The competition Air Cargo Challenge was created by APAE (Portuguese Association of Aeronautics and Space) in 2003. Since then, the competition was held every two years and, from 2007, the challenge gained European projection. The 2009 edition is organized by Aeroubi Euroavia Covilhã – Núcleo de Engenharia Aeronáutica da Universidade da Beira Interior (Association of Aeronautical Engineering of University of Beira Interior). It is a competition aimed at university students doing Engineering and Science courses or Engineers and was created to stimulate the interest in the fields of aeronautics and as a means to test their skills.

The team should design, document, build and fly a radio controlled aircraft with the maximum payload possible. The aircraft must take-off in 60 meters, fly over a field at least once and land safely in the place previously defined by the organization. The aircraft must comply with the competition’s regulations which include design restrictions such as motor-power limit.

 Why Take the Challenge?

• High-end theoretical knowledge into practice

• Cultural exchanges between students, their experiences and knowledge

• Opportunity to fully develop innovating ideas in aircraft design

• 2 previous national edition and 1 European edition with 150 participants

• Nice sponsorship returns: covered by media (tv, magazines, etc).