Crash after 3D printed air intake collapses. Good heads up for us kit builders

[rodgerc]

Can you believe that poor bloke from Canada wants to spend time on his holiday interacting with the likes of us 😳

 

Maybe he’ll opt for a Rhine River cruise instead. 😜

[BrendAn]

12 minutes ago, rodgerc said:

Can you believe that poor bloke from Canada wants to spend time on his holiday interacting with the likes of us 😳

 

Maybe he’ll opt for a Rhine River cruise instead. 😜

I did say I have tissues if he needs one. 

Where else is he going to learn that Rotax engines are badly designed 

Or get legal advice about car racing.

We have it all ,😂

[Moneybox]

I apologise for keeping this alive but the printed part may be very useful as mould for chemically set plastics such as Kevlar, carbon fibre or fibreglass.  

Edited December 7, 2025 by Moneybox

[turboplanner]

Always check for sock puppets.

[BrendAn]

4 hours ago, turboplanner said:

Always check for sock puppets.

Wish I knew what that meant. Must be a 1950s saying.

[danny_galaga]

9 hours ago, Moneybox said:

I apologise for keeping this alive but the printed part may be very useful as mould for chemically set plastics such as Kevlar, carbon fibre or fibreglass.  

Agreed. You could actually lay up on it, and just let it become part of the structure.

[turboplanner]

2 hours ago, danny_galaga said:

Agreed. You could actually lay up on it, and just let it become part of the structure.

It could collapse and block the interior. Usual Procedure is to use a material which can be melted or collapsed inside the Carbon Fibre etc structure and extracted.

[danny_galaga]

19 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

It could collapse and block the interior. Usual Procedure is to use a material which can be melted or collapsed inside the Carbon Fibre etc structure and extracted.

If you've seen how course something like a pla print is, you'd see the resin will permanently bond to it. But if course you can do the other way and lay up INSIDE the print.

Edited December 8, 2025 by danny_galaga

[facthunter]

Plastic and combustibles should be shrouded or behind the firewall.   Nev

[turboplanner]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

Plastic and combustibles should be shrouded or behind the firewall.   Nev

Agree, some should be made of aluminium of steel. Where light weight is required mig welded aluminium tube  can be fast to produce and strong. Light steel tube welded or with Nickel Bronze brazing are also usually lighter than castings and both fire-proof.

[danny_galaga]

21 hours ago, facthunter said:

Plastic and combustibles should be shrouded or behind the firewall.   Nev

Good point. I'm pretty sure I've seen fibreglass (GRP) shrouds etc in engine bays. They are combustible. But would probably burn slowly, could be why fibreglass is allowed? 

[rodgerc]

[Moneybox]

18 minutes ago, rodgerc said:

Nah that's just his lithium battery spitting the dummy....

[Blueadventures]

1 minute ago, Moneybox said:

Nah that's just his lithium battery spitting the dummy....

Fire loves consuming polyester resin 🔥

[turboplanner]

FRP is Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic i.e. a plastic reinforced by glass.

 

There are many types of glass and many types of plastic.

 

Fire retardant resins are used on critical applications, and I've seen it used on Shell Petrol tankers successfully in Australia. Shell agreed to it after seeing a Tanker on fire containing the boiling surface of the petrol, so not like the old FRB boat.

[facthunter]

And Burned carbon fibre is really hazardous..  Even small oil leaks are a big fire risk and oil mixed with Dust More so. Nev.

[rodgerc]

[danny_galaga]

21 hours ago, rodgerc said:

Is that fibreglass?

[onetrack]

It's a composite Airbus A350. Interestingly, all on board the Airbus survived - the fire only took hold slowly (due to design) and this enabled full evacuation.

 

2024 Haneda Airport runway collision - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

[rodgerc]

1 hour ago, danny_galaga said:

Is that fibreglass?

Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (composite). Boeing B787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 aircraft both feature a large percentage of flammable carbon fibre composite in their FAA/EASA certified aircraft….As do many modern type certificated GA and ASTM conforming LSA lighties. 

 

 

[onetrack]

And there is a major difference between the ordinary fibreglass of the everyday kit build aircraft and the certified composite materials. Even the interior, non-load-bearing plastics inside the cabins of commercial aircraft must undergo extensive testing in relation to burn rate, heat release, smoke, and toxicity, under FAA rules. Plus, they must also meet durability tests as regards wear and tear.

[facthunter]

In earlier days the Interiors had flame overs where People  died from the toxicity as well as the Flammability of the Interior materials. You also often could not see.  There were TACTILE indicators for the cabin crew to Feel where they were. Nev

[danny_galaga]

On 09/12/2025 at 12:04 PM, Blueadventures said:

Fire loves consuming polyester resin 🔥

Which is, of course the whole front end of my aircraft 😄

[Blueadventures]

8 minutes ago, danny_galaga said:

Which is, of course the whole front end of my aircraft 😄

There are fireproof paints that are used on the interior of our types of aircraft construction.  PM if you want details of one product used over here. 

[danny_galaga]

Some good follow up info, from Hackaday, of all places!

 

https://hackaday.com/2025/12/10/failed-3d-printed-part-brings-down-small-plane/