AMAZING MACHINES TAKE FLIGHT AT COMPETITION

A remote-controlled plane that can take off and land vertically - without first taxiing on a runway - was the big winner at this year's Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition (SAFMC).

Created by a team of students from Singapore Polytechnic, the flying gadget achieves this feat by tilting its wings - along with it its propellers - upward.

They beat 29 other teams to emerge first in the unconventional aircraft category. Their plane also won the 1800-metre flight race, with a timing of 150 seconds, and the freestyle performance competition.

The team are members of the polytechnic's aviation club: Mr Jonas Hii, 21; Mr Bryan Lim, 19; Muhd Hazim, 19; Mr Ho Cheng Wei, 21; and Mr Gavin Lim, 20. They took four weeks to conceptualise and create their flying machine.

"Our plane is able to take off on the spot in confined spaces, just like a helicopter," said Mr Bryan Lim. Considering the fact that most commercial and military planes require a runway to take off, what these students achieved was noteworthy.

Their inspiration came from the XC-142, a tilt-wing military aircraft, created by the United States Air Force to test the feasibility for vertical take-off and landing in a military operation. Such capability is valued by the military as it allows an aircraft to take off when a runway is damaged or not available.

There were over 1,100 participants in the competition which was open to primary, secondary, and tertiary students as well as members of the public. They competed against one another in creating flying gadgets in various categories, including paper planes, gliders, and radio-controlled aircraft.

Currently into its 7th year, the competition, which is organised by DSO National Laboratories and Science Centre Singapore, aims to promote interest in science and technology among Singapore youths. It attracted eight international teams from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia this year.

Second Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing gave out the awards to the winners at the Science Centre Singapore on 21 Mar.

In his address, Mr Chan noted how advancement in aviation technology had made long-haul flight possible, allowing Singapore to become a global aviation hub in the past decades. But the Republic now faced stiff competition from other countries.

He urged the students - the scientists and engineers of tomorrow - to continue their good work, and come up with the next generation of technology.

"Whether Singapore can continue to entrench our position as a global node will depend on your effort, of what you can come up with, what you can invent, what you can innovate " he said.

For teachers and parents

A new competition category was introduced this year to encourage parents and teachers to learn alongside their children and students. Twenty-three teachers and parents took up the challenge to create paper planes that could fly the longest, furthest or most accurately.

In his address at the award ceremony, Professor Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive of Science Centre Singapore, commended the parents who joined the new competition as a way to encourage their children to take part in SAFMC 2015.

He said: "We salute you because you instil the kind of passion, together with your children, that would go a long way."