This seems like there must have been like… 30 levels of checks and protocols to prevent anything like this from happening. How does something like this even occur
Pilot and mechanic here. I’m American but this will apply in other countries too, just change to your language’s acronyms.
On aircraft with standard airworthiness certificates, there’d be at least two people going to prison over this. Standard aircraft require approved parts that are identical to those the aircraft was manufactured with, or any modification from the original design must be done either under the signature of an aeronautical engineer, or much more likely per a Supplemental Type Certificate. If you want to put different sun visors in your Cessna 172, the manufacturer of those new sun visors has submitted paperwork with the FAA and gotten them to issue an addendum to the aircraft’s type certificate to include that modification, which then must live with the airplane’s logbooks for the rest of eternity. Getting that STC comes with some engineering and testing work, which obviously wasn’t done here. If this were an aircraft with a standard airworthiness certificate, the person who sold the part, and the person who installed the part, have committed federal offenses.
This seems to be an Experimental Amateur Built aircraft, which is a Special airworthiness category and class. Most of the rules are out the window and basically anyone can do anything they want to with it, it’s “Experimental.” In exchange for limits on what the aircraft can be used for, generally Experimental aircraft cannot be used for commercial purposes, flight training of other than its owner, etc., the maintenance, inspection and sources of parts requirements are greatly relaxed. If they’d installed one 3D printed from a plastic with a higher glass transition temperature, there’d be an article somewhere praising this excellent application of this cutting edge technology.
Well, the article said it was a 3D Printed part bought at an airshow. Which I imagine is like a gun show, and you can buy as many add-ons as you want from individual people.
I would question whether or not they used high Temperature filament, like PETG or something better, Or if that shit is just thick PLA.
But I do agree that there should be 30 levels of checks and protocols to prevent anything like this from happening. I think if you attach something to the exterior of your airplane, it needs to be made by a manufacturer who knows what they’re doing.
I read through the report. The pilot believed it to be carbon fiber reinforced abs, which should have had a higher weakening temp than the stock fiberglass part. Apparently it didn’t though.
They don’t identify the actual material in the report.
Well, the pilot was lied to. That is definitely not carbon fiber On top of ABS. You can see where the print is falling apart. I’m certainly no expert, but that poor photo in the article definitely looks like a cheap piece of shit… Relative to what I imagine aircraft parts are like normally
carbon fiber filament just has tiny chobbed fibers in it to stabilize the material. it’s not really a strength additive, definitely not in the way an actual woven sheet is. and you can’t always tell if a printed part is CF filament or not, though you often can have a good idea
“carbon fiber” filament usually has little shards of carbon fibers suspended in it. This makes the part less flexible than raw ABS…when cool. It’s not like they do a layup of carbon fiber over 3D printed ABS, that would almost defeat the purpose.
If they’d done that, 3D print a mold or buck and then do a carbon layup over it, it’d be made of epoxy, which doesn’t melt.
This was part “only” meant to funnel air into the engine, so I could see why he wouldn’t think it would be a problem.
And I think it’s more like the carbon fiber impregnated abs, than coated. I paraphrased the report, so that’s on me.
Anyone worth their weight in abs knows “carbon fiber impregnated abs” isn’t going to actually do a FRACTION of the job that literal carbon fiber—or even fiberglass—would do, and this pilot is lucky they didn’t kill someone.
It just goes to show how little people know about carbon fiber and how easily Tricked they are when someone says they mixed carbon fiber into melted plastic… Laughing my fucking ass off
It’s not the strength they were worried about, it was the temperature at which it weakend, which shouldn’t have been a problem according the the information provided to the pilot.
I don’t know the material data sheet was wrong or the person selling it to him was wrong or lying.
We don’t and won’t know, because they didn’t try to identify it.
But I do agree that there should be 30 levels of checks and protocols to prevent anything like this from happening.
I don’t. General aviation is already overly expensive as it is; we don’t need to create even more barriers to entry by trying to hold homebuilt light airplanes to the same standards as commercial airliners.
Remember: this incident is newsworthy because it’s unusual. Changing policy based on it is a hysterical overreaction.
This seems like there must have been like… 30 levels of checks and protocols to prevent anything like this from happening. How does something like this even occur
Pilot and mechanic here. I’m American but this will apply in other countries too, just change to your language’s acronyms.
