Academy researchers place 1st in competition

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  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Two research teams from the Air Force Academy won first place awards in the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics Region V competition last month.

Cadets 1st Class Joshua Castagnetta and Robert Larson won first place in the undergraduate category for their research at the April 24-25 competition to create an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of conducting zero-gravity experiments. 

Mentored by long-time Academy aeronautics professor Tom Yechout, the research started as a summer research internship at NASA's Houston facility and continued during the cadets' senior year at the Academy.

Scientists conduct microgravity experiments, simulated zero-gravity tests, using a 727 jet that travels in a deep circle to provide seconds of no gravity. The problem is that the jet is expensive and has to be booked months in advance.

NASA researchers wanted to know if a commercially available UAV was able to take on some of the 727's workload, taking small equipment into a steep dive that creates zero gravity for a few seconds at a time. The result of more than 18 months of research found that the UAVs should be able to fly the parabolic route normally taken by the 727.

Two Academy seniors and a sophomore won first place in the team category, covering 14 universities. The team, Cadets 1st Class Gregory Gutkin, Geoffrey Whitener and Cadet 3rd Class Young Wu, conducted research in the Academy's cascade wind tunnel, a research tool that tests parts of engines, instead of model airplanes. Since engines can't be downsized, the three - including sophomore Young Wu - worked on developing new ways to test engine designs for turbulence.

"Characterizing the flow over low-pressure turbine blades is of interest to the Air Force because slow, high-flying engines experience flow separation across low pressure turbine blades, causing a loss of turbine efficiency," the three wrote in their award-winning paper. "This study will enable future turbine blade research at the Air Force Academy by establishing a baseline."