Fun in the Tucson Desert!

This last weekend over 600 aerospace engineering students from around the world descended on the desert west of Tucson, Arizona for the AIAA DBF competition.

For this year’s contest teams had to design, build, and fly, a model airplane that could complete three diverse missions.  First, the plane needed to be fast.  Each team took to a closed course to see how many laps could be completed in a set time.  Second, they needed to be able to lift a five pound block inside and make a controlled flight for three laps.  For the third mission, they had to drop softball sized wiffleballs one at a time while in flight.

Any one task can be difficult, but put them all together and the entire contest becomes even harder.  This is not even considering the report needed just to get to the point that you are invited.  Just being able to show up means you have done well.

I look forward to helping with this contest every time it comes back to Tucson.  Not only is the contest itself amazing to watch, but the people that I have met over the years as well have become good friends also.

These are a small selection of the photos that I took over the course of the weekend.  More to come soon!