Design/Build/Fly

Design/Build/Fly, or DBF, is a radio-controlled aircraft competition sponsored by the American institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Cessna Aircraft Company, and Raytheon Missile Systems. The Office of Naval Research was also a sponsor until 2006. The competition is intended to challenge the AIAA student branches of each university to design, build, and fly a remote controlled airplane that can complete specific ground and flight missions. Additionally, the teams are required to submit a comprehensive design report detailing the most important aspects of their designs.

The competition rules change every year. Usually, rules are published in late August and the competition fly-off is held in April. The rules define a mathematical formula used to determine the score for an entry. Recent competitions' formulas have used a combination of design report score, mission score determined by performance conducting one or more mission tasks at the fly-off, and Rated Aircraft Cost, a variable used to define the complexity of the design.

Year Location 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place 5th Place
1997 Ragged Island, MD University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Virginia Tech Texas A&M University Utah State University West Virginia University
1998 Wichita, KS University of Southern California ("Pepe") Texas A&M University Syracuse University University of Texas, Austin Utah State University [Paper Score]
1999 Pax River, MD Utah State University Oklahoma State University University of Southern California ("H2OT Shark") Georgia Institute of Technology Texas A&M University
2000 Wichita, KS Utah State University ("Wing and a Prayer") Oklahoma State University 1 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Georgia Institute of Technology Oklahoma State University 2
2001 Pax River, MD Oklahoma State University (Orange) Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo Oklahoma State University (Black) University of California, San Diego Utah State University
2002 Wichita, KS University of California, San Diego University of Southern California ("SCrewball") West Virginia University University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza
2003 Ridgely Airpark, MD San Diego State University Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza University of Southern California ("SCyRaider") Oklahoma State University (Black)
2004 Wichita, KS Oklahoma State University (Black) Oklahoma State University (Orange) University of Southern California ("SCquirt") University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo
2005 Pax River, MD Oklahoma State University (Black) Oklahoma State University (Orange) Washington State University Virginia Tech University of California, San Diego
2006 Wichita, KS Oklahoma State University (Black) Oklahoma State University (Orange) Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo (24" Wood) University of Southern California ("SCtingray") Istanbul Technical University
2007 Tucson, AZ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Oklahoma State University (Orange) Purdue University Oklahoma State University (Black) Wichita State University (Shockin' Surveyor)
2008 Wichita, KS Oklahoma State University (Black) University of Texas, Austin (The Hornworks) Oklahoma State University (Orange) University of Texas, Austin (Orange Bullet) University of Colorado - Boulder
2009 Tucson, AZ Oklahoma State University (Black) Oklahoma State University (Orange) University of Southern California ("Turbo Encabulator") Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Just Wing It) University of California - Irvine (Zot Rocket)
2010 Wichita, KS Oklahoma State University (Orange) Oklahoma State University (Black) Purdue University (B'Euler Up) University of Texas, Austin (Bat Wing) Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo (Swings Both Ways)
2011 Tucson, AZ Georgia Institute of Technology (There Will Be Buzz) University of Southern California (The RFB) Purdue University (The Golfstream) Wichita State University (MiniWheat) California Polytechnic State University (Balls Deep)
2012 Wichita, KS San Jose State University (Team PhalanX) University of California, Irvine (Angel of Attack) University of Colorado (H2BuffalO) Istanbul Technical University (ATA) University of Oklahoma (Crimson Skies)
2013 Tucson, AZ University of California, Irvine San Diego State University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Colorado Boulder
2014 Wichita, KS University of Southern California ("MiSChief") University of California, Irvine San Jose State University University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2015 Tucson, AZ University of Ljubljana, Slovenia University of California, Irvine Georgia Institute of Technology Tel Aviv University University of Texas, Austin

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