Getting started with airframe design - resources?

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I’ve been flying consumer offerings for a little while, but I’m also pretty familiar with CAD, have a decent 3D printer, etc.

If I wanted to start looking through designs or community that deals with the hardware designs, things like frames, motors, batteries, various modules, etc - where is a good place to start looking?

I don’t see an obvious place for it on Ardupilot, but do remember waaaay back in the day that there was a lot of discussion around such. I’d love to use ardupilot, but probably need to go down a few additional rabbit holes on the airframe and hardware side of things.

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Are you looking at some sort of multi-rotor or are you wanting to design a fixed wing aircraft?

@rmackay9 always is doing something interesting. Here’s a link to his blog about designing a multi-rotor aircraft.

3D printers are amazing but I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in thinking most aircraft require some sort of additional framework to provide enough strength and rigidity for a durable vehicle. Carbon fiber rods are a popular choice for strengthening all sorts of aerial vehicles.

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Hi @anakaine (and thanks @ddegn for the ping),

Re 3D printers, I’m using HP’s MJF (MultiJet Fusion) to print out my vehicle. JLC3DP offers quite competitive pricing at $250 ~ $300 for printing a 450 sized quadcopter. I’ve seen a little bit of warping in wide flat parts but it’s not too bad.

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I would suggest to use high temp filaments for the structure. dont use pla or similar as they soften at temperatures which motors might reach in operation. Carbon fiber nylon is a good choice but not all printers can print it.