MIT Design Build Fly

MIT Design Build Fly 

MIT Design Build Fly is a team of 25 undergraduate students who design, optimize, build, and fly remote-control (RC) aircraft for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Design Build Fly competition in Wichita, Kansas, and Tucson, Arizona.

Our team comprises students from the aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, math, and even chemistry departments. Engineers work on aerodynamic analysis, mechanical design, and propulsion design and analysis.

Throughout the season, our team works on laying up composites, foam cutting, laser cutting, designing and analyzing electrical systems, and aerodynamics and propulsion testing. This year, we’ve explored new manufacturing techniques, including positive molding/renshaped fuselages, molded wings, and experimenting with different composite layup techniques. 

Project Overview 

Each year the AIAA releases a new set of rules, and with that comes the need to design, test, and manufacture new aircraft. This year we’ve been designing and building a plane that can be assembled in 5 minutes at the flight line, fly with a long simulation antenna attached to one wing, and carry a payload that is more than 30% of its body weight. 

We spend September training new members and beginning the design process. From October to March, we build, prototype, flight test and redesign the plane, and compete with our final plane in April. We’re currently in the final stretch of our design cycle, having worked our way towards our final design with 3 flight-proven prototypes, and we’re getting ready for our last flight test before competition.

How to Help

The goal of $1,000 will get our members and competition plane to Tucson, Arizona for the annual AIAA DBF competition. All donations will go directly to buying materials for airplane manufacturing and competition travel. Every single dollar counts to make sure we deliver a high quality aircraft and get as many members to competition as possible. 

Curious About MIT Design Build Fly?

You can check out our previous planes at web.mit.edu/dbf/www/ or look at our Instagram (@mit.dbf). If you are interested in corporate sponsorship (see our website for more information), please email dbf-exec@mit.edu.

MIT Edgerton Center 

We are so grateful to be a part of the MIT Edgerton Center, an organization on campus that provides us with shop space and the support to tackle crazy projects like these. If you want to learn more about our 2023 plans or the other Edgerton Center teams, feel free to check out the 2020 Edgerton Center promo video. 

Thank you for supporting our team!