The Mission

Speedfest xiv

This year's Speedfest mission combines pylon racing and aerobatics.
The statement of work lays out the following basic requirements and design constraints:
- A single, unmodified Desert Aircraft DA 35 engine must be used.
- The maximum wingspan is 60 inches, and the maximum aircraft length is 63 inches.
- The plane must be able to carry enough fuel to run for ten minutes at full throttle.
- The smoke system must be able to produce at least 30 seconds of significant smoke.

The pylon course is made up of two flags spaced 1000 feet apart.
The goal is for the plane to collect as many flags as possible in three minutes.
To score points, the plane must collect at least 15 flags.
To score maximum points, the plane must collect the most flags amongst the competitors.

The plane must perform an aerobatic show and produce 30 seconds of visible smoke.
To score points, the plane must perform a horizontal figure 8, a Cuban 8, and an Immelmann turn.
To score maximum points, the plane must perform more aggressive maneuvers.
If the smoke is not clear and visible, no points will be scored.

A unit cost analysis will be done to provide a cost for the production of a plane.
Material cost and labor will factor into the cost.
The flight transmitter, receiver, and servos are not included in the cost.
Teams may apply projections of cost reductions using quantity discount information and logarithmic learning curves.
The maximum cost to score points is $10,000, while maximum points are scored if the cost is less than $7,500.

Speedfest is won by earning the most points across the mission, marketing, and aircraft design categories.

By analyzing the mission, tent poles were chosen to guide the design process and ensure that all design decisions were in support of the goal to build the best possible plane.
The tent poles were further simplified to three main focuses: