From left to right: Stephan Broich, Michael Klements and Jason Muloongo. The trio came in first place at the Inter-varsity Aerospace Challenge
Witsies came in first place at the inter-varsity aerospace challenge on Sunday at the Swartkops Airforce Base.
Jason Muloongo, Stephan Broich and Michael Klements had to design a radio-controlled aircraft for the challenge. The team had four planes that went up against 12 planes from the University of Pretoria (UP).
“We did quite well- there were two categories: presentation and flight,” said Muloongo, a 3rd year aeronautical engineering student.
“Jason did an awesome presentation,” said Broich. The third year mechanical engineering student said the team scored high on presentation so they were confident of their chances of winning.
The team also did well in the flight category despite windy conditions hampering the planes. “Our winning plane was a delta,” said Muloongo, referring to the type of plane the team built.
The winning plane
“Usually in windy conditions any small plane is hard to fly. But our plane came first place because it was a windy day.”
“We were able to sustain a low level and slow flight, which is what the flight part is about,” said Broich.
Muloongo said the Wits team entered three planes in total and that one didn’t do as well. “We got a hard luck certificate for that,” he joked.
The second plane the team entered fell apart in mid- air, after windy conditions made it unstable
The team got prize money, a trophy and certificate for their win. They say people will be encouraged to participate in the competition next year. The Wits team participated in the first year of the competition, but lost out to UP.
