Design-Build-Fly 2025-2026

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 second 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 is to design, build, and test a banner towing bush plane, conduct charter flights to pay for the airplane, and start a banner towing business. 

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. This year’s competition will be in Wichita, Kansas. 

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 2026. Once the report is submitted, no changes are allowed to the aircraft.

The final phase of the project is to travel to Wichita, Kansas and compete against other teams in a fly-off. The competition fly-off is a 4-day event scheduled for April 2026.

In order for the DBF team to be successful, we need your help! Our $2,000 fundraising goal will help offset costs and help us purchase the necessary parts and materials for the aircraft and travel to the competition in Kansas in 2026. 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 Wichita, Kansas and lodging throughout the 4-day competition and 2 travel days to cost $7,455. The travel budget is estimated for 5 people.

*Note: Spending is subject to change.

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).