The Virginia Tech Design, Build Fly Team (DBF) recently competed at the 2005 Cessna/ONR AIAA Design Build Fly Competition which was held at Webster Field, MD on April 22nd-24th. Virginia Tech’s airplane, Orange Effect, placed 4th out of 44 teams. The team’s technical report also placed 2nd. The team was led by Sade Sparbanie, President, and Jason Roadman, Chief Engineer. The R/C pilot for the competition was Chris Emory. All three students are juniors in Aerospace engineering.
On Saturday, the team used 3 of the 5 allotted flight attempts. On the first two flights, the tail wheel broke on landing and did not allow any points to be scored. After minor repairs, Orange Effect flew its third competition flight and successfully completed one of the three missions. On Sunday, the team used the last two flight attempts and completed the two more difficult missions.
The 05-06 DBF team will begin fundraising and testing experimental designs over the summer to prepare for the 2006 competition. The rules and mission requirements for next year’s competition will be posted in late July. The team will be led by Reid Doughten, President, and Joe Derlaga, Chief Engineer.