Design a Competition Aircraft in OpenVSP
Build and analyze a complete aircraft geometry using NASA's own design tool.
Last reviewed: March 2026Overview
OpenVSP (Vehicle Sketch Pad) was developed by NASA Langley Research Center and is used by engineers at NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and hundreds of universities to rapidly prototype aircraft geometries. Unlike full CAD tools, OpenVSP is purpose-built for aerodynamic shape definition: every parameter has physical meaning (span, chord, taper ratio, sweep angle), making it easy to explore design tradeoffs in minutes rather than days.
Competition model aircraft—the kind flown in AMA and SAE Aero Design events—have strict rules about wing area, weight, and payload capacity, forcing designers to make thoughtful tradeoffs between lift, drag, and structural weight. You will design a high-wing monoplane sized to a typical competition class, then use VSPAero (OpenVSP's integrated vortex lattice solver) to estimate lift and drag at cruise conditions and check that the design is statically stable.
The design iteration cycle in this project mirrors real industry practice: sketch a concept, define the geometry, analyze it, see where it falls short, change a parameter, and analyze again. By doing this loop several times you will develop genuine aerodynamic intuition—understanding viscerally why a longer wingspan improves efficiency, why tail size affects stability margin, and why these choices are always constrained by weight and structural limits.
What You'll Learn
- ✓ Define key aircraft geometry parameters (span, chord, aspect ratio, sweep, taper) and explain their aerodynamic effects.
- ✓ Build a full aircraft geometry (wing, fuselage, horizontal tail, vertical tail) in OpenVSP using parametric components.
- ✓ Run a VSPAero vortex lattice analysis and interpret lift, drag, and moment coefficients.
- ✓ Calculate static margin and determine whether a design is stable.
- ✓ Document design iterations and explain tradeoffs between conflicting requirements.
Step-by-Step Guide
Download OpenVSP and explore the interface
Download OpenVSP from openvsp.org—it is free for all platforms. Launch it and explore the interface: the left panel lists geometry components, the main view shows the 3D model, and the right panel shows parameters for the selected component. Open one of the example files (File → Open → examples) such as the Cessna-like "Jet.vsp3" and rotate it in 3D. Note how changing a wing span value in the parameter panel immediately updates the 3D model—this is parametric design in action.
Define your design requirements
Set target requirements before modeling: total wingspan ≤ 1.5 m, target cruise speed 15 m/s, carry a 200 g payload, wing loading below 20 N/m². Write these down as your requirements document. Sketch a 3-view drawing (top, front, side) of your proposed design by hand before touching the computer—this forces you to think about proportions and component placement before getting lost in the software details.
Build the wing and fuselage in OpenVSP
Add a Wing component and set span to 1.4 m, root chord 0.25 m, tip chord 0.15 m (taper ratio 0.6), and zero sweep. Choose a NACA 2412 airfoil from the built-in library—it's a classic choice for slow-flight model aircraft. Add a Fuselage component, set its length to 0.9 m and max diameter to 0.12 m, and position it along the centerline. Use the Group Transform tool to align the wing at 30% of the fuselage length for a high-wing configuration.
Add the horizontal and vertical tails
Add a second Wing component for the horizontal tail: span 0.40 m, chord 0.12 m, symmetric about the fuselage centerline, positioned at the aft end of the fuselage. Add a third Wing component for the vertical tail: span 0.22 m, chord 0.15 m, rotated 90° so it stands upright. Position both tail surfaces so the horizontal tail trailing edge is 5 cm from the fuselage end. The ratio of tail arm to wing chord determines longitudinal stability—record this value for the next step.
Run VSPAero and analyze performance
Open the VSPAero Solver (Analysis → VSPAero). Set freestream velocity to 15 m/s, air density to 1.225 kg/m³, and sweep angles of attack from −2° to 12° in 2° increments. Click Compute. When the analysis finishes, open the Results Manager and plot CL vs. alpha and CL vs. CD (the drag polar). Find the angle of attack that gives the best CL/CD ratio—this is your cruise operating point. Compare your maximum CL to the required lift: L = 0.5 × ρ × V² × S × CL_cruise must exceed (total weight + payload) × g.
Check stability margin and iterate
The neutral point (where pitching moment is independent of angle of attack) is reported by VSPAero in the Stability output. Static margin = (neutral point − center of gravity) / mean aerodynamic chord. A margin of 10–15% is typical for stable model aircraft. If your margin is too small (unstable) or too large (too stable, poor maneuverability), move the wing forward or backward by 20 mm and re-run VSPAero. Iterate twice and record how static margin changes with wing position. Write a one-paragraph summary of your final design choices.
Career Connection
See how this project connects to real aerospace careers.
Aerospace Engineer →
Aircraft conceptual design engineers use VSP and similar tools to explore dozens of configurations before committing to the detailed CAD and simulation work—this is how real airplanes begin.
Pilot →
Pilots who understand aircraft geometry and stability margins better appreciate why certain aircraft handle differently and can communicate more effectively with maintenance and engineering teams.
Aerospace Manufacturing →
Manufacturing planning begins with the geometry definition; OpenVSP files are directly importable into many CAD and CFD tools used downstream in production.
Drone & UAV Ops →
Fixed-wing UAV designers use OpenVSP extensively to optimize wing geometry for endurance and payload before committing to expensive prototype fabrication.
Go Further
- Export the wing surface to a STEP file and import it into SolidWorks or Fusion 360 for structural rib and spar design.
- Use OpenVSP's built-in wave drag analysis to investigate how the design changes for a faster competition class flying at Mach 0.4.
- Build a second design with a flying-wing (blended wing body) configuration and compare its aerodynamic efficiency (L/D) to your conventional tail design.
- Enter the SAE Aero Design competition with your validated design—OpenVSP analysis reports are accepted as supporting documentation in the design report submission.