Aquarium Falcon

A conventional monoplane configuration with a twin-tractor propulsion system was selected. The shape of the fuselage is designed to carry 8 aluminum bars in a single file line to minimize profile drag. The fuselage has a hinge on the top skin just behind the nose to allow the payload compartment to swing open for easy loading of the passenger payload and easy dumping of the water payload. The aircraft weighs less than 1.5 kg empty, which is achieved through a combination of composite structures. The fuselage is a custom-molded sandwich panel; this provides a very light but strong structure that can carry the payloads. The airframe is supported by a carbon fiber tube that extends from the front of the payload compartment to the tail.

• Year: 2011-12

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Lil' Nugget

Adjoint Strike Fighter

A biplane configuration was chosen in response to the size factor of the Rated Aircraft Cost (RAC). Having two wings allowed the wingspan to be reduced, lowering the contribution to the RAC from the Y dimension parameter. Larger tail surfaces were selected to reduce the nose to tail length, lowering the X dimension contribution. The shape of the fuselage was designed to minimize drag to improve speed, while maintaining the capability to carry as many internal rocket stores as possible in a tight configuration. The extensive use of built-up and composite construction helps to improve the structural efficiency of the aircraft, thereby reducing airframe weight and further lowering the RAC.

• Year: 2012-13

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Corndog

Rough Rider

A traditional twin-tractor monoplane aircraft configuration with a conventional tail and custom dual-purpose landing gear was selected. A two-skid landing gear configuration with minimally protruding wheels was developed to address the requirement that the landing gear be identical for flight missions and the rough field Taxi Mission. The skids provide optimal maneuverability over the corrugated roofing panel in the Taxi Mission, and the protruding wheels maintain a low-friction interface for takeoff roll. Hollow-molded composite construction techniques for the aerodynamic surfaces and fuselage maximized the structural efficiency of the aircraft and minimized aircraft weight.

• Year: 2013-14

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Miss Piggy

Barely-Actuated Load Launching System

In order to minimize the number of speed controllers used on the aircraft, which adversely affects the Rated Aircraft Cost (RAC), a single-motor configuration was chosen. To minimize the number of servos needed and reduce the complexity of the control system, the aircraft's only control surfaces are rudder and elevator. The wing has substantial polyhedral to aid controllability and eliminate the need for roll control. Furthermore, a linear cam separates different ranges of servo travel into different control outputs, allowing a single servo to actuate the rudder, elevator, and ball drop mechanism. A containment cage mounted atop the aircraft fuselage carries up to six balls, with three sides of the cage exposed to the freestream as required.

• Year: 2014-15

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Tony & Mark IV

G2 Electroflyte

In order to minimize the number of sub-assemblies of the Production Aircraft (Tony), which adversely affects the RAC, a single sub-assembly design was chosen and built. The Manufacturing Aircraft (Mark IV) was designed to fit around the Production Aircraft, resulting in a Manufacturing Aircraft comprised of two sub-assemblies with hollow wings and tails. To accommodate the nested design, neither aircraft has a dihedral angle. Instead, stability control is provided by ailererons augmented by a rudder and elevator for both aircraft.

• Year: 2015-16

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Bumblebee

Puckey Hawk

In order to minimize the diameter and length of the stowed condition aircraft, a single-motor, tandem wing configuration with a folding propeller was chosen. To minimize aircraft weight and size, the rear wing doubles as a horizontal stabilizer. The aircraft has two vertical stabilizers to achieve a simple folding mechanism while maintaining symmetry. All aerodynamic surfaces fold along the fuselage to transition the aircraft from the flight condition to the stowed condition. Each surface has a self-locking mechanism to fix it in the flight condition. Together, a belly skid and tail guard ensure safe landings while minimizing the size and weight of the aircraft. The internal payload bay can carry up to five hockey pucks.

• Year: 2016-17

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BeavAir

To minimize the wingspan, a dual counter-rotating motor, biplane configuration with a cruciform empennage was chosen. As the aircraft has an unusually short span, the wings are incapable of producing significant roll stability. The aircraft uses two counter-rotating motors resulting in no net torque on the aircraft from the propulsion system. To provide roll control, the vertical control surface is bisected and controlled independently to create rudderons. Since the center of mass is at a high elevation compared to the width of the landing gear, the aircraft uses a quadricycle configuration to maintain stability during takeoff and landing.

• Year: 2017-18

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Bigboi

The scoring function for the competition indicates that aircraft top speed, which is impacted by aerodynamic design and correlates with the propulsion system mass fraction, are the primary design drivers. To minimize the drag in Mission 3, a twin-boom, twin-motor monoplane configuration with an H-tail empennage was chosen. The twin-boom configuration was chosen to separate the two rows of attack stores to reduce drag, and to distribute the load on the wing. As the aircraft requires a high static thrust for short takeoff and a high cruise thrust for high speed, the propulsion system consists of two counter-rotating propellers which trades efficiency for static thrust with the propeller characteristics weighted slightly towards cruise performance. The twin motor configuration also allows differential thrust for yaw control, eliminating the need for rudders. The wing is designed to fold along the chord to reduce the span from 6.07 ft to 2.75 ft in the folded configuration.

• Year: 2018-19

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B.E.A.U.

Banner Extending Advertising Unit

Maximizing payload capacity and minimizing loading time were our main design drivers. In order to maximize thrust to enable a large banner a dual motor configuration was chosen. A low wing was chosen to decrease passenger and luggage load time. A tail dragger landing gear configuration was chosen to minimize drag while simplifying banner loading. Due to the takeoff distance constraints of Missions 1 and 3 and the emphasis on large amount of payload the wing was designed to be high lift while not sacrificing too much performance during cruise.

• Year: 2019-20

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M.A.R.Y.

Magestic Agent of Roll and Yaw

Designed to carry a large number of sensors within the fuselage and extend and retract a tow mid-flight.

• Year: 2020-21

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Spitzfire

A Vaccine Staging and Delivery Plane

Designed to hold as many syringes as possible within the fuselage, while still flying quickly. Large, low-kv motors used to accomodate the 25 foot takeoff limit.

• Year: 2021-22

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ELLAvator

A Rapid Assembly, Packable Electronic Warfare Plane

Designed to carry a payload that is 30% of its body weight and fly with a several foot PVC pipe attached to one wingtip, while being able to be assembled in five-minutes from a suitcase. Maximizing strength while minimizing weight were the main driving factors of the design, and the composite molded wings and fuselage reflect this design decision.

• Year: 2022-23

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