Air Cargo Challenge


The Air Cargo Challenge is an aeronautical engineering student competition that is held in Europe every two years.
This competition was held for the first time in 2003 and it was founded by a group of Aerospace students in Lisbon. The competition is primarily directed to aeronautical and aerospace engineering students, similarly to the north-American Design/Build/Fly.
The main objective is to design and build a radio-controlled aircraft that is able to fly with the highest possible payload according with the rules established in the competition regulations, which vary in each edition.
The team's score is not only given by the performance demonstrated in the flight competition part, but also by the technical quality of the project, through the evaluation of the design report and drawings.
The event's first edition was organized by the APAE: Associação Portuguesa de Aeronáutica e Espaço, an aerospace group from Instituto Superior Técnico. From the ACC'07 onwards, the competition grew to an international level under the umbrella of EUROAVIA, the European Association of Aerospace Students, and the winning team got the possibility of organizing the next edition. The ACC of 2011 was held in the University of Stuttgart, August 2011, organized by the AKAModell Stuttgart together with the EUROAVIA Stuttgart. The Universidade da Beira Interior was the winner of this edition, thus it took place in Portugal'. Again, the Team from Stuttgart won this Edition, and got the organization responsibility. In 2017 the 2015 winner HUSZ organized the event in Zagreb. The competition took place in Stuttgart again on August 12–17, 2019. After a one-year delay due to the Covid pandemic, the competition was held in Munich in the summer of 2022. The 2022 winner ADDI organized the 2024 edition on 10–12 July in Aachen, Germany. The next ACC 2026 will be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

Competition results

2003 – Organization: APAE, Lisbon

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry/City
1stUBI 2University of Beira Interior

2005 – Organization: APAE, Lisbon

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry/City
1stÍcaroInstituto Superior Técnico e University of Coimbra

2007 – Organization: Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stPEGASUS IIUniversity of Beira Interior
2ndAkamodell StuttgartUniversity of Stuttgart
3rdBlei-EnteEuroavia Muenchen
4thLead BaronsDelft University of Technology
5thESTG CargoPolytechnic Institute of Leiria
6thTrencalosPolytechnic University of Catalonia
7thUBI2 - SkunkWorksUniversity of Beira Interior
8thUoPatras ATLASUniversity of Patras
9thDe vliegende HollanderDelft University of Technology
10thFLY@UMINHO'07University of Minho

2009 – Organization: University of Beira Interior, Covilhã

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stAkamodell StuttgartUniversity of Stuttgart
2ndTU HeavyTechnical University of Munich
3rdESTG Cargo2Polytechnic Institute of Leiria
4thSonic KidsPolitehnica University of Bucharest
5thLusoflyPortuguese Air Force Academy
6thUoP Atlas IIHellenic Air Force Academy
7thAnatolian CraftMiddle East Technical University
8thWhat's up YawHogeschool van Amsterdam
9thFLY@UMINHO'09University of Minho
10thTrencalòsPolytechnic University of Catalonia
11thINFINITeamPolitehnica University of Bucharest
12thAeracesInstituto Superior Técnico
13thUcariMiddle East Technical University
14thVolo Ergo SumUniversity of Beira Interior
15thPisa Cargo ProjectUniversity of Pisa
16thBrutusUniversity of Porto
17thUasas
18thCALClube de Aeromodelismo de Lisboa
19thEquipa_0Instituto Superior Técnico
20thChicken WingsUniversity of BelgradeSerbiaESPUK

2011 – Organization: University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stUBI - PortugalUniversity of Beira Interior
2ndTU ElevenTechnical University of Munich
3rdTsinghua UniversityTsinghua University
4thStudent WingsPolitehnica University of Bucharest
5thTeam K.U.LeuvenKU Leuven
6thPASSAROLA TeamInstituto Superior Técnico
7thNymph NoirMiddle East Technical University
8thTrencalòs TeamPolytechnic University of Catalonia
9thAnatolian Craft - AselsanMiddle East Technical University
10thEUROAVIA NtuaNational Technical University of Athens
11thNymph RougeMiddle East Technical University
12thHigh FlyersPolitehnica University of Bucharest
13thIPL TeamPolytechnic Institute of Leiria
14thAir FEUPUniversity of Porto
15thGryphus TeamUniversity of Aveiro
16thUoPatras ATLAS IIIUniversity of Patras
17thEUROAVIA RzeszowUniversity of Rzeszów
18thHUSZ Black EagleUniversity of Zagreb
19thSU Team EryrSwansea University
20thBiałystok MiSIE teamUniversity of Białystok
21stLuso SPADInstituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa

