3D Printed Airplanes - Feasible or Not?

Ahand59

New member
I'm Ahand59,
I've been a lurker for a couple years. I have been involved with 3D printing for a few years. I have used 3D printing to build lots of things including Drone frames and airplanes. I can definitely say they DO work and are not a gimmick or hoax. That said, unless you are a very skilled pilot (or very lucky), you will crash them. When you do, you will likely have to reprint multiple parts then remove and replace the broken bits. Yes, this also happens with wood and foam models. So to the questions...

1. What is your experience with RC airplanes? (My experience is they work pretty well, but are not impact resistant. Hard landings can break the entire model. Bring a BIG tube of CA glue and accelerator when you go flying... LOL!)

2. What are your preferred filaments for 3D printed models? (I use PLA, as it is very stiff, but tends to be brittle. Colorfabb LW-PLA is pretty interesting pla based filament that foams up to about double its volume while printing. This makes for a much lighter, more flexible material than PLA. It tends to be more durable, in my experience).

3. For 3D printed DRONES, I have had good experience with the PEON (Peon230 - Quadcopter by Tech2C - Thingiverse ) model printed in PETG or CF Nylons. The peon also has arms that are designed to be modded by adding pieces of carbon fiber, which stiffens the arms. Any other DRONE models that people enjoy using?

4. For 3D printed Airplanes, I have printed several of the Eclipson models the T, A and "Blackwing" have been interesting, with the Blackwing being my favorite so far. Any others that people like?
 

Phin G

Elite member
I have flown a 3d printed plane and it handled very well. I know people who dispise 3d printed drones as the vibrate to much. I cant say for myself that I have experienced it but i know a person on her has. I normally use PLA in black however i dont have a printer so my school allows me if i bring in the filiment. I normally fly foamies and I normally do a belly landing on grass or snow. I have flown 2 balsas and found that if you use balsa leg struts on a heavy landing it will snap or if you put it on the wings they will snap easily. Thats my limited experience
 

Oldbrass

Member
So I'm just about to throw my hat in the ring on this one (pun intended). From my own design experience, I've found that the new hotness (in this case, 3D printed planes) is almost always cool, eye catching and problematic and so should be approached with caution. I'm no luddite though and so I'm going to try for a hybrid. I'm grabbing a design that I've long loved, the Fokker DRIII, and am going to make the fuselage as a printed element but will be trying (emphasis on trying) to make all the flight surfaces out of foam board. My hope is that it will be less likely to shatter when I prang it, which I most likely will at some point. I'm picking the DRIII because of all the compound curves that it has which makes it less desirable for building in foam board. We shall see.
 

Ahand59

New member
If none of you guys have heard of it, take a look at Colorfabb's LW-PLA filament. The stuff is lighter and less brittle than regular PLA. It is also not as stiff, but it's significantly lighter, so the reduced stiffness really does not affect the overall airframe. One problem with this stuff, it constantly strings and there is literally nothing you can do to completely stop it... That means there is always going to be some post-processing of the parts you print with it... I have printed several airframes with it and it does work...
 

jpot1

Elite member
@Ahand59 - definitely feasible and I would highly recommend LW-PLA. Many companies like eclipson as well as some designers on RCGroups are moving to designing to print in vase mode. This works really well with LW-PLA as retractions are mainly eliminated. The model A, C and they just released the V2 work like that.

I think the real future is hybrid. 3D printing for components that really benefit like the fuselage, canopy and other scale details while using foam for wings, hstab, vstab to keep weight down. Check out Lockey on RCGroups who has designed a couple of hybrids.
 

Ahand59

New member
Another interesting idea is using some of the gossamer thin fiberglass cloth and fiberglassing over LW-PLA prints, particularly the belly, to prevent problems with belly landings. I have an Eclipson Blackwing (large Wing), and having no landing gear, it bellies in every landing. I've been thinking about doing this, just to reinforce it a bit, without signficantly increasing the weight.
 

jpot1

Elite member
@Ahand59 - question on the blackwing. I’m actually just about done with the blackwing sport. How close did you end up to the eclipson weight specs. I’m a bit over and worried it won’t fly well.
 

Ahand59

New member
Printed out of what material? PLA? For a sport version, you need everything solidly mounted, so make sure it's all solid. Regarding weight, a little extra weight just means you need to keep your speed up. The Blackwing catches thermals really well, so I doubt slightly overweight will make much difference. Most importantly is to make sure it's balanced...

Oh, one more thing. I don't trust the 3D printed props that come with the design. They are backwards and of an odd design. I strongly suggest you get other foldable props, with a real folding prop hub and spinner.
 
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jpot1

Elite member
I bought the sport plans and printed majority in LW-PLA with the wing center and motor mount in regular PLA. Yeah I’m too nervous to use printed props.