The LARKS club of Ohio recently hosted approximately 13 teams from the University of Central Florida and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for Aviation Vehicle Design Flight Day at the club’s flying site on April 11. This is the second year that LARKS has hosted teams at their field.
Before any team was allowed to fly, they had to pass a wing-loading test to verify that their model was structurally sound. Each team’s airplane had to undergo a static thrust test to validate the propulsion system before flight, as well as undergo a full electronics test. For the flight, the objective was to aim for the fastest speed in flight, both without and with a payload. Essentially, each team first flew without a payload and found their maximum speed in flight (using a Bluetooth GPS speed meter inside of the model). Next, with a successful flight and landing, each team was given the opportunity to opt for a second flight, in which their model would carry a 150-gram payload to earn extra points.
At the end of the day, the team that had made the most points won the competition. To level the playing field, there was only one pilot from LARKS for each team who operated all of the airplanes. This ensured that there was no issue as far as AMA membership went. The LARKS pilot had years of experience flying models for the club and individually. Additionally, absolutely no acrobatic maneuvers were attempted. A simple elliptical course was followed for every team.
As far as requirements for each airplane, the competition required that every team’s wingspan be under 48 inches. All teams utilized the same electric motor and battery (a Cobra C-3510/16 brushless motor and GENS ACE 2200 mAh 3S 45C 11.1V G-Tech LiPo battery). None of the models were to exceed 6 pounds because they were constructed primarily out of balsa wood and plywood, with a Monokote skin.
In summary, it was a great day for both the students, families, and LARKS club members. There were approximately 80 attendees during the day’s events. It was very interesting to see some of the design efforts put forth by the teams. LARKS club members were on hand all day long (8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) to help out in any way. The LARKS club safety officer gave a brief overview of LARKS’ safety operating procedures and flight parameters. All of the test flights during the day were completed by an AMA member.
LARKS has offered to send a few of its members to meet with next year’s Aviation Vehicle Design Flight Day teams (sometime this coming fall) to provide some design techniques and guidelines and to answer questions. There were several positive comments from the students who participated in this year’s event regarding our hobby and their new or renewed interest in it.
