Aircraft Design Education through Student Competitions

Abstract

The SAE Aero Design Competition is an annual model airplane competition sponsored by the SAE. The purpose of the competition is to design and build a model airplane, given certain constraints, that is capable of lifting the greatest possible payload. A team of students from the University of British Columbia entered, for the first time, the SAE Aero Design Competition in 1992. The UBC airplane lifted the most weight overall and won first place in the competition against a field of 60 competitors from the USA, Canada, and Europe. In 1993 a UBC team competed again, this time with a significantly improved entry. The team again lifted the most weight and again finished first. For the third year running, the UBC aircraft lifted the most weight at the competition held in 1994. This paper documents the team's experiences in these competitions, and emphasizes how the design of model airplanes for the competitions served the important didactic purpose of introducing aircraft design to the students.