A team from Raisbeck Aviation High School (RAHS) in Tukwila, Washington, came out on top as first-place winners in the recent 2021 General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Aviation Design Challenge, beating nearly 50 high school teams representing 26 states. The team from The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, was the second-place winner.
This year’s Aviation Design Challenge mission was to modify a Glasair Sportsman to virtually fly as many COVID-19 vaccines as fast as possible from Seattle, Washington, to Packwood, Washington, using X-Plane flight simulator. The teams needed to design their aircraft to maximize transportable payload and successfully land on a small runway, surrounded by high terrain. Judges scored the teams based on performance parameters, a checklist of steps involved in the demonstration flight, and a video submission in which the team summarized what they learned.
