SAE Aero Design West Competition

Competition took place in Fort Woth Texas at Thunderbird RC Field April 17 - 19, 2026. Mach Pine built two full sized aircrafts for this competition to maximize flight attempts. Overall the Rgular class team had three flight attempts with one successful takeoff. We placed #25 for the competition.

Competition Gallery

Assembling plane for inspection

Monokoting wing

First full plane in the flight line

Plane at inspection

Vehicle length measurement

Weight of plane at inspection

Plane on the runway for the first attempt

Unsuccessful takeoff

Damage from sliding into the grass

Rebuild of front fuselage

Second plane in flight line

Getting first plane ready for inspection

Final attempt

Achieved takeoff

Crash landing

Damages from crash

Competition Videos

Flight Attempt 1

First flight attempt at competition. Plane was unsuccessful at taking off. This attempt broke one fuselage frame and one of the connections to the landing gear. This crash was repaired that night so the plane was ready to fly the next day.

Flight Attempt 2

The second plane was used after the crash the first day since it was already inspected. Once we got onto the flight strip, a judge asked for the rudder to be actuated and it disconnected from the tail. We had to step off the runway to fix the plane and get the other plane ready for another try.

Assembly For Inspection

This video is of part of the team attaching the batteries and propellers as well as adding cargo so we can try one last time for a successful flight

Flight Attempt 3

First successful takeoff at competition. The flight did end in a major crash. This was due to the unstability of the takeoff because the landing gear became disconnected leaving no way to steer the plane efficiently on the runway.