First-year aerospace engineering students from AerE 160 capped off their first semester with the Lighter Than Air Competition in Howe Hall on Friday evening. The students built aircrafts out of balsa wood and used motors, propellers, and a large helium balloon to fly them around the atrium.
For this year’s competition, the groups faced off in a tournament to determine the fastest aircraft. Three aircrafts raced around a series of obstacles in the atrium including, tunnels, hoops, and leaf blowers. Spectators gathered around Howe Hall to watch the exciting races.
The students used the project to work in groups and also to learn some of the basic principals of aerospace engineering.
Photos by Max Goldberg
