The Radio-Controlled Plane competition took place on Sunday, 24 October, at the Irene Radio Flyers Club, Gauteng. The competition was a fun event to encourage interest in both aviation and aeronautics. The University of Pretoria (UP), University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) were all present with several teams. UP had five teams with five planes, Wits brought three teams, and four planes and UJ had two teams with two planes. In total, over 50 students were present, as well as the organisers from the South African Radio Plane Association and several supporters.

All teams had to use a specified motor, and only fixed-wing plane were allowed. Additionally, these plane had to be designed and built by the students. The goal of the 2021 Aerospace Challenge was to conceptualise, design, construct and fly radio-controlled models. The plane had to land after each circuit, and the tennis balls had to be unloaded and reloaded each time before taking off again.

Many teams struggled to take off successfully due to the winds and gusts. Some planes crashed or broke their landing gear. The educational skills for this competition required knowledge of aerodynamics and flight mechanics. AeSSA provided the electronics and the motors, although the students had to fund the cost of their materials themselves to build the plane. The UP Aerospace society sponsored the teams' shirts.

The universities competed for an overall trophy sponsored by the Aeronautical Society of South Africa. Under the supervision of the Aeronautics lecturer Ms Barbara Huyssen, the final year aeronautical students designed their plane in teams and then manufactured it from scratch. Each team had its unique plane and team name. In total, 36 students (five teams) competed from the University of Pretoria. The Pilot, a UP postgraduate student, Mr Graham Lloyd flew the UP planes , and gave us the upper hand.

The winning team

The University of Pretoria won again this year. In total, we have won 10 times since 2010! This year the winning team was Volare. Their plane was designed to carry nine balls at a time. After two rounds, the winning team achieved 54 balls against 42 balls from the Wits team.

'We designed our plane around the specified motor, given in the competition rules. We opted for a larger propeller than rated due to the altitude at which the competition would be taking place. We chose a high wing configuration with a high aspect ratio, similar to the glider range, as we designed the plane for a slow, stable flight. The high wing choice was also for good ground clearance. Additionally, a central spine fuselage configuration using a carbon fibre rod was chosen, and a large landing gear was added. This helped a lot with absorbing landing impacts and controlling the plane on the runway. The landing gear was connected to the carbon fibre rod, which ensured that any impact would not damage the rest of the plane during hard landings. The air-foil chosen was Clark-Y due to its aerodynamic performance and manufacturability. The plane was manufactured using a laser cutter for the ribs, a combination of dial and carbon fibre rods for the spars in the wings and the skeleton structure was then covered using vinyl. This was shaped onto the wing by ironing and blow-drying the material over the skeleton structure.'

- Keanan van Dyk