The sky's the limit for 3D printing. Two students at the University of Virginia 3D-printed and assembled a plane. When it successfully took off, their unmanned plane became just the third 3D-printed drone to ever fly.
3D printing is a revolutionary technology, which some speculate could have an impact similar to that of the personal computer. In fact, new potential applications for 3D printers seem to be appearing every week.
Steven Easter and Jonathan Turman, two third-year engineering students at University of Virginia for the MITRE Corporation, a federally funded research and development center, designed and assembled the plane this summer. The result of their work is a 6.5-foot wingspan drone, entirely built with 3D-printed parts.
The students proved that 3D printing can bring manufacturing cost down and still deliver a quality product. "To make a plastic turbofan engine to scale five years ago would have taken two years, at a cost of about $250,000," David Sheffler, a U.Va. Engineering School alumnus and 20-year veteran of the aerospace industry who helped the two students, told UVAToday. "But with 3D printing, we designed and built it in four months for about $2,000."
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Image courtesy of University of Virginia.