GE’s Facebook Air Show Features 3D Printed Planes

GE Airshow - Maketbot 3D PrintingEach year since 1970 the Wisconsin town of Oshkosh has served as host for the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) AirVenture, America’s largest gathering of aviation enthiusiasts and aircraft.

This year’s EAA AirVenture took place July 25 to 31, however sponsor GE is hosting their own unique version of an Air Show on their Facebook page.

They’ve even asked their fans to request what type of aircraft they want to see at the air show. Their fans have responded, requesting everything from a flying saucer to the plane of the Red Baron. To bring the air show to life GE partnered with agency Evolution Bureau to actually create the various aircraft using a MakerBot Thing-o-matic 3D printer.

The Makerbot Thing-o-Matic uses a form of additive manufacturing creating a three dimensional object from a CAD file laying down successive layers of material with each pass. We had one of these machines in our boardroom for a Lunch & Learn session back in the spring and it was amazing to watch it build an object right before our eyes.

The videos that Evolution Bureau produced for the GE Air Show look like everyone had loads of fun playing with the toy planes. I love seeing the green spaceship life-off with the cotton batting trailing behind it looking like smoke. I can’t wait to see the collection of helicopters coming up next week.

Aug 4: Lift Off: Flying Saucer, B-2 Spirit & one of those planes that land on water
Aug 18: The Final Frontier: Spaceships!
Aug 25: P-51 Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress and the Red Baron