the team’s highest scores in recent years. Involvement goes back years, as the DBF student section took first place in 1999 and 2000. In 2003, DBF entered the competition with a full-size model of the Wright Wing Flyer. It is now displayed at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in Ohio.

This year, the objective was to design, build and fly an airplane to demonstrate Urban Air Mobility missions, such as medical transport and urban air taxis.

The DBF Competition began in 1996 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as a chance for university students to apply real-world aircraft design experience and to allow them to validate their analytic studies. This year marks its 28th anniversary.

Student teams design, fabricate and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio-controlled aircraft to meet the specified mission profile. The goal is to create a balanced design with good flight handling qualities, practical and affordable manufacturing requirements and high vehicle performance.

“To encourage innovation and maintain a fresh design, the design requirements and performance objectives are updated each year,” said Joel Ellsworth, faculty adviser for the DBF student section. “The changes provide new design requirements and opportunities while allowing for application of technology developed by the teams from prior years.”