On aircraft with standard airworthiness certificates, there’d be at least two people going to prison over this. Standard aircraft require approved parts that are identical to those the aircraft was manufactured with, or any modification from the original design must be done either under the signature of an aeronautical engineer, or much more likely per a Supplemental Type Certificate. If you want to put different sun visors in your Cessna 172, the manufacturer of those new sun visors has submitted paperwork with the FAA and gotten them to issue an addendum to the aircraft’s type certificate to include that modification, which then must live with the airplane’s logbooks for the rest of eternity. Getting that STC comes with some engineering and testing work, which obviously wasn’t done here. If this were an aircraft with a standard airworthiness certificate, the person who sold the part, and the person who installed the part, have committed federal offenses.
This seems to be an Experimental Amateur Built aircraft, which is a Special airworthiness category and class. Most of the rules are out the window and basically anyone can do anything they want to with it, it’s “Experimental.” In exchange for limits on what the aircraft can be used for, generally Experimental aircraft cannot be used for commercial purposes, flight training of other than its owner, etc., the maintenance, inspection and sources of parts requirements are greatly relaxed. If they’d installed one 3D printed from a plastic with a higher glass transition temperature, there’d be an article somewhere praising this excellent application of this cutting edge technology.
When we say aviation is the safest mode of transport we mean commercial airliners.
General aviation is much more lax both due to some people’s attitude and lack of resources.
Well, the article said it was a 3D Printed part bought at an airshow. Which I imagine is like a gun show, and you can buy as many add-ons as you want from individual people.
I would question whether or not they used high Temperature filament, like PETG or something better, Or if that shit is just thick PLA.
But I do agree that there should be 30 levels of checks and protocols to prevent anything like this from happening. I think if you attach something to the exterior of your airplane, it needs to be made by a manufacturer who knows what they’re doing.
I read through the report. The pilot believed it to be carbon fiber reinforced abs, which should have had a higher weakening temp than the stock fiberglass part. Apparently it didn’t though. They don’t identify the actual material in the report.
Well, the pilot was lied to. That is definitely not carbon fiber On top of ABS. You can see where the print is falling apart. I’m certainly no expert, but that poor photo in the article definitely looks like a cheap piece of shit… Relative to what I imagine aircraft parts are like normally
carbon fiber filament just has tiny chobbed fibers in it to stabilize the material. it’s not really a strength additive, definitely not in the way an actual woven sheet is. and you can’t always tell if a printed part is CF filament or not, though you often can have a good idea
Whoever made this should have just covered it in fiberglass, or used it to make a mold for a stronger material.
But I guess The point of this whole thing is that whoever made this was definitely not qualified!
“carbon fiber” filament usually has little shards of carbon fibers suspended in it. This makes the part less flexible than raw ABS…when cool. It’s not like they do a layup of carbon fiber over 3D printed ABS, that would almost defeat the purpose.
If they’d done that, 3D print a mold or buck and then do a carbon layup over it, it’d be made of epoxy, which doesn’t melt.
This was part “only” meant to funnel air into the engine, so I could see why he wouldn’t think it would be a problem. And I think it’s more like the carbon fiber impregnated abs, than coated. I paraphrased the report, so that’s on me.
Anyone worth their weight in abs knows “carbon fiber impregnated abs” isn’t going to actually do a FRACTION of the job that literal carbon fiber—or even fiberglass—would do, and this pilot is lucky they didn’t kill someone.
It just goes to show how little people know about carbon fiber and how easily Tricked they are when someone says they mixed carbon fiber into melted plastic… Laughing my fucking ass off
It’s not the strength they were worried about, it was the temperature at which it weakend, which shouldn’t have been a problem according the the information provided to the pilot.
I don’t know the material data sheet was wrong or the person selling it to him was wrong or lying. We don’t and won’t know, because they didn’t try to identify it.
I don’t. General aviation is already overly expensive as it is; we don’t need to create even more barriers to entry by trying to hold homebuilt light airplanes to the same standards as commercial airliners.
Remember: this incident is newsworthy because it’s unusual. Changing policy based on it is a hysterical overreaction.
regulations are often written in blood ‘overreactions’ until not
Yeah, let’s wait until at least, maybe 7 people die.
in this case, the pilot needs to sue the tits off the vendor.
Okay, deal. But if a person uses an unregulated part and it kills someone by flying off it-the pilot is beheaded
“Bought at an air show.” Read: flea market booth.
Gun shows but tall.
I thought they were, like shows.