Aero students given funding to build RC plane

A 35 strong group of students, led by Edward Kardouss, Areonautics Year 1 Rep, will build a remote control (RC) aircraft that will take off, water bomb a target, make a flying loop, fly for 10 minutes, and eject a parachutist and land. The Department of Aeronautics has agreed to fund the project as well as provide labs for the students to work in. The students hope to compete in future years in international flying competitions against other universities. The project will start in October and end in March 2014.

Kardouss said: “I came up with this idea as I thought we should have a real engineering challenge, one that can strengthen our skills, one that can provide a good learning experience.” Some of the 35 students joining him also gave comments. Robert Watkiss described it as a “great o opportunity for students to get engineering experience in a project at an early stage.” Meanwhile Filip Karasiewicz said: “finally something that is a proof of Imperial’s global position and reputation”. Joel Young says that it is a “stepping stone to greater things”. Bruno Scalzo-Dee seemed pleased to put his degree into practice saying: “There is need for a healthy combination of academic learning and applying learnt skills, and finally we have the opportunity to achieve this much desired balance.”