Sky High Aeromodelling Competition
Over 300 student teams from across India compete in this flagship event from Tech Invent 2021.
This article was prepared jointly by the author and Ms. Maanvi Thakur, a student at Chandigarh University.
Tech Invent 2021 — organized by Chandigarh University located in Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab, India in the fall of 2021—was a multidiscplinary conference focusing on the effort to “reimagine, recreate & reposition our living style through our exciting flagship events, conclaves, talk series [and] discussions.”
We know that with COVID-19, social distancing has become the need of the hour. However, it was high time to come up with activities to keep students engaged who are interested in aerospace and related engineering disciplines and provide a unified national platform to everyone and motivate students to keep their dreams and imaginations ‘sky high’.
To that end, one of the flagship events of Tech Invent 2021 was a customised glider making and flying competition named Sky High Aeromodelling Competition which commenced on 2nd of September and concluded on 4th of September, 2021. Participation from all over the country poured in for the competition. Students from renowned colleges and universities participated in this event with full gusto. More than 300 participants had taken part in the competition and made the event a success.
“Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps, that makes the journey complete.” — Chanda Kochhar
Aspirations
- To enable students and other participants with technical skills to showcase their talent.
- To enhance the team work among students in such critical time also.
- To gain and practically implement knowledge.
- Make participants understand on how to achieve maximum flight time.
- Make them aware about exciting opportunities that technology can create.
- To gain knowledge on the standards of measurements and other calculation.
Competition Rules and Guidelines
- The competition requires participants to design and fabricate a glider and a catapult mechanism to launch it. (Commercially-made models are not allowed.)
- Wingspan should be a maximum of 50 cm.
- The glider should be launched using a catapult mechanism and should not have any additional power sources.
- The catapult launch mechanism should be in such a way that it has a maximum rubber loop of 1/16in or 0.15875cm of cross section rubber loop.
- It should be a 100% mechanical device and no use of electronics or electrical power is allowed.
- Students should design, build, and demonstrate a glider and a catapult launch mechanism with the goal of achieving maximum endurance/flight time.
- Each team needs to submit an abstract on their aircraft, which…must document the basic design of the aircraft (dimensions, wing area, velocity, etc.) and should also explain how their design is suitable for the given problem.
- Along with the abstract, participants must also send a zip file containing at least 5 and no more than 10 photographs of the aircraft while it is being built.
- The flight time is measured as the time from launch to landing. Participants should record a video and submit the same.
- Teams with the highest flight time will be selected as winners.
Glider Construction
The gliders for the competition don’t require a specific type of material to be build. Entrants can use balsa wood, Thermacol, cardboard, wooden sticks, bass wood, foam board and many more, it’s totally up to one’s imagination on how they want to build their glider.
Some important things to keep in mind are: the aspect ratio for a glider should be 6:1. The ratio of the area of the vertical stabilizers to the wing area should be 1:10. The ratio of the area of the horizontal stabilizers to the wing area should be 1:5. The ratio of the fuselage length to the chord of the wing should be between 4:1 and 6:1. Once one had done with selecting material and have finished all the required calculation, they are ready to go and make your first glider!
To help you with a basic tutorial on how to build a glider, here are a few steps below.
Results
The organizers were delighted to see aerospace enthusiasts from all around the country taking part as this event. Students showcased with various innovative ideas about material utilisation, designs and launching mechanisms. The winners were:
This was a very nice competition idea for beginners and learners, especially school students who are from poor countries and live in outskirt areas where they can try to make gliders from daily used materials. A similar competition will be organised in 2022 at Chandigarh University.
©2022 Dr. Gurmail Singh Malhi and Ms. Maanvi Thakur
Resources
- Tech Invent 2021 — “promotes the idea of a world free from poverty, hunger, diseases, inequality and environmental degradation. After all, it’s only in the pursuit of an ideal world that we can heal our beautiful planet.”
- Sky High Aeromodelling Compentition Rules — official, detailed rules of the competition.
- Dr. Gurmail Singh Materials & Design — YouTube channel featuring some of the student videos.
All images by the author. Read the next article in this issue, return to the previous article in this issue or go to the table of contents. A PDF version of this article, or the entire issue, is available upon request.
