This summer we took part in the Air Cargo Challenge for the first time, as Team 22 – AirOne. We had a very small budget and not enough people, so the goal was never to win. It was to start a technical team that can keep growing.
Preparation. Our pilot practised every day and we bought spare parts. Reading the other teams' technical reports, we realised our aircraft was the lightest and smallest in the field, with the least payload. So the plan was to carry the minimum payload and fly as fast as possible for distance points. A couple of days before we left, a wing snapped during a test flight and badly damaged the fuselage. The avionics and the motor survived, and we had built a spare aircraft just in case.
Getting there. Thirteen hours to Stuttgart in a rented nine-seater van we called Giorgia. Along the way two of us got stuck in a lift while buying groceries, and the Airbnb had almost no kitchen equipment, so dinner was improvised.
The flights.
- Flight 1: disqualified, after a cap flew off the fuselage on take-off. We removed all the caps and taped the fuselage shut.
- Flight 2: a tyre was knocked sideways on the bumpy runway, but the aircraft flew and landed safely. More glue, more tape.
- Flight 3: disqualified again, when a wheel unscrewed. The team from Sydney (#25) gave us replacement wheels, and we fixed the adverse yaw by linking the ailerons and rudder to the same stick.
That afternoon a gust flipped the aircraft onto its belly just after take-off. The bayonet slots in the wing, several fuselage ribs and the payload rack were broken, and the 3D-printed nose was beyond saving. With help from Akamodell München (#19) and Fly-Mi (#12) from Milan we rebuilt it with carbon, epoxy, popsicle sticks and a lot of clear tape. Following an old sailing custom our professor told us about, we wrote "thank you" and their team numbers on the aircraft.
The last day. It took four attempts to get airborne, and after each rejected take-off our pilot ran to fetch the aircraft. On the fourth it climbed, dropped towards a wheat field, recovered and kept flying, and the pilot brought it down safely.
We didn't move up the rankings, but we now know what to fix. Thanks to Fly-Mi, Akamodell München and the Sydney team for their help, and to Akamodell Stuttgart for hosting. The plan is to be back in Udine in two years.
