Start UP! - a FREE 3D printable airplane

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Hey the files are not the type I can open with my slicer, can I have the STLs please?

What slicer do you use? Cura can open .3MF. Cura and IdeaMaker are the only slicers that support surface mode, so you have to use one of those for all airframe parts.

 

[gerhard_the_great]

What slicer do you use? Cura can open .3MF. Cura and IdeaMaker are the only slicers that support surface mode, so you have to use one of those for all airframe parts.

Make sure you have Cura 4.11. It worked for me!

 

[Bo123]

What slicer do you use? Cura can open .3MF. Cura and IdeaMaker are the only slicers that support surface mode, so you have to use one of those for all airframe parts.

Ok I will try cura.

 

[Marťan]

I am currently designing a beginner friendly 3D pritable airplane. It can be printed from PLA and lightweight PLA. You can already download a few parts, and when I finish new parts, I will add them. That way, you will have a new plane by christmas. Think of it like some kind of advent calendar, but not strictly daily.

It comes with two different wings, one with dihedral and without ailerons and one with ailerons for speedier flying. There is also a detachable landing gear so you can hand launch and belly land if there is no paved runway.

It is also easy to print and to build and does not require carbon fiber, screws or magnets. All you need is 2-4 9gramm servos and Electronics in the range of A-F-Pack. maximum motor diameter is 28mm. Use A- pack if you print out of light filament and F-Pack if you print out of standard PLA.

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The first parts already are already done:

View attachment 212948



You can download the files here, just click on the section in the discription and it should download:


General instructions for printing my airplanes are in the attached files section.


Have fun!

I still love these curved wings! You should include them in your files, even if it doesn't fly well? ( your notes...)

 

[OttoBlackAir]

I printed the Startup! as my first 3d printed airplane. It printed well and the 3rd fuselage piece (motor mount section) is my favorite piece of the whole plane.

I want to add a voice to the 3-channel, dihedral wing request! that would make the Startup a perfect trainer/first 3d-printed plane. low part count, easy to assemble, and the 2 options of the wing really make the platform something to grow with. I think it would be worth the time since you've possibly solved/reduced the instability issue when you extended the rear tail section out. just my two sense.

thanks for putting in the work and keeping us updated along the way.

 

[FoamyDM]

Congrats Dr. Looping Looie!

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

I just finished printing a micro sport cam from 3daeroventures. I wish I had seen this sooner. Much prettier plane with less issues from the looks of it.
Once I crash this one I might scale yours down a bit for 2g servos and smaller 2s batteries

 

[flyranger]

Update!

Lots of stuff happened. First of all, it flew finally! I printed the straight wing with ailerons, and this time, it was able to take to the skies! Overall, I am very happy with it, but its not without its problems. The good things are that it can get a lot of flighttime (10-15 min. with a 3S 1200mAh LiPo) and it also glides very good. But I could also feel the instability. It was very easy to get it to spin. At this point, it is definitely not great for beginners, but the next version will be much better.

Speaking of the next version, I finished updating the "outer shape" of the plane. I moved the V-Tail 100mm further back, increased its area by 20% and cleaned the T-spline bodys up. Sadly, I have to redo all the inner structure, which takes a majority of the time. But I can use the knowlege gained from the first prototype to make the next one even better!
Some of the upgrades include:

-Optimized control horns, so that all the servo throw can be used.
-Removable shock absorber at the tail to keep the fuselage from braking
-Removable motor pod to make it much easier to take the motor out

Here is a little comparison of the two side by side:

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And last but not least, I made foamboard plans!

It is similar to the updated version in every dimension except airfoil of course. Sadly, here in Germany foamboard is very hard to come by these days, so I would really appreciate if you guys would try it out and tell me about your experience so it can be improved even more.

I hope that I can get this thing done before chrismas, but I want to make sure that I have a plane that lives up to the expectations before releasing the files.

Built the foamboard version and ready for maiden. One question, where is the suggested balance point? I set it at 20% of wing chord. How does that compare to the 3d printed version?

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Built the foamboard version and ready for maiden. One question, where is the suggested balance point? I set it at 20% of wing chord. How does that compare to the 3d printed version?

Try 30% chord. Since the angles of attack are similar, the CG should also be no different to the printed version. But you need a lot less weight in the nose for the foamboard version because its a lot lighter in general.

 

[flyranger]

Thanks for the answer. Flights were not good. With CG set at 1.3 in (20%), saw evidence of Dutch Roll. Repaired and tried again with a flat wing (no upturned wing tips) and still not much better. Scrapped the project.

 

[skymaster]

It finally flew good! Video will follow soon.

