NASA Challenges Students to Redesign Classic DC-3 through Essay Contest

High school and college students have an opportunity to revolutionize the aircraft industry with a new essay contest by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).

Students from around the country are being challenged to come up with changes to the DC-3, which was initially developed as a transport plane in the 1930's, hundreds of which still remain in service today after 70 years of service. According to Boeing, "The Douglas DC-3, which made air travel popular and airline profits possible, is universally recognized as the greatest airplane of its time. Some would argue that it is the greatest of all time."

The Aeronautic Research Directorate will be giving scholarships to high school students of $1,500 for the best team entry, and $1,000 for the best individual entry in each section of the competition. For high school students judging will be conducted by a group of federal, university, industry and other expert representatives. College students are required to obtain official sponsorship by a supervising or advising faculty member. Cash prizes for college student entries could be as high as $5,000.

High school students are limited to 12 pages, and the description from NASA on the goal of the papers are reminiscent of the flights of fancy from Jules Verne at the end of the 19^th Century. The focus of high school entries are to present "...ideas for a future aircraft that could revolutionize passenger and cargo travel in the year 2058."

College entries are more focuses on improvements in existing aircraft technology, to create more environmentally-friendly aircraft, capable of landing on shorter runways, and to present potential uses for their newly-designed aircraft. College entries are limited to 25 pages, and will be judged by a panel from NASA.

The plane continues as a workhorse for air transport in hard to reach locations, since it is capable of landing and taking off on rough terrain. Movie buffs may recall the plane used in "Lord of War" in which Nicholas Cage watches as his arms-laden DC-3 is stripped overnight in a stop-action montage to a slim skeleton, sitting on a dirt road where it was forced to land to escape capture.

Details for high school student entries can be found at http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions_high.htm and for college students at http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions_univ.htm.Notice of intent to enter the contest from high school students must be submitted by Dec. 15, 2007, and by Jan. 19, 2008, for college students. The entry for high school students is due no later than March 15, 2008, and for college students no later than April 30, 2008.