The sub-teams

Aerodynamics decides how the aircraft flies. The sub-team sizes the airfoil and planform for the Micro Class payload. It predicts lift, drag, and trim across the speed range, and it has to show the aircraft stays controllable all the way through landing. Those numbers become the envelope everyone else designs against.

Day to day that is wing studies and stability models, plus turning competition requirements into geometry the other three sub-teams can build to.

Recruiting now. Coursework or self-study in aerodynamics, dynamics, or controls helps. In a founding year, willingness to learn the analysis matters more.

Structures keeps the aircraft intact and keeps it light, and those two goals pull against each other constantly. The sub-team designs the airframe load paths and lays out composites and balsa. Finite element analysis then has to confirm the wing, fuselage, and joints survive flight and landing loads.

It also holds the weight budget for the whole aircraft. Every gram spent on structure is a gram not spent on payload, which is where most of the arguing happens. Members model parts in CAD and run the FEA load cases. Each one owns a slice of that budget from first sketch to test article.

Recruiting now. Interest in CAD, materials, or solid mechanics is a strong start. We teach the FEA and the build practices here.

Electronics makes the aircraft go and keeps it commandable. The sub-team picks the propulsion package and sizes the power system from battery to motor. It also owns the radio-control link the pilot flies on and the telemetry that tells us what happened once the aircraft is in the air. Every wire, connector, and channel gets checked on the bench first, because a flight round does not give you a second attempt.

Recruiting now. R/C, electronics, or embedded experience is welcome, and a careful hand with wiring goes a long way.

Manufacturing builds the aircraft and proves it can fly. The sub-team handles fabrication and tooling, then runs the ground tests and the flight-test protocol that clear the aircraft for competition.

It is also where the design meets reality. Parts come out heavier than the model said, joints fit differently than the drawing implied, and those findings go straight back upstream. Members do the fabrication and build the jigs the airframe needs. Testing runs against a written protocol.

Recruiting now. Shop skills, model building, or any hands-on fabrication experience fits. We build the tooling and the protocols together.