The sky’s the limit for Glyndŵr students in major aeronautical competition!

A team of students are pitting their skills and knowledge against other aspiring aeronautical engineers in the Merlin Simulation Group annual ‘It Flies!’ aircraft design and handling competition.

The team of four German students – who have spent the past year in Wrexham working on their dissertation project – have designed an ultra-light, propeller-driven aircraft using Merlin software and a state of the art flight simulator at the Wrexham Glyndŵr University Plas Coch Campus.

Designed by Mario Häbe, Klaus Siebenäuger, Kevin Besinger and Manuel Zapke, the aircraft will be put through its paces at the University of Manchester on Thursday, June 6.

An experienced test pilot will evaluate the simulations on the day to assess whether they fly correctly, and participants will also give a presentation on the aircraft’s design.

Nick Burdon, Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, said that the competition allows participants to design and simulate an aircraft from any time period, or to create their own project.

Past entries have included simulations of military aircraft, near space technology and even a recreation of the Wright Brothers’ pioneering craft.

Nick told how a team of Glyndŵr students jointly won the competition in 2015 by creating a perfect replica of a glider and entries could come from Masters and PhD students as well as undergraduates.

The four students have spent the academic year in Wrexham after several years of study in their homeland.

Nick praised the team for staying in Wrexham after completing their final year to fine-tune their competition entry.

“They’re keen and they have been all year,” he said.

“They’ve definitely shown commitment and they’re interested to see what their aircraft can do.”

More information on Glyndŵr’s BENG Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering course can be found here.