UHart Aerospace Students Soar in Design-Build-Fly Competition

In a University "first," the team, led by Associate Professor Paul Slaboch, participated in the Design-Build-Fly competition by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Held in Tucson, Arizona, this year's event marked the 29th annual competition and the largest flyoff to date, attracting more than 1,200 students from 97 university teams across 13 countries and 34 states.

UHart's participation was able to get off the ground thanks to a $25,000 sponsorship from Lockheed Martin. "The generosity of Lockheed Martin made this whole experience possible and has set us up for continued success and improvement in the years to come," Slaboch says.

The competition challenged student teams to design, build, and fly a remote-controlled plane that could also launch a glider. The glider was designed to simulate the X-1 test vehicle from the early days of supersonic flight - but with "fuel tanks" made from 16-ounce beverage bottles and carrying sand or water to represent "fuel." The glider also needed to have flashing lights so it would be visible from the ground.

The students were given three "missions" to fly, including one in which they had to convert the airplane to carry the glider within 5 minutes.

Most of UHart's team were first-, second-, or third-year students, well beyond the one-third minimum required by the competition rules. Most had never built or designed a remote-controlled aircraft before. The team consisted of:

• Dante Bergantino (Pilot) - 3rd year Aerospace Engineering
• Christian Piscitelli and Tucker Rice - 3rd year Aerospace Engineering
• Liam Gordon - 2nd year Mechanical Engineering
• Jack Heffernan - 1st year Aerospace Engineering

They were supported by Steven Yon, Makeline Adam, Drew Lauzier, Michael Langone, Kiden Scruton, Peter Cardenas, and Bryce Roberts, all aerospace engineering majors ranging from first to fourth year.