Design Build Fly
AIAA Celebrates the 27th Annual Design/Build/Fly Competition | April 2023 | Tucson, AZ (USA)

 DBF 2022 Results

AIAA would like to thank all 69 teams who attended the 2022 Design/Build/Fly Flyoff in Wichita, KS, 21–24 April 2022. Flyoff photos, a finalized score sheet, and a full listing of results and placements will be published soon.

AIAA would like to recognize the following winning teams:

  • 1st Place – Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 2nd Place – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach
  • 3rd Place – FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences
  • Stan Powell Memorial Award for Most Meaningful Lessons Learned – University at Buffalo
  • Best Report – FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences

News  | 2022 Flyoff Photos

 2022 Mission & Rules

The following was the mission for 2022. The 2023 mission and flyoff dates will be released in late summer 2022.

Teams were invited to participate in the 26th Design/Build/Fly competition, hosted by Textron Aviation in Wichita, KS. The mission for 2022 was to design, build and test an aircraft to deliver vaccination components. Missions included deployment of the aircraft, staging of vaccination syringes, and delivery of environmentally sensitive vaccine vial packages. Each year, the objective is to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance. To access the 2022 rules document, please visit the  Rules/Resources page.

For questions, please contact us at studentprogram@aiaa.org.

 2023 Fly-Off

The 2023 Design, Build, Fly-off will be held at Tucson International Modelplex Park Association (TIMPA) in Tucson, AZ. The tentative dates are 13–16 April 2023. Any changes to these dates, if required, will be updated in the draft rules to be released in late summer and the final rules to be released at the end of October. For more information on TIMPA, visit www.timpa.org.

DBF 2019 Winners Group

2022 Design/Build/Fly Flyoff winning teams.

 DBF 2022 Timeline of Milestone Dates

Below is a timeline of events for DBF as they happened in 2022. Please refer to this for an idea of when significant milestones occur. Please note that dates are subject to change year to year.

  • 2 September 2021: DBF Draft Rules posted
  • 15–31 October 2021: DBF Proposal Submission window
  • 2 November 2021: DBF Rules finalized and posted
  • 22 November 2021 – Round 1 Proposal Results posted to the Rules/Resources page and decisions sent to teams
  • 2 December 2021: DBF Q&A #1 Posted to the Rules/Resources Page and e-mailed to teams
  • 12 January 2022: DBF Q&A #2 Posted to the Rules/Resources Page and e-mailed to teams
  • 28 January 2022: DBF Q&A #2 Posted and emailed to team
  • 1–25 February 2022: Design Report Submission window on www.aiaa-awards.org*
    *Opens at 0800hrs ET on 1 February and closes at 1700hrs ET on 25 February
  • 1 April 2022: Schedule of Flyoff Activities posted to Competition Information
  • 21–24 April 2022: DBF Flyoff in Wichita, KS
  • 2 May 2022: DBF 2022 Flyoff scores, competition summary, and report comments distributed to teams.
The 2022 DBF Organizing Committee
The AIAA DBF Organizing Committee, (standing from left to right) - Jon Cutshall, Chris Bovais (Flight Line Director), Brian Richardet, Kyle Benson, Rob Roedts, Ed Feltrop, Chase Ashton, Russ Althof (Committee Director), Matt Angiulo (Not Pictured: Taylor Fazzini, Brian McGrath)

About Design/Build/Fly

The 2022-2023 Design, Build, Fly Competition will celebrate its 27th year. Started in 1996 by the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Design Engineering and Flight Test Technical Committees as an opportunity for university students to apply real-world aircraft design experience by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies.

Student teams will design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio-controlled aircraft which can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

To encourage innovation and maintain a fresh design challenge for each new year’s participants, the design requirements and performance objective will be updated for each new contest year. The changes will provide new design requirements and opportunities, while allowing for application of technology developed by the teams from prior years.