3D Printed RC Plane
I have had an interest remote controlled aircraft and drones for some time and wanted to see if it would be possible to design and build a fully 3D printed plane on my printer at home. I used a blueprint for a Spitfire I found online as a reference for my design.
I began by modelling the shape I wanted in Autodesk Inventor, lofting together wing spar cross sections to create the aerodynamic surfaces. The model has ~1 meter wingspan so I broke it up into sections small enough to fit on the print bed. I added cutouts for structural supports, wires, and battery as well as mounting points for the motor and servos. I created joints for the control surfaces to rotate about.
Exploded view of the finished design
Top View
Wireframe of the model with internalsÂ
Printing the components proved challenging as I sought to minimize the total weight while maintaining strength and the desired shape. I experimented with a number of infill percentages and outer layer thicknesses and was eventually able to create single layer thickness wing segments that held their shape. With these parameters the total empty weight of the body is about 400 grams.
Varying wall thicknesses and infill patterns on a wing segment
The (mostly printed) final design
As is often the case with 3D printed parts I struggled with tolerances and part warping while printing. The segments take 1-2 days each on my Prusa i3 MK2 and usually require a lot of sanding to get a clean fit. The automatic bed leveling algorithm on the Prusa is very useful for maintaining starting layer adhesion, but sometimes leads to a very slight curvature on the bottom of large parts. I partially solved this problem by printing large parts on a pedistal of support material, but it still results in some warping.