As part of our commitment to the dissemination of aeronautical culture, and as future aeronautical engineers, this project represents the culmination of all the principles upon which the UPM Flying Club is built. Our goal is to complete the construction of a light aircraft that will allow us to develop and test new technologies that will help build a more sustainable world for future generations.
In collaboration with different members of the staff of the ETSIAE/UPM, we have set ourselves a deadline of five years to complete the manufacture of an Iris Aviation aircraft.
This is only the first step of the project, as we will continue to develop innovations and modifications in parallel, which we will gradually add to the aircraft to improve its efficiency and address some of the major challenges in the aviation industry. These designs include:
- Hybrid propulsion system
- Improved wing design: geometry, struts, winglets…
- Weight reduction
- Pollutant gas measurement sensors
In particular, this last point is very important to us because we hope to be able to use our aircraft in scientific missions to quantify the effect of human activity in the atmosphere—pollutant gases, black carbon or particulate matter—, proposing solutions that will lead to a more balanced economy with the rest of the planet.
However, our goals for 2023 are not that ambitious, as we are aiming to complete half of the wing before the end of the year. The manufacturing of the first parts started at the beginning of February with the construction of the ribs of one of the ailerons, and we expect to finish the flap and aileron on the same side of the wing during the month of March.
In addition, the members of the Club who are participating in this project have received introductory and safety courses in the use of composite materials, and have also begun the construction of some simple tools such as a post-curing oven, essential in the manufacture of several of the pieces.