PLA Toy Plane - Customizable

A time ago, I got curious about the possibility to print something like a paper plane...

Therefore I tried to print one with as less material as possible, but still flying just great!
This is what I found working quite fine so far!

It consists of a one layer print regarding main part of its wings, plus a big enough body for good flight properties.

You should be able to fly indoor (till now I didn't managed to break something, even if you could push down things accidentally I guess) as well as outdoor. I was flying outside on windy weather as well. Actually it worked better then expected.

Print instructions

Update 28.05.2020

• In appreciation of upcoming CREW DEMO-2 from NASA and SpaceX, I added the "X" logo to the plane.
  Have a good and save flight Bob Behnken & Doug Hurley!
• Use about 40% infill for this print
• .scad file will have the "X" logo enabled by default for now.
• Note: You might want to disable "Elephant foot compensation" in slicer settings. In my case it makes tail wing connection working pretty bad.

Update 20.05.2020:

• Created customizable 3D model with OpenSCAD
• Provide rounded head front as suggested by thingiverse user SaddamCZ for smoother landings ;-) - Thanks for your comment!
  Note: use 30 - 40% infill for this model to keep center of gravity below main wing.
• Reworked tail wing connection to stay in place more reliable.
• See yellow pictures for new model.

Notes:

• Important:
  • Please be very careful when removing the model from the printer plate.
    If symmetry is broken, it will not really fly... The main wings are the critical part here I would say.
  • Take care to use symmetrical infill to keep balance point of the plain at center of the main wings.
• I would recommend to print the "...Original.stl" model first.
  The other model is kind of a test to get the main wing connection to body more robust. Actually it is still a problem... and flight properties are different with this design.
• Please see the picture for details about how to connect the tail wing exactly.
• You can use the small elements at tail wing to trim left/right and up/down steering.
• Dimension in mm: 180 x 178 x 20
• Print time was about 50 minutes.

What can be improved:

• Main week points are the connections from wings to the body. They break over time. It seams some PLAs are more resistant than others. My "red" flyer is doing a pretty good job so far. Many other color broke much faster over time.
• Create a modular system of the plane. It would be interesting to support separate head, main wing and tail wing parts, magically hold together...
• Give the plane a face update. Just for fun it would be nice to put a parametric smiley on the head for example.
• Guess there are many parametric funny things possible here... ;-)

Have fun and happy printing ^^