Design/Build/Fly

Design/Build/Fly, or DBF, is a radio-controlled aircraft competition sponsored by the American institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Cessna Aircraft Company, and Raytheon Missile Systems. The Office of Naval Research was also a sponsor until 2006. The competition is intended to challenge the AIAA student branches of each university to design, build, and fly a remote controlled airplane that can complete specific ground and flight missions. Additionally, the teams are required to submit a comprehensive design report detailing the most important aspects of their designs.
The competition rules change every year. Usually, rules are published in late August and the competition fly-off is held in April. The rules define a mathematical formula used to determine the score for an entry. Recent competitions' formulas have used a combination of design report score, mission score determined by performance conducting one or more mission tasks at the fly-off, and Rated Aircraft Cost, a variable used to define the complexity of the design.