Universities Challenge 10th & 11th June 2006
Saturday
The Brunel University Team,
with pilot David Loyd-Jones.
On the Saturday evening of the 10th June the teams gathered, with their aircraft at the village hall in Elvington, North Yorkshire to give their verbal presentations to the Challenge judges. The written reports of their design thinking, and the drawings for their proposed solutions, (model), had been submitted and assessed previously.
This year our established judges, John Taylor and Peter Teagle were in charge as usual but shared the task with Andrew White and Nigel Revill who take over the judging process next year. Andrew and Nigel both come with an aerospace background at BAE Systems and are well qualified to assess the students work in the future.
The Loughborough team did not arrive but one team member did and told us that their aircraft had suffered a failure on a test flight and was unrepairable. Bad luck Loughborough! Two entries from the University of the West of England did not submit their reports and plans and therefore could not compete. In all there were 16 entries going forward.
The verbal presentation is made before the judges and all the other teams, and when each team has presented they put the model before Mike Colling and Dave Kerswell for scrutineering and safety checks.
All but two models sailed through this but one model had a 5mm overspan and another needed attention to it’s aileron movement before it could be accepted. Manny Williamson inspected the model's ailerons next morning and it was allowed to fly. Manny, the BMFA Development Officer is to take over as Universities Challenge Director next year as I retire.
Sunday
Sheffield Hallam Team A
Sunday dawned bright with a southerly wind. The Citroen car firm who were using the airfield with us changed their minds causing confusion to the airfield manager and us. We could not use the planned flying site and had to use the main runway, which with a crosswind, was only just wide enough for the take off run of these models.
One or two models could not take off in the 61M allowed in the rules and ran into the grass. Others managed it quite well and produced good flights.
There were very few flying incidents this year, in fact there were no major crashes. Some of the models looking very stable even at very high loads. Round one went very smoothly and it was obvious to those watching that teams had calculated their possible payloads well and even in the first round were carrying fairly heavy loads.
Liverpool were unlucky and had engine problems but it was nice to see a young lady tackling the problems and starting the engine. This model had 3 fibreglass booms to support the tail and a unique aluminium fuselage cradle. Sheffield Team PH had produced a ‘sort of’ twin boom design but used 4 aluminium tubes.
Electric challenge
Coventry Electric Winner
In the Electric Lift Challenge, St. Joseph’s College had a different model this year but again were neat and organised in their approach to the Challenge. Their model carried one litre of water per flight but was a bit slow flying. The flying wing produced by Strathclyde was flown in an exuberant manner but was handicapped by having a small water container and had to fly fast to achieve a good water carry.
The large end fins were seen to flutter badly at very high speed but the structure didn’t fail. The entry from Coventry used 4 , 400 motors and a foam construction covered with one layer of glasscloth and epoxy.
The Heavy Lift Champions Strathclyde Team ‘I’ had made a high prediction for the weight they could carry and achieved one carry of a record 8.4 Kg lift. Not bad for a standard, off the shelf 40cu in motor! Strathclyde team ‘C’ were also able to lift over 8kg so team efforts as a whole are improving each year.
Sheffield Hallam Team PH
PNext year Manny, Andrew and Nigel will take over the Challenge so as I retire I thank all those people who have entered, have worked with students on their projects, have flown and all the other jobs involved in the Challenge. Thanks to the BMFA office for their work producing the rules booklet, the certificates, and our accounts.
A special thank you to John Taylor, Peter Teagle and Mike Colling who have worked with me on the direction and form that the Challenge has taken over, I think, 11 years.
Best wishes and good luck for the new team.
| Event | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| Universities Challenge Champion for the Perkins Slade Trophy and Commisioned Painting | Strathclyde University Team I. Roger Anderson, Alexander Knight, Denis Kelleher, Stephen Currie |
£1450 |
| Universities Electric Lift Champion | Coventry University. Richard Clarke |
£400 |
| Best Report, Plans and Presentation for the Jetex Trophy |
Brunel University Tom Jury, Robert Fenton, Robert Grimwood, Suresh Bansal, Harjit Thind. |
|
| Special Prize | Daniel Welch |
£200 |