The latest and last upgrade is complete. The servos in the wings are now screwed in and accessible behind a hatch. This means that you can install and take out all electronics after the plane is finished. Previously, the Servos were glued in the wing in a way that you would have to break the wing open to get the servo out. That is now fixed.

View attachment 214729

I will release all the files today!

I think you need to do a little maintenance in your hangar

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

Started printing at 75% today in lwpla. should be about the right size to fit 2g servos. If not I'll adjust the scale again to get the servo fit correct.
Looking forward to this.
Have you tried flaperons? How does she handle slow flight?

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

1 day of printing So far so good, the control rod tubes are quite small but I'll pick up some really small piano wire to fit. 75% looks perfect for 2g servos.
The print is great so far. Very little cleanup.
Really not sure what my all up weight will end up being but I'm hoping to be below 250g

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

75% build finished. 220g built, 255 flight ready.
Maiden went great today! got 5 or 6 flights. It flies great, average flying is very good, but push it too hard and it can bite back and stall. Slow pull back and lowering the speed to do a stall test drops right wing hard and puts it into a spin. It is easy enough to recover as long as you know it's coming.
2g servos fit perfectly In all slots at this scale. 1306 2100 kv on 2s gets it in the air and 12 minutes of flight time but it felt lack luster power wise. I swapped it out to a 3100kv which helped And still got 10 minutes no problem. I programmed flaperons in and it slows down really well on 1 click of flap. 2 clicks was too much and it wanted to stall. 20deg and 40 deg I think. So maybe I'll set it to 15 and 30 next time. Ailerons are very touchy even at the lower 20deg of travel, so middle hole on control horn, and lots of expo.
I do need to get a better prop around 4-4.5 inches 2 blade. Also Need to get some abs or asa to reprint the motor mount, I printed it in PLA+ and it was getting soft when I was pushing the speed at the hottest part of the day with the triblade.
Overall, 8/10!
Excited to fly it again with a proper propeller.
Great design

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

75% build finished. 220g built, 255 flight ready.
Maiden went great today! got 5 or 6 flights. It flies great, average flying is very good, but push it too hard and it can bite back and stall. Slow pull back and lowering the speed to do a stall test drops right wing hard and puts it into a spin. It is easy enough to recover as long as you know it's coming.
2g servos fit perfectly In all slots at this scale. 1306 2100 kv on 2s gets it in the air and 12 minutes of flight time but it felt lack luster power wise. I swapped it out to a 3100kv which helped And still got 10 minutes no problem. I programmed flaperons in and it slows down really well on 1 click of flap. 2 clicks was too much and it wanted to stall. 20deg and 40 deg I think. So maybe I'll set it to 15 and 30 next time. Ailerons are very touchy even at the lower 20deg of travel, so middle hole on control horn, and lots of expo.
I do need to get a better prop around 4-4.5 inches 2 blade. Also Need to get some abs or asa to reprint the motor mount, I printed it in PLA+ and it was getting soft when I was pushing the speed at the hottest part of the day with the triblade.
Overall, 8/10!
Excited to fly it again with a proper propeller.
Great design

Thanks great to hear that you liked it.

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

Thanks great to hear that you liked it.

I really do enjoy it. I finally got it all dialed in and put a slightly bigger motor on it. It really shines with a folding propeller on a slope, glides forever.
did you ever post this on RC groups? its a rather hard plane to find anything on, the name Startup doesn't google well. you should give it a proper name like the Marlin or something and make a similar post to this over there.

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...UP!-3D-printable-trainer-FREE-files-available

Here is the RC groups thread

 

[Jade_Monkey07]

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?4044379-Start-UP!-3D-printable-trainer-FREE-files-available

Here is the RC groups thread

Thanks I couldnt find it in their search function.

 

[tomlogan1]

Am attempting to print this on an Ender 3 V2 with Cura 5.1.0. Using Surface Mode per the instructions. Fuselage piece 1 came out very well. Fuselage piece 2 will not slice in Cura. Attached is a screen shot. How do I resolve this? Note I get the same error if I attempt to slice in normal mode.

Thank you.

 

[Dr. Looping Looie]

Am attempting to print this on an Ender 3 V2 with Cura 5.1.0. Using Surface Mode per the instructions. Fuselage piece 1 came out very well. Fuselage piece 2 will not slice in Cura. Attached is a screen shot. How do I resolve this? Note I get the same error if I attempt to slice in normal mode.

Note the darker edge going around the build plate. If you activate a skirt or brim, cura will make the build plante "smaller" to leave some room for the skirt or brim. In this case, it thinks the object is too big for the build plate. If you deactivate skirt/brim or change their settings to make them smaller/ closer to the object, it will be able to slice. You can also move/ turn the object to fit more in the center of the build plate.