SAE Micro Class Plane

Background

Spanning several years, Aero Design @ UCI (formally UCI Cargo Plane) is a well-renowned project at the University of California, Irvine. This project provides a great opportunity for undergraduate students to learn the fundamentals of aircraft design, as it brings together the foundations of aerospace engineering and combines them with hands-on manufacturing experience. These skills will aid these members in future endeavors where they may design planes that could potentially carry more precious cargo. Given the formidable challenge by SAE, teams are expected to bring together unique perspectives in creating a one-of-a-kind RC aircraft, capable of meeting all constraints. All participating teams are expected to go through the entire design process, create a thorough design report, and present the team’s design to a panel of industry engineers.

Goals and Objectives

Our goal for our project is to design and build a small-scale aircraft that contains a liquid payload with minimal wingspan, whilst fulfilling all SAE Aero Design requirements. This aircraft is to compete at the SAE Aero Design West Competition (April 17-19, 2026) in Fort Worth, TX, under the Micro Class competition (other than the Regular Class which MAE 93 is fully participating).

Complete Aircraft Optimization: Nov 17th, 2025
Complete Preliminary Design: Nov 26th, 2025
Create Iron Bird POC: Dec 5th, 2025
Manufacture Airframe: Jan 30th, 2026
Integrate Electronics: Feb 6th, 2026
Test Flights: Feb 28th, 2026
Design Report: Mar 1st, 2026
Prep for Competition: Apr 6th, 2026
Competition: Apr 17-19th, 2026

More Information

Nothing at the moment!

Documentation

Some of our recent presentations:

Website

Work in progress!

Team Contacts