Design of a Micro-Class Plane for the SAE Aero West Competition

Every year, SAE International hosts an international competition to give students the chance of experiencing a real-life engineering challenge. Union’s SAE Aero Club will send a Micro-class team that will participate in SAE's Aero West competition, located this year in Van Nuys, California. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors have worked together over the past year to learn the ins and outs of RC aircraft design, construction, and flight. Selected members from every academic year will represent Union at the competition, and will have the opportunity to present their knowledge to industry professionals. The team will fly their small, Micro-class plane in a weight carrying competition, with the goal of demonstrating successful flight with the highest possible ratio of payload weight to empty plane weight. The team has been dedicated to designing and prototyping various iterations of the plane. Through meticulous planning and work, the team has built a plane that is the culmination of the skills and efforts of each team member’s unique specialization. The team this year has focused on new material choices, innovative manufacturing techniques to improve strength and stability, and efficient assembly. The micro team will compete the first week of Spring term 2018, and at competition will participate in a series of presentations and flight and manufacturing demonstrations over the course of the week in California.