A Multifaceted Approach to the AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition

Abstract

A multifaceted, novel approach was used to help students create entries for the AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition. Each entry involved the design, analysis, construction, and testing of the aircraft. Three groups were involved for each airplane: the first group was responsible for the airframe, the second group was responsible for the engine, and the third group was responsible for the construction and flight testing of a radiocontrolled flying model. There was an overall Chief Executive Officer who insured that engineairframe integration issues were addressed. Students from a variety of majors, both technical and non-technical, participated in various aspects of the project. This approach is seen as one method to give students a multidisciplinary approach to design and problem solving.

Modeling & Simulation Research and Instruction at the U.S. Air Force Academy

“…Previous publications have detailed innovative educational concepts developed in the Department of Aeronautics, 1 including propulsion, 2 flight mechanics, 3 flight test, 4 and multi-disciplinary design. 5 While the curriculum and facilities of the science and engineering departments are outstanding, several Department of Defense (DoD) agencies and senior Air Force leaders noticed a lack of computational modeling and simulation (M&S) education and research taking place.…”