Tom Stanton Builds A 3D Printed Windup Plane That Flies 45 Seconds On A 4 Second Charge

British engineer Tom Stanton has built a 15.6 gram 3D printed plane powered by a single 10 farad supercapacitor, demonstrating a hand crank charging system that produces a 45 second flight from roughly 4 seconds of winding. The project, documented in a video published to his YouTube channel, reimagines the classic rubber band powered toy aircraft using additive manufacturing and modern energy storage.

Stanton is not affiliated with DroneXL. His channel focuses on engineering experiments rather than drone journalism, but this build sits at the intersection of hobby aviation and lightweight airframe research with direct implications for small unmanned aircraft design.

The headline figure is the charge to flight ratio. Stanton’s earlier supercapacitor aircraft, a larger radio controlled plane, needed more than 2 minutes of hand cranking for a flight under 2 minutes. The new build flips that ratio roughly tenfold in favor of airtime, matching the practical class of a wound rubber band motor while replacing elastic potential energy with electrical storage.

The Build Replaces Balsa Wood With 3D Printed Ribs On Tissue Paper

Stanton printed the wing structure directly onto tissue paper secured to a magnetic build plate, producing a skeletonized rib pattern that bonded to the covering in a single operation. A carbon fiber rod forms the fuselage spine, with friction fit printed components holding the wing and tail. The initial glider prototype weighed 