A love of aircraft and aerospace is bringing together Florida Polytechnic University students who want to put their engineering know-how to the test while building and flying faster, more aerodynamic model airplanes and helicopters.
Flight Club is a new student organization that launched at the beginning of the fall semester, quickly gaining popularity.
“I’ve always had an interest in aerospace and the physics of how to fly, space and rockets,” said senior mechanical engineering major Armando Ruiz, sergeant of arms for the club. “I would like to eventually design planes and become an engineer in that field.”
Kory Emulut, the club’s president, said Flight Club already has more than 30 members interested in pursuing their interest in radio-controlled aircraft.
“You don’t need experience to join us; our main goal is to always help you build every step of the way,” said Kory Emulut, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. “Students can start building from a kit and gain confidence, and eventually we want them to try to craft their own ideas.”
The concept for Flight Club took shape during the spring 2024 semester when Emulut and his friends learned about the international collegiate Design/Build/Fly Competition hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). While they couldn’t make it into the competition on time this year, they are determined to enter the 2025 event.
To begin achieving that goal, the club plans to hold its first official flight at Florida Poly before the end of the fall semester. As members gain hands-on experience with the flight simulator and become more familiar with aircraft building and flying, their focus will shift to designing their own aircraft and preparing for competitions.
“Our upper-level design courses like mechanical lab design and capstone gave us the tools to understand the large problems we face as we build and break them up into more digestible tasks that we can do,” said senior mechanical engineering major Dominic Meler, the club’s vice president. “They really make the challenge of building an airplane much more doable.”
The 2025 AIAA competition will take place in April in Tucson, Arizona, and the Florida Poly team is excited to show off what it can do.
“I think we’re going to make a strong first impression,” Emulut said.
Learn more about Flight Club online at PhoenixLink.
Contact:
Lydia Guzmán
Director of Communications
863-874-8557
