3D-Printed Jet Model Aircraft Kingchaser Completes Maiden Flight

The Mach Initiative's 3D-printed, jet-powered remote-controlled aircraft Kingchaser has completed its maiden flight, with video of the flight posted to YouTube. The team has not announced a date for its planned speed record attempt.

The Kingchaser weighs about 9 kg (20 lb) and is mostly 3D-printed from PETG. Its PPS-CF engine housing is skinned in carbon fiber, with carbon-fiber rods and aluminum and steel reinforcement. Power comes from a Jetcat P60 jet turbine producing 63 Nm of thrust and a top speed of 205 mph (330 km/h).

Onboard electronics include a fully instrumented avionics system and an FPV system, with 70 kg-cm high-torque servos on the elevons. The aircraft is aiming to reach Mach 0.8 and targets the world speed record for model aircraft.

The Mach Initiative is a team of graduates from the University of Bath. In earlier work it built a miniature PETG prototype called the Kinglet, followed by the Kingfisher, an aircraft just under a meter long powered by the same Jetcat P60 and reaching 205 mph (330 km/h). The team has said the Jetcat P60 is not powerful enough nor intended to break the record.

The engineers had initially planned a Kingfisher MK2 with a 150Nm jet engine to attempt 614 mph (988 km/h), then chose instead to build the Kingchaser 20% larger than the Kingfisher with significant design changes. Those changes included switching the engine housing from annealed PET-CF to PPS-CF because annealing the larger housing caused warping, adding titanium exhaust sheets and aluminum tape to shield the print from engine heat, and replacing the aluminum skeleton with carbon fiber rods.

The Guinness World Record for fastest model aircraft has been held for 9 years by German pilot Neils Herbrich.