The Team
GTSC is made up over 100+ undergraduates and graduate students working to build fast and powerful aircraft. In the two years we has been officially registered at Georgia Tech as a student organization, we have grown our initial onboarding class threefold. We aim to fly Hyperion, our flagship prototype vehicle, in Fall of 2025. Furthermore, development has begun this summer on our attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest jet-powered RC aircraft, currently standing at 467 mph. Finally, Kestrel Mk1, a high-speed and maneuverable aircraft capable of 350 mph, has undergone initial designs.
Below are our technical disciplines and their leadership teams that make all of this possible!
All skill levels are welcome… what you do not know we can teach!
Aerodynamics
More Aero!
The Aerodynamics Discipline designs the outer-mold-line (OML) of all of GTSC's vehicles. This is done by using industry standard design software to develop models of the aircraft, perform simulations using in-house developed code and CFD simulations, and further optimize the designs based on those results.
Subteams: Aero-Design, Aero-Performance
The Propulsion Discipline is in charge of the characterization, modification, and testing of all engines being installed on GTSC aircraft. This entails creating computational models of the engine using tools like NPSS and validating those models against test data. Furthermore, there are engine modification projects ongoing to fuel future ambitions, including the RIOT afterburner and a thrust vectoring nozzle.
Subteams: Engine Development, Engine Testing
Propulsion
More Prop!
Structures
More Structures!
The Structures Discipline owns the structural design of all GTSC aircraft as well as the manufacturing of the final vehicles. This responsibility includes conceptual trade studies on the material selection for all vehicles, structural simulations on the aircraft in all possible load patterns, and determining the mass properties of the aircraft throughout its development.
Subteams: Composites and Manufacturing, Structural Design
The Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Discipline is in charge of developing the control law, building the ground stations, and integrating all necessary avionics systems onto GTSC's aircraft. This includes trade studies on various controller configurations and developing dynamic models of the aircraft, as well as RF and telemetry testing on the hardware planned to be installed to the aircraft.
Subteams: Flight Controls, Flight Interface, Avionics Hardware
Guidance, Navigation, and Control
More GNC!
Operations
More Ops!
The Operations Discipline is the "machine that builds the machine". This team is in charge of managing GTSC's finances and marketing the club to industry sponsors to raise more funding. On top of this, the team works closely with the vehicle Chief Engineers to plan flight test campaigns, and work out the logistics for finding a testing location, including coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, or the FAA.
Subteams: Flight Operations, Finance, Marketing