Where can I find .STL files for 3D printed planes for hand or rubberband launch only?

[MrJSaul]

We are not in the RC arena just yet but are getting into 3D printing. Where can I find a site devoted to 3D printed planes and gliders that my kids can launch with a rubberband or by hand? We've searched all over THingiverse etc and have found a few plans here and there but most or not great. Any ideas where to look? Thanks!

 

[danskis]

I know nothing about 3d printing That said if you can scale down a design just print it the size you need and stick a hook on the nose in front of the wing somewhere for rubber bands launch.
Sounds like a great area to explore with kids.

 

[MrJSaul]

have you tried ebay?

Sorry I wasn’t clear. I have a printer just looking for files to print. Im not good enough yet to make my own models.

 

[LitterBug]

Eclipson has a sample plane that can be downloaded. It is not rubber band powered, but in theory, you could modify it to be used as a hand toss glider. Check some of the standard 3D printer sharing sites like https://www.thingiverse.com/ for other options.

 

[Merv]

What little I know about free flight planes, weight is a huge deal. Much more critical than in powered flight. In the free flight world, grams matter. I’m guessing any 3D printed plane will be far to heavy to make a decent free flight plane.

Here is a FT article that may be helpful.
https://www.flitetest.com/articles/f1d-indoor-free-flight

 

[Aslansmonkey]

I went to yeggi.com (a search engine for 3d files) and entered "Glider".

There's a few that come up but here are some links...

Stinger (rubber band launch): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5194981
Monarch (hand toss): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42637

A guy named "exosequitur" has a bunch of designs: https://www.thingiverse.com/exosequitur/designs

Heck, just putting "Glider" in a thingiverse search produced a bunch of results, mostly hand tossed gliders.

If you're looking for the wind up type, like the old "Sleek Streek" or the Gillows type planes you might have more trouble. Those things flew because they weighed almost nothing. Plastic is HEAVY when it comes to flight. I design model rockets with 3D printed parts and I'm constantly worried about weight. The "slingshot" type of gliders work only because they're relatively small and the snapping of a rubber band gives more initial thrust that a wound up prop would.