Singapore students create unique flying machines

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333 teams of aviation enthusiasts have built their own unique flying machines as part of the Singapore Amazing Flying Machines Competition held at the Singapore Science Centre from March 11 to 23.

The teams put their flying machines through a series of challenges specific to each category. Judging criteria included aesthetics, creativity, flight range, flight time, aloft and directional precision.

Jointly organised by the Science Centre Singapore (SCS) and DSO National Laboratories (DSO), this year's event saw the highest number of participants taking part since its 2009 inaugural launch. A total of 31 new teams participated across all categories, with 166 returning teams.

A new age bracket was also added for students 12 years old and above in the paper plane category.

132 teams, up from 92 teams last year, took part in this event by creating their own paper planes that were tested on their range, flight time, aloft and directional precision.

Unpowered gliders and electronic aerial crafts competed in the other categories. There was a higher number of participants for Category D (Semi-Automated/Automated Planes) and E (Unconventional Planes), this year, with 72 teams competing as compared to 59 teams.

One Category A team flew their paper plane through six hoops, while another team broke the all-time competition record by achieving a range of 19m.

Category E teams invented flying machines such as a coaxial platform with retractable wings, a tricopter with two smaller planes, as well as wacky creations like a Psy-inspired flying machine.

'Kinetic Trio' from Commonwealth Secondary School came out tops in the Category A (Open) Championships and clinched the Gold award for range. 'Loyang Paper Eagle' from Loyang Primary won the Category A (Student) Championships and clinched the Bronze award for longest time aloft.

Other top teams included 'Kitty Hawk' from ITE College Central - Category C's top Champion and Gold winner of Best Performance, 'NUSLion' from National University of Singapore, which won three awards - Category D top Championship, Category B Best Performance and Category E 3rd place Championship and 'Bonnibelle and Friends' from Singapore Polytechnic - Category E's top Champion and Gold winner of Best Performance.