During the 2025–2026 season, AERE’s Husky Air team designed and manufactured a high-wing radio-controlled aircraft for the SAE Aero Design competition.
The aircraft featured a 10-foot wingspan, twin electric motors, a conventional tail, and a lightweight balsa-frame structure reinforced with aluminum spars.
Throughout the development process, the team conducted aerodynamic analysis, structural testing, and manufacturing, producing nearly every component of the aircraft in-house.
Although the aircraft was completed, it was finished too late to pass through competition inspection. Despite this setback, the season provided valuable experience and highlighted several opportunities for improvement.
The team identified the importance of earlier prototyping, additional flight testing, and a faster design-build-test cycle. These lessons have helped shape Husky Air’s current approach, emphasizing rapid prototyping, early testing, and addressing smaller failures before they become larger challenges later in the season.
