SAE Aero Design

By: Jessica Roberts

Aircraft Design Competition Coming to SUN ‘n FUN

LAKELAND – College teams from around the world will call the
air above Lakeland their battleground as their model aircraft sized designs
compete for air supremacy in the 2017 SAE Aero Design competition.

The competition – put on by SAE International, a globally active
professional association for engineering in various industries – seeks to
simulate all the variables that a real-life engineering challenge can hold over
a one-year period. In this case, the challenge is to design an original
airplane that performs pre-determined tasks, create it and fly it in front of
peers.

This year, there are three classes of aircraft – and
challenges – to choose from. In the Regular Class, the aircraft is to be a
model of a passenger plane, designed to carry “passenger” tennis balls and
their luggage. In the Advanced Class, the radio controlled model has to drop
multiple two-pound “humanitarian aid packages” from a minimum of 100-feet above
ground level – and hit a target. And in the Micro Class, the object is to
assemble the plane quickly from a small package before flying it. The overall
score is a combination of scores from an oral presentation, the design report,
and the flight performance. The flight performance, which is determined by time
available, normally consists of between four and six rounds.

Sae Photo

Already registered for this year’s competition are teams from Poland, India, Egypt, Turkey, China, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and the United States.

SAE International is a global association of more than 138,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International’s core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development.

This year’s three day competition will take place on The SUN ‘n FUN campus, 4175 Medulla Road in Lakeland, from April 21 to April 23. The planes will be in the air the last two days at Paradise Field, 4999 Airshow Road in Lakeland.

water ripples used as email signup background

Subscribe to EMAIL LIST

Join our email list and stay up to date with all the great things happening in Florida’s Sweetest Spot.