A team of students from McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, Georgia, is the winner of the 2023 General Aviation Manufacturers Association Aviation Design Challenge.
A team from Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C. won second place, according to GAMA officials.
“GAMA continues to be inspired by the effort and creativity we see put forth by all the teams competing in the Aviation Design Challenge,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA president and CEO. “We congratulate McIntosh High School and Gonzaga College High School for the insightful work they put into the challenge, especially as both teams were first time entrants.”
In its 11th year, the challenge hit a milestone, Bunce added, noting that over the past decade it has attracted teams from all 50 states.
The 2023 challenge attracted more than 80 teams from 38 states.
During the first portion of the challenge, teams used free “Fly to Learn” curriculum to learn the principles of flight and airplane design. During the second portion of the competition, teams applied their knowledge to virtually modify an airplane design and compete in a fly-off using X-Plane software.
This year’s mission was to modify a CubCrafters NX Cub to fly from Packwood, Washington, to Seattle, Washington, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The teams needed to design their aircraft to maximize speed and efficiency and successfully takeoff from an airport surrounded by high terrain, GAMA officials explained.
Judges scored the teams based on performance parameters, a checklist of steps involved in the demonstration flight, and a video submission in which the team summarized what they learned.
Members of the first place team from McIntosh High School include Aaron Maeder, Jada Reeves, Marc van Zyl, Matthew Villiger, and Emily White. Their entry demonstrated an elaborate design process that included altering wing length and chord ratio; adding winglets, retractable landing gear and fairings; and reducing horsepower, GAMA officials said.
The team’s prize includes a CubCrafters Manufacturing Experience, a tour of The Museum of Flight in Seattle, demonstration flight opportunities, and more.
Members of the second place team from Gonzaga College High School include Enzo Bunag, Hunter Cullina, Jack Deye, Reed Gray, Colin Heil, and Paul Molinaro. The team illustrated a well-thought out design process, increased aspect ratio and decreased wing area, and decreased horsepower, GAMA officials report. They will receive a Redbird Flight Simulations STEM Lab.
Where is the airplane they built? It is all on the computer? At their age my room was full of model airplanes built meticulously from balsa, spruce, silkspan and Monokote. That is how you learn about aircraft design. I use computer tools today, but still go back to basics for preliminary design. Paper and pencil and a calculator. Then a free-flight model, an R/C unpowered model, then a large-scale powered model. Then and only then does one look at detailed design and building a full-scale prototype. These could have done all this in the time they were staring at a computer screen, and had a whole lot more fun.