MakerPlane is an open source aviation organization, started by a group of Canadian plane building enthusiasts. Its members are designing the first open source airplane, [1] which they estimate could cost about US$15,000 to build. [2] [3]
Many do-it-yourself aircraft projects are abandoned before they are completed. [4] Some of the causes are complex and vague plans and assembly instructions, lack of builder support, the thousands of hours needed to create a complete plane [5] [6] and manufacturers of parts and plans going out of business. [7] The MakerPlane members participate in networking, share information and work together on a simple and economical plane design, [8] [9] and make some of their own parts, [10] in order to overcome these obstacles.
In 2011 the MakerPlane community began designing their aircraft from the ground up to be built using modern and affordable personal manufacturing equipment, such as CNC mills [11] and 3D Printers. [12] [13] The first design is a 2-seat Light Sport Aircraft, currently under the working name of "MakerPlane v1.0 LSA". [14] The designs are to be released under a Creative Commons license. [15] The first prototype was expected to be flown in 2015 and shown at the AirVenture OshKosh shows in 2014 and 2015 [2] [16]
In 2013, MakerPlane initiated a Kickstarter campaign [17] [18] and an Indiegogo campaign to fund development of its plane. [19] [20] During the first few months, these campaigns did not succeed in raising a significant amount of money. [21]
In January, 2014, MakerPlane successfully flew its first scale model. [22]
In June 2019, after 5 years with no news, the project exhibited at AirVenture. [23]
Scaled Composites is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port, Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develop experimental aircraft, the company now focuses on designing and developing concept craft and prototype fabrication processes for aircraft and other vehicles. It is known for unconventional designs, for its use of non-metal, composite materials, and for winning the Ansari X Prize with its experimental spacecraft SpaceShipOne.
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which in 1986 was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, which in 2006 set the world record for the fastest and longest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation flight in history. In 2004, Rutan's sub-orbital spaceplane design SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space, winning the Ansari X-Prize that year for achieving the feat twice within a two-week period.
Murphy Aircraft Manufacturing Limited is a Canadian maker of civil general aviation kits for amateur construction. The company was founded in 1985 by Darryl Murphy and is located in Chilliwack, British Columbia.
The Cessna 162 Skycatcher is an American side-by-side two-seat, high-wing, strut-braced, tricycle gear light-sport aircraft (LSA) that was designed and produced by Cessna between December 2009 and December 2013. It was the most recently introduced aircraft in the company's general aviation product line; its intended market was flight training and personal use.
The ICON A5 is an American amphibious light-sport aircraft designed and produced by ICON Aircraft. A concept aircraft was first flown in 2008, and creation of the production tooling began in December 2012. The first production aircraft made its first flight on July 7, 2014, and made its public debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on July 27, 2014. A year later at AirVenture, it was temporarily donated to the youth group Young Eagles, although the first official A5 customer deliveries did not occur until 2016.
Fan-funded music is a type of crowdfunding that specifically pertains to music. Often, fan-funded music occurs in conjunction with direct-to-fan marketing. Fans of music have the option to donate and collectively raise money with the goal of jump-starting the career of a given musical artist. The fan-funding of music occurs primarily through web-based services using a business model for crowdfunding. Fans are typically given rewards based on their monetary contributions.
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of December 2019, Kickstarter has received more than $4.6 billion in pledges from 17.2 million backers to fund 445,000 projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, technology, publishing, and food-related projects.
Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced the Ford Trimotor. At the height of the Depression, Ford closed the aircraft design and production division in 1936, temporarily re-entering the aviation market with the production of the B-24, at the Willow Run aircraft factory during World War II.
Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows people to solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business. Indiegogo charges a 5% fee on contributions. This charge is in addition to Stripe credit card processing charges of 3% + $0.30 per transaction. Fifteen million people visit the site each month.
The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG). It is based on earlier 737 designs, re-engined with more efficient CFM International LEAP-1B engines, aerodynamic changes, which include its distinctive split-tip winglets, and airframe modifications.
The Sling Aircraft Sling 2, formerly called The Airplane Factory Sling 2, is a South African two-seater light aircraft designed and produced by Sling Aircraft in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2009 the specially modified second prototype was flown around the world in a westerly circumnavigation which took 40 days. This was the first time any aircraft of this class had achieved a circumnavigation. The design complies with the requirements of four different regulatory aircraft classes.
Stratolaunch LLC is an American aerospace company providing high-speed flight test services. It was originally formed in 2011 to develop a new air-launched space transportation system, with its corporate headquarters located in Seattle, Washington. The company and development project were officially announced in December 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan, who had previously collaborated on the creation of SpaceShipOne.
The Ubuntu Edge was a proposed high-concept smartphone announced by Canonical Ltd. on 22 July 2013. Canonical was seeking to crowdfund a production run of around 40,000 units through Indiegogo. It had the highest target of any crowdfunded project to date, $32,000,000 over a one-month campaign. The Edge was not intended to go into mass production after the initial run, but rather to serve as a demonstration for new technologies for the industry. The Edge fell short of its funding goal, raising only $12,733,521 with 27,633 backers to purchase the standard model of the handset.
The Textron AirLand Scorpion is an American jet aircraft proposed for sale to perform light attack and Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties. It is being developed by Textron AirLand, a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises. A prototype was secretly constructed by Cessna at their Wichita, Kansas facility between April 2012 and September 2013 and first flown on 12 December 2013.
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Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over US$34 billion was raised worldwide by crowdfunding.
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