Makers Put Affordable, Open-Source Plane in the Works 

After Orville and Wilbur Wright first took flight in 1903 in their home-built “Flyer,” building a plane has been a dream for many. In the hundred years since, kits have made it possible for aerospace enthusiasts to build their own plane, but at no small cost. After all, even the smallest, most simple planes can cost more than a supercar. But with the trend in crowdsourcing growing more popular, it may now be possible to build one yourself at much more reasonable price tag.

It's called Maker Plane, and it's an open source, two-seater airplane that will be affordable, high quality, and most importantly, safe.

Currently, pilots and engineers are designing the plane so that it can be easily manufactured. They want the equipment needed to be something that people in the maker community already have or can easily obtain.  This list includes CNC mills and 3D printers. 

The group behind Maker Plane is also including components from other builders and designers outside of the makers' circle, in keeping with the project's open-source goals.  Maker Plane also shows users where they can get plans to build other items for the plane such as traffic and collision avoidance systems. 

Since composites have already been tested and successfully used in home-built airplanes, Maker Plane has designed all of the structural parts of their plane, even the fuselage, to be built from composites as well.  Meanwhile, 3D printing will handle smaller parts of the plane, such as the knobs and handles.

As for the specifications, the Maker Plane follows the light sport aircraft (LSA) regulations, which were created by the Federal Aviation Administration to encourage more people to fly.  This regulation allows for only two seats, a max weight of 1,320 pounds, and a top speed of 138mph; all of which Maker Plane meets.

After slaving over the plane's design for over a year and a half, a prototype of the plane is now in the works.  To help move the project along, they have turned to crowd sourced funding.  While there are other companies out there who currently sell schematics for a DIY plane, Maker Plane gives theirs away for free.

When it is all said and done, they hope their design will cost makers no more than $15,000 to construct one of their own.