Air Cargo Challenge 2026

DIANA’s first international competition, and the team’s goal since it was founded in 2022. The team brought Eclipse, its first aircraft made entirely of carbon fibre and the largest of the edition, with the first flight controller ever fitted to a DIANA aircraft. The season budget was around €18,000. It finished 25th of 37.

The calculations allowed for flying with 8 cans of payload, but because of setbacks and lack of experience the aircraft ended up heavier than planned, and it carried 2 cans in every flight round.

The first flights did not score, although there was time between rounds to get the aircraft ready again. The team completed one round without the current limiter, and did not score. With the limiter fitted it scored under 100 points: it was badly calibrated and kept costing penalties.

For the last round the team switched to a speed controller with built-in current limiting, calibrated with help from the Munich team. Without a proper heat sink, the speed controller burned out mid-flight and the aircraft had to make a forced landing.