this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2025
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I thought people into avionics were kinda smart. Like there's no way the person with enough knowledge about the geometry and fastening fitment to print one of these, couldn't have known about the material shortcomings. I hope he's sees the inside of a jail cell for a little while. Not terribly long, but still they could've killed someone and likely will if they sold more of these.
Literally every 3D printing channel is making functional parts out of plastic without asking why the original engineering avoided plastic.
It's like modern cars made with plastic engine components. They are used because they will fail with a set number of heat cycles that just carries the motor (all German makers now do this) just past warranty.
Even Ford is now using plastic oil pans in heavy duty (LOL) trucks.
DIY mechanics think because it looks like a thing, it works like that thing.
This part could have been printed in PEEK but it would have been more $ than fiberglass.
They bought the part & the seller told them it was ABS (melts at 90°~100°C), but it was PLA (~50°C). The og part was made from fiberglas (~80°C).
ohhhhh shit that's fucked. seller should face real consequences for that shit
Fiberglass resin is good far beyond 80C. With the right resin they can rate to 200C.
Porsche used fiberglass resin in their lemans cars in the 70s.
Gunna nerd out right quick.
Even if the og part was fiberglass, it would have to be have a binder to hold it together(which is usually epoxy resin).
But even then!
ABS is still a temperature sensitive polymer, deposited in layers!
The only 3d printing that could hold up reliably would be lithography via resin with a rising "bed" and extended curing (forgive me for not using the correct terminology, I'm an old school 5 axis CNC operator that's still learning about the new stuff)
Nothing that could fail catastrophically under stress should be used in the aeronautical industry.
There are some crazy plastics you can 3d print (with high end printers) like PEEK. Most consumer grade printers can't print those sorts of advanced materials that would be suitable. Most consumer resin prints are very brittle and not very suitable either.
If you ordered it from a print shop with the right equipment and materials, FDM printing should be fine.
Yes!
The nerds in the linked comments nerded out about that too - with fibre materials construction matters (the weave if you won't), it's not just about the material.
Hey! I've been thinking about a fiber reinforced plastic submarine used to send billionaires to go see the Titanic!
We will be using an Atari joystick to control forward, reverse, left and right. The button is for dive (downwards)
It's going to be great!
For anyone who didn't already know, Atari joysticks only had one button. Hehehehe.
Can I fund your Kickstarter?
I’m willing to join the kickstarter but only if we can get Elon to join the maiden voyage.
Yes, the joystick is of an appropriate girth. Although it can also be operated manually.
Oh fuck! I wasn't even thinking about the cross pattern! I'm a failure...
Edit: or extrusion manufacturing!
Good thing you aren’t designing airplane parts!
Could've been diy.
Not trying to sound rude, but I know it's going to come off like that. But if dude is a pilot, than they are definitely into aerospace, and should've known better.
But it is stated in the title that they bought it at a show. So it is very doubtful they bought it from themselves.
small plane pilots crash for stupid reasons every day.
Yes, but this one would have been easily avoided if simple protocol was followed.
Surprises me how someone who can put themselves at the mercy of nature and a hobby that ‘can’ be danger prone and still be crazy enough to cheap out on this. The amount of people who decry regulation and tbh common sense in this case is astounding. At best it’s their own life at risk. At worse the lives of others on the ground or on onboard.
I agree general aviation is heavily regulated and unfortunately expensive but that’s due to cases just like this. The pilot will have know there was a chance of risk here. Even a defective bolt can have an impact. It’s the same story as the sub... hmmm the part could be not up to standard but I’ll take a chance because I think it should be ok…it wasn’t. The pilot is lucky to be alive.
That first line of the second paragraph reminds me of my favorite training regurgitating of the line "safety regulations are written in blood."
I don't care how many times you've heard it! You're going to hear it dozens more!!!
Dumb kids are my bane.
Ephebophiles are kind if delusional though, and do like planes. My money is on one of them being involved.
I am so very confused about that first word. At first I thought I meant someone sexually attracted to planes or the like, and got excited I was one of the lucky 10k today. Then I looked it up.
Please clarify for me. Are you saying the pilot or seller is attracted to prepubescent teens? Again, I'm just genuinely confused.
They call themselves 'libertarians'
Dunno who down voted you. But besides not answering my question directly, you correctly described most neo libs to a capital T.
What is with fuckers with money and doing weird sex shit‽
Not to worry, I got you back at 1 at least.
I think coming into money corrupts many people. They suddenly see a world of opportunities. I think many men, given the perfect opportunity, would take advantage of a teenager.