Contact: Maridith Geuder
Mississippi State seniors Viva Austin of Tylertown (l) and Erin Wahlers of Gulfport join faculty adviser Bryan L. Gassaway to display their radio-controlled aircraft.
An unmanned, radio-controlled aircraft designed and built by Mississippi State students is landing a third consecutive top-10 finish in an international test of aerospace engineering skills.
Headed by aerospace engineering majors Erin Wahlers of Gulfport and Viva Austin of Tylertown, the 23-member university team finished No. 8 overall in recent annual competition sponsored by the Cessna Corp. and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
The rigorous challenge for student members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics pitted MSU against more than 30 other collegiate groups from throughout the United States, as well as from Canada, Italy and Turkey.
In the timed-assembly category, MSU was No. 1, defeating all other teams hands down by having their entry ready for flight in just nine seconds.
Beginning last September with a meeting of interested students, the two-semester project was compelled to progress rapidly in order to have the MSU entry ready for the late-April competition, said faculty adviser Bryan L. Gassaway, a member of the first MSU team to compete three years ago.
"The craft has to be designed to very precise specifications and accomplish three mission profiles, each rated according to level of difficulty," added Gassaway, a lecturer in the aerospace engineering department.
Austin, the project's chief engineer, said competition requirements that change from year to year force entering teams to alter their designs accordingly.
For 2003, competing craft had to fit into a box of precise dimensions. Each then had to be assembled in timed competition, land on a runway; make laps with a sensor payload, land and deploy the payload; and complete 360-degree turns, among other requirements.
Judging also is based on written design reports that documented each group's planning and construction processes.
To prepare for the event at Ridgely Airpark in eastern Maryland, the MSU team assembled not one, but two, complete aircraft, Wahlers said. "We built a prototype to determine weak areas, then made improvements on the second plane," she explained.
Constructed of balsa wood and powered by a prescribed battery-operated engine, each craft must be both light enough and strong enough to accomplish the required tasks. Steps also had to be taken to ensure the plane's adequate stability on the ground.
"Initially, we placed batteries on top of the plane body and found it wasn't stable enough," Austin said. "We solved the problem by building battery pods on the sides."
The constant need to analyze and adjust is among the project's greatest benefits, the students agreed.
"Every member of the team contributed to the overall project," Austin said. "Every single person had their hands on the plane in some capacity and had a voice in the overall design."
Added Wahlers: "It's very exciting to see your ideas go into building the plane and then see it actually take off."
In discussing the hectic circumstances where the planes actually flew, Austin and Wahlers gave special credit to the skills of pilot William Lott of Clinton and spotter Cedric Gould of Slidell, La.
While no awards were given for style and beauty, the team leaders said they share the belief that MSU had the most attractive entry in this year's event.
"Mark Van Zwoll from Oscoda, Mich., is very artistic," Austin said. "Our entry was painted to look like a shark."
Listed by hometown, the MSU team included:
CLINTON--Freshman William A. Lott, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Lott.
DELANO, Tenn.--Freshman Carla N. King, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William King.
FRANKLIN PARK, Ill.--Senior Amar A. Amin, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Arunkumar Amin.
GULFPORT--Senior Erin Wahlers, the daughter of Heisekll McCall and Ken Wahlers.
HAZLEHURST--Sophomore Kerry N. Beck, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Beck.
HERNANDO--Junior Alexander G. Szymanski, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Szymanski.
La PLACE, La.--Sophomore Jennifer E. Esper, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Esper.
LAWRENCE--Freshman Joshua K. Jacobs, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lum Jacobs.
MAUMELLE, Ark.--Senior Alexander V. Allen, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Allen.
MEMPHIS--Senior David J. Bodkin, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Bodkin.
MERIDIAN--Junior Brent L. Buckner, the son of Shareen Buckner of Meridian and Richard Buckner of Eutaw, Ala.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn.--Junior Travis L. Klima, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Klima.
OAKLAND, Tenn.--Junior Ryan J. Smith, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Smith.
OCEAN SPRINGS--Freshman Vanessa V. Aubuchon, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Aubuchon.
OSCODA, Mich.--Freshman Mark E. Van Zwoll, the son of Susan Van Zwoll and Dean Van Zwoll.
PINSON, Ala.--Junior Christopher W. Cureton, the son of Debra Cureton.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Freshman Maribeth M. Davidson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Davidson.
RIDGELAND--Freshman Jason L. Hopper, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Hopper.
SLIDELL, La.--Sophomore Cedric O. Gould, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gould.
SOUTHAVEN--Freshman Robert F. DiGiacomo, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Blood, and senior Matthew J. Haines, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Haines.
TYLERTOWN--Senior Viva Austin, the daughter of Alice Green.
VICKSBURG--Senior Eric A. Hammack, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alva Hammack.