The Next Generation of Aviation Competes With Bush Planes and Rubber Ducks

The future of flight was in full force in Wichita in April 2026, when more than 1,170 students from around the world gathered for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 30th annual Design/Build/Fly Competition.

Students from 89 universities around the world, including 31 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., participated in the competition, which was held at Textron Aviation’s headquarters.

This year’s flight objective was to design, build, and test fly a banner-towing bush plane, conducting charter flights for passengers (rubber ducks) and hauling cargo (hockey pucks) to fund their operations and launch a banner towing business.

The goal was to build an unmanned electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that is a “balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance,” according to AIAA officials.

Taking first place, and winning $3,000, was the team from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Other winners include:

• Second Place ($2,000): University of Washington-Seattle
• Third Place ($1,500): University of California, Los Angeles
• Best Report Score ($100): University of Southern California
• Stan Powell Award for Lessons Learned: Washington University in St. Louis

“DBF is our aeronautics highlight of the year,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “The students’ passion for DBF reflects the promising future of flight and the next generation of aerospace professionals.”

“DBF is a team sport,” he continued. “Our competitors are gaining hands-on experiences that make them even more attractive to potential employers. DBF teams are tackling the engineering challenges of flight, solving problems, and dealing with setbacks. Most importantly, they’re showing incredible resilience over the course of four days.”

AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society with more than 33,000 individual members from 91 countries and over 100 corporate members.

More information, including recordings of the livestream video of the fly-off, can be found at AIAA.org/DBF.