2013 – Organization: University of Beira Interior, Covilhã

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stAKAModell Stuttgart e.V.University of Stuttgart
2ndTsinghua UniversityTsinghua University
3rdBeihang Aeromodelling Team 1Beihang University
4thHUSZ VultureUniversity of Zagreb
5thBeihang Aeromodelling Team 1Beihang University
6thHigh FlyersSilesian University of Technology
7thEESC-USP JuliettUniversity of São Paulo
8thPHOENIXPolitehnica University of Bucharest
9thEUROAVIA Athens – Hermes 2University of Athens
10thPodlasie TigersBialystok University of Technology
11thUoP ATLAS IIIBUniversity of Patras
12thANATOLIAN CRAFTMiddle East Technical University
13thEUROAVIA RzeszówUniversity of Rzeszów
14thUoP ATLAS IVUniversity of Patras
15thTrencalòs TeamPolytechnic University of Catalonia
16thTeam KU LeuvenKU Leuven
17thIPLeiria AirCargoPolytechnic Institute of Leiria
18thLUSITÂNIA TeamUBI, IST, UNL
19thHERCULESInstituto Superior Técnico
20thGryphus IIUniversity of Aveiro
21stAngry BirdCairo University

2015 – Organization: University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stEUROAVIA ZagrebUniversity of Zagreb
2ndBorn TU LiftTechnical University of Munich
3rdEUROLIFTERRzeszów University of Technology
4thAeroUD-METUniversity of Udine
5thAERO@UBIUniversity of Beira Interior
6thAIRTsinghua University
7thPISA Air Cargo TeamUniversity of Pisa
8thATLAS TEAM UPATUniversity of Patras
9thNPU INNOVATIONNorthwestern Polytechnical University
10thUPC VenturiPolytechnic University of Catalonia
11thTeam KU LeuvenKU Leuven
12thOlisipoInstituto Superior Técnico
13thStudencki Klub Modelarski Wojskowej Akademii TechnicznejMilitary University of Technology in Warsaw
14thBUT Chicken WingsBrno University of TechnologyCzech RepublicPOLPOLROMPOLESPPOLTUR

2017 – Organization: University of Zagreb, Zagreb

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stAKAModell Stuttgart e.V.University of Stuttgart
2ndFly HardTechnical University of Munich
3rdBorn TU Lift ReloadedTechnical University of Munich
4thAeroUD-METUniversity of Udine
5thAIRTsinghua University
6thNPU INNOVATIONNorthwestern Polytechnical University
7thAKA ClassicsUniversity of Stuttgart
8thJetStreamWrocław University of Science and Technology
9thIcarus PolitoPolitecnico di Torino
10thUPC VenturiPolytechnic University of Catalonia
11thThe LiftersRzeszow University of Technology
12thAristotle Space & Aeronautics TeamAristotle University of Thessaloniki
13thChicken WingsBrno University of TechnologyCzech RepublicGREPORGREPOLTURTURPORROMBELPORESPESPEGYROMEGY

2019 – Organization: University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart

PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stFly Harder Technical University of Munich
2nd... and the BeastUniversity of Udine
3rdThe Beauty...University of Udine
4thTHU AIRTsinghua University
5thAERO@UBIUniversity of Beira Interior
6thICARUS PoliToPolitecnico di Torino
7thChicken WingsBrno University of TechnologyCzech RepublicITAPOLGREPORGREPOLCROTURESPITAFINSRBTURCHNTURROUESPESPESPGRE

2022 – Organization: AkaModell München e.V., Technical University of Munich, Munich

The 2021 edition of the ACC was delayed to 2022 due to the Covid pandemic. It was organized by AkaModell München from Technical University of Munich.
All information to the ACC2022 can be found on .
The competition took place 5.7.2022-9.7.2022 in Munich.
The regulations were released on August 6, 2020.
PlaceTeamUniversityCountry
1stADDIRWTH Aachen
2ndAeroUDUniversity of Udine
3rdAkaModell StuttgartUniversity of Stuttgart
4thXtra2 UPVPolytechnic University of Valencia
5thChicken Wings BUTBrno University of TechnologyCzech RepublicITA

Statistics

Number of participated teams per country (2007–2024)

PlaceCountryNumber of participated teams
1stPortugal35
2ndSpain22
3rdPoland20
4thItaly19
4thGreece19
6thGermany17
7thTurkey15
8thChina12
9thRomania10
10thCzech Republic7
11thCroatia5
11thSerbia5
13thBelgium4
14thNetherlands3
14thFinland3
14thEgypt3
17thUnited Kingdom2
18thBrazil1
18thMexico1
18thUnited States1
18thAustralia1
18thIndia1