Leonardo's Aerial Screw 500 Years Later A Review Of The 37th VFS Students Design Competition

Abstract

For the last few decades, the Vertical Flight Society has organized the Student Design Competition, a challenge to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements. This competition provides a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities around the world and promotes student interest in vertical flight technology. The Student Design Competition sponsorship rotates between the main rotorcraft industry or institutions and in 2019 the 37th edition was sponsored by Leonardo Helicopters, with a subject strongly related to the new company name (recently adopted) and to the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci. So, student teams worldwide were asked to design a VTOL vehicle based on Leonardo's Aerial Screw concept, studying and demonstrating the consistency of its physics and potential feasibility.