Design, Build, Fly (DBF)

The 2020-2021 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Design/Build/Fly (DBF) competition is designed to simulate unmanned air vehicle (UAV) operations. The specified task is to design, manufacture, and fly a remote-control aircraft that can tow a sensor for surveillance operations and transporting sensors inside of simulated shipping containers. The aircraft must complete three flight missions and complete one ground mission (GM). The flight missions will require that the aircraft takeoff in 100 ft with a maximum wingspan of 5 ft. The aircraft must also deploy, illuminate, fly, and retract a sensor that has a minimum diameter of 1 in. and minimum length to diameter ratio of 4:1. As the only OSU student group focusing on aviation, DBF provided valuable hands-on experience to over 20 seniors and underclassmen alike with an interest in aviation. DBF welcomes students of all experience levels to broaden our impact and inspire interest in aerospace careers. Student members have applied DBF experience to conduct research on relevant aerospace topics including novel non-invasive composite inspection techniques, and also engaged in outreach with students in the Benton county area to generate interest in STEM related fields. Success of the team was due to the continued support of OSGC as well as organization and management, a thorough design process, manufacturing and testing of the Oregon State University (OSU) Castor Volant aircraft.