World's first printed plastic aircraft takes flight.(Plastics & polymers)(Brief article)

Engineers at Southampton University have combined the old with the new, by producing the world's first printed aircraft using designs developed before World War II.

With a wingspan of 2m, the unmanned, propeller-driven aircraft is powered by an electric motor that gives it a top speed of 100 miles per hour and is controlled by a specially-developed miniature autopilot.

All the sections of the aircraft, including the wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches, were printed by a laser sintering machine produced by the German company EOS. This machine builds up 3D structures one layer at a …