For years teams from the SAE AeroDesign Science Club at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering have wowed the world with their flying constructions and achieved success in international competitions. This year the tradition was also upheld. Our students brought back from Texas three gold medals, the fourth place and a distinction.

At the SAE Aero Design East competition, constructors from WUT presented two aircraft – one in the Regular and one in Micro Class.

Our students received two gold medals for their Regular aircraft. One for technical presentation and one for design report. Their Micro Class plane was also won awards for technical presentation (first place) and design report (fourth place). It was also given a special distinction for the fastest flying plane of the competition.

Our students are pleased with their success and are already getting ready for the next competition, photo: Facebook / SAE AeroDesign Warszawa

Original construction

The Regular Class is the oldest and most prestigious class at the SAE Aero Design competition. This year the challenge was to design and build a short take-off and landing cargo plane for transporting footballs.

“Our construction distinguished itself thorough the fact that the cargo bay was inside the wing and it could hold 12 standard size 5 footballs,” explains Michał Włodarczyk, Class Coordinator. “The aircraft’s wingspan was 120 inches (restricted by regulations), and the maximum take-off weight with a full cargo load was 19.9 kilograms.”

This class prohibits the use of self-produced composites, so the entire aircraft by the SAE AeroDesign Science Club was made predominantly with wood and metal. The maximum power of the electrical drive – not exceeding 1000 W – is also a statutory limitation. 

Quick as a flash

In the Micro Class, the aircraft’s mission was to transport cardboard boxes, to fly quickly, and take off from a small platform.

“Our plane transported two cardboard boxes, the kind you would use for a small pizza,” said Justyna Pluta, Class Coordinator. “It flew so quickly that it received a distinction for the quickest plane.”

This was a special award from the jury.

“Our micro is a flying wing configuration aircraft, with a 48-inch span (restricted by regulations),” explains Justyna Pluta. “The construction is predominantly made up of carbon fibre. The maximum take-off weight with a full cargo is approximately 2 kilos. Regulations also limit the power of the drive to 450 W.”

First we take the USA, then we take Germany

“We returned to the onsite SAE AeroDesign competition after a two-year break caused by the pandemic, which makes us even happier about our success,” admits Monika Manerowska, the current head of the Science Club.

The aircraft were constructed by the following team: Michał Włodarczyk, Grzegorz Muchla, Julia Lesiuk, Justyna Pluta, Monika Manerowska, Filip Hahs, Michał Zawadzki, Piotr Garbowski.

SAE Aero Design is a prestigious competition for students from all over the world. The participants are given the task of designing and building (according to guidelines) remotely controlled planes with the highest possible load capacity to perform a specific mission. Both technical elements and flights performed are assessed. The SAE Aero Design East 2022 competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas, from 20 to 22 May 2022.

WUT students don’t have too much time for celebrating. In July they are travelling to Munich for the AirCargo Challenge, where they will be tasked with designing and building a short take-off and landing aircraft to transport blood. This will be our team’s debut in this competition.

To find out more about WUT constructors and their aircraft, please visit their Facebook page