We are the Design-Build-Fly Team (DBF) of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Student Branch at UNC Charlotte (AIAA). This is our third year competing. We are raising funds to compete in the international DBF competition sponsored by the AIAA Foundation, Textron Aviation, and Raytheon. Each year, the DBF team is tasked with designing, building, and testing a radio-controlled aircraft to execute specific missions. 

The objective for the 2026 competition was to design, build, and test a banner towing bush plane, conduct charter flights to pay for the airplane, and start a banner towing business. For this upcoming year, the objective will be to design build and fly an aircraft for a different set of challenges, with mission details to be fully released by AIAA later this fall. 

More than 145 universities from around the world compete in this competition annually. To be competitive in the competition, the development of advanced designs and control systems are necessary. The cost of this project includes research, design, construction, and travel. The upcoming 2027 competition will be in Tucson, Arizona.

The DBF competition consists of three phases. During the first phases, teams from around the world create conceptual design to meet each year’s specific mission requirements. The designs are documented in a proposal and submitted to the competition committee by October of 2025. The top proposals are accepted, and those teams are invited to fully design, manufacture, and test their aircraft.

2026 CAD Design (Bush Plane)

Previous competition 2025 Detailed Design (X-1B Plane)

The second phase consists of the development of a fully designed aircraft, manufacturing, and flight testing. The entire design process, manufacturing, and test results are then documented in the design report. The Design Report is completed and sent to the committee by February of 2027. Once the report is submitted, no changes are allowed to the aircraft.

The final phase of the project is to travel to Tucson, Arizona and compete against other teams in a fly-off. The competition fly-off is a 4-day event scheduled for April 2027.

Design Build Fly Team Photo, 2026

In order for the DBF team to be successful, we need your help! Our fundraising goal will help offset costs and help us purchase the necessary parts and materials for the aircraft and travel to the competition in Arizona in 2027. We estimate the electronic components used for propulsion and control to cost $1,500, the structural materials for manufacturing to cost $1,200, the mission specific payload to cost $270, and travel to and from the competition in Tucson, Arizona and lodging throughout the 4-day competition and 2 travel days to cost $7,455. The travel budget is estimated for 5 people.

Estimated Project Costs

You can double or triple the impact of your gift if your employer participates in a matching gift program.  To see if your employer has a matching gift program, click here. If your company matches, complete your matching gift form and submit it to UNC Charlotte via mail (UNC Charlotte Foundation, 9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223), fax (704-687-7259) or email (mwinslow@uncc.edu).

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For more information on the team and our work, visit our team website here at https://dbfcharlotte.org/ 

For more information on the competition, visit the AIAA Design Build Fly site here: AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition | AIAA 

You can also watch videos of past flight performances at our YouTube Channel here: UNC-Charlotte Design-Build-Fly - YouTube 

Follow us on Instagram at aiaa_charlotte

Connect with us on LinkedIn at Design-Build-Fly Team @ UNC Charlotte