This year's competition was interesting to say the least! Most of team members experienced—and survived—their first Tornado!

The contest started as usual on a Friday (April 13; oh-oh.) with moderate but flyable Wichita winds. The team flew

	The 2012 AeroDesign Team's airplane, PoSCeidon, in flight.

mission 1 successfully, with PoSCeidon completing 7 laps. (Only four teams completed this many). On Saturday, the weather picked up. Competition was suspended mid day as the winds began to gust and swirl, and the team eventually retreated to their hotel to wait out the storm in the hotel basement. The tornado touched down several miles south of the hotel and steadily moved north. With the power and lights cut off by the storm, the team didn't know much about the tornado until the next morning. This is when they learned that the tornado had passed within a 1/2 mile of the hotel!

Sunday morning, the path and destruction of the storm were revealed. The tornado came within 1/4 mile of the Cessna flying field and all roads surrounding the competition site were closed due to downed power lines, scattered debris and broken/uprooted trees. The attached image shows the team in front of a capsized ferris wheel at a nearby carnival grounds. Soon after, the team learned that the competition had been canceled.

Canceling the competition left the Design/Build/Fly Committee with a difficult task in declaring a winner since many teams had yet to fly all missions. In the end, the judges decided to count the first two missions (which only 12/68 teams completed). This was unfortunate for us since we only completed mission 1 before the competition was suspended; our final standing was 16th overall. results are attached.

While tough to tell just from the photos, the team's plane was well designed for the mission objectives and flew great! It was poised to be a solid competitor at the contest. Their effort throughout the year was diligent and consistent, including more than 10 test flight outings. They were impressive all year, including the final test flight where they built two planes (one for final propulsion sizing and, the competition aircraft for trimming before heading to Wichita). The raw score for their written report (93.5) was the 5th best in the competition, although the addition of clear plastic front/back covers upon binding counted against the page limit and yielded a 20 pt. deduction. Nevertheless, the team designed and built a great airplane and they're already eager to compete again next year in Tuscon where heat and dust are minor inconveniences compared to a Wichita tornado!

The 2012 AeroDesign Team in Wichita, Kansas. Behind the group is the ferris wheel knocked over when the Wichita twister passed close by.

PoSCeidon landing.

PoSCeidon executing a loop and roll.