If They Build It, It Will Fly: Student Group Building Aircraft from Scratch

3/18/2013 Susan Mumm

Student Aircraft Builders, a new multidisciplinary group of Illinois undergraduates that Aerospace Engineering students are leading, believe that if they build it, it will fly. And they’ll learn engineering and management skills in the meantime.

Written by Susan Mumm

Student Aircraft Builders, a new multidisciplinary group of Illinois undergraduates that Aerospace Engineering students are leading, believe that if they build it, it will fly. And they’ll learn engineering and management skills in the meantime.

In this case, the “it” is a Van’s Aircraft RV-7A, a manned airplane the students began assembling this semester from a kit inside a hangar at the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation. Ultimately, the group aspires to fly the plane in the HomeBuilt Lindy Competition of the July 2014 Experimental  Aircraft Association’s (EAA) Airventure, an international flight event held in Oshkosh , Wisconsin.

Beyond the competition, SAB’s overriding goal is to provide students with an opportunity to work on an undergraduate project. “Members will learn teamwork, organizational skills, administrative techniques, communicating and supporting ideas, time management, and, most importantly, hands-on experience in an engineering project,” according to the group’s website. To support this plan, the group will hold professional workshops on riveting, MIG and TIG welding, and training sessions with power tools including sanders, grinders and drills.

SAB President Andrew Putch explained the idea for SAB was born in 2008, when David West, then a senior in Aerospace Engineering and the Aviation Institute, acquired an empennage kit, some tools and a few donations toward the future build. But before finishing, West and his cohorts graduated, stalling progress.

The dream was reborn with the enthusiasm of Erik Lopez, a sophomore in AE. On a cooperative experience at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston this semester, Lopez handed off the project to his roommate and fellow AE sophomore, Putch, and mechanical engineering student  Zach Cox, the aircraft’s build manager.

Cox and other Engineering at Illinois students - Mike Vercelli, Jon Stricker, David Drewniak, and Andy Myrna - attended an EAA workshop in January to gain tips on how to put the plane together. Since the start of the year, the group has collected the original empennage and training kits, along with about 80 students eager to participate in various roles. Cox keeps a running report on the progress of the build.

Meanwhile, Putch has distributed promotional materials and has helped chief web officer Alex Haldey, a sophomore in computer science, build the website. The group is working to attract sponsors. SAB estimates the aircraft will cost at least $76,000 to build, and so far the group has raised about $10,000, with donations from the Aerospace Engineering Department, Northrop Grumman, and the University of Illinois Student Organization Resource Fee.

Companies or individuals interested in sponsoring the build through cash or equipment donations can contact Putch at putch2

at
at
illinois [dot] edu. Based on gift value, sponsors receive benefits ranging from a subscription to SAB’s quarterly newsletter to the sponsors’ logo being placed on the finished aircraft.

The aircraft comes as a kit, but the skills needed to put it together require finesse and practice so the students will be learning valuable lessons as they build. “The kit can be certified as ‘fully acrobatic’ by the FAA, which means the aircraft is recognized to have the capacity to at least pull -3 to +6 G forces,” Putch said.

Both he and Lopez are licensed pilots and would enjoy flying the plane themselves, but SAB will ask a professional pilot to do the test flights once it is built.

According to the group’s website, interest has been shown in using the finished plane as a research platform for other campus projects. Potential research topics include structural analysis, experimental software for avionics, and alternative propulsion systems.

SAB’s mission is not only to advance airplane technology, but also to inspire the next generation of engineers.

To view more photos, go to AE’s Facebook Page.


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This story was published March 18, 2013.