IRISS Celebrates 10 Years of Collaboration with the Arvada Associated Modelers

In March of 2015, the Arvada Associated Modelers (AAM) and the University of Colorado, Boulder signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) giving students, faculty, and staff of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences access to the AAM Airpark. After ten years of collaboration, Dr. Brian Argrow, Director of the CU Integrated Remote & In Situ Sensing Initiative and former Chair of Smead Aerospace says, "We hope the AAM members understand how deeply we appreciate them in allowing us to conduct flight tests and systems verifications within the safe confines of their facility.  AAM is truly a partner in the education and research mission of the University of Colorado."

IRISS pilots Alex Kenyon and Ceu Gomez Faulk calibrate the RAAVEN at the AAM Airpark.

The AAM airpark is a world class aerodrome located on 60 acres of Arvada City parkland, 15 miles south of the CU Boulder campus. Flying sites include two runways and a control line circle, which give access to 100 acres of over-fly area. Arvada Associated Modelers (AAM) received its charter from the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) in 1975 and has been recognized as a Gold Leader Club by the Academy of Model Aeronautics for its superior record of safety, operations, charity and community service. 

CU Boulder and Smead Aerospace had a close but informal relationship with AAM for many years before the 2015 MOU. Some of the first flight tests done by CU researchers at AAM were done by Cory Dixon and Jack Elston with the Tornadachaser around 2002. 

Later, in 2009, RECUV graduate student Joshua Fromm led a student team to build a subscale model of  the "V-STAR" (Vertical Takeoff and Landing Swift Tactical Aerial Resource) for Frontline Aerospace. Using the main runway, the team conducted a successful flight test of the ducted-fan powered prototype. Following their graduate studies in RECUV, Elston and Dixon co-founded the Boulder-based UAS company Black Swift Technologies, LLC (BST) in 2012, with Fromm later joining the BST team.

In 2011, a team of graduate students determined that the 750 feet long, 50 feet wide, smooth, highway-grade concrete surface of the airpark's primary runway was the most suitable available facility to test its experimental "Hyperion" aircraft. During the two years and multiple phases of this development project, the AAM members provided warm support and helpful advice to the CU team, cementing a long-lasting relationship that has continued through the years with multiple student projects as well as many funded research projects. The 2015 agreement was a formal recognition of these many years of collaboration.

Today, our IRISS team uses the facility for tests related to multiple research and engineering projects, as well as general readiness exercises for our RAAVEN UAS. The images in this article were taken on April 30, 2025 at the AAM West Field, when IRISS engineers and research assistants tested the RAAVEN with a downward-looking high-resolution first-person view (FPV) camera to prepare for our NSF-funded In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains (ICECHIP) deployment. The ICECHIP field campaign was conducted from May 15 through June 30, 2025.

IRISS engineer Alex Kenyon, an avid RC pilot and AAM member, notes that "it is always fun" to use the facilities at AAM. In addition to doing our own testing, the IRISS team gets to interact with AAM members, both to discuss their activities and having the opportunity "to explain to curious AAM members what we are doing, since they often have very detailed questions."  

IRISS Pilot Ryan Downey watches as the RAAVEN is launched from the roof of Tracker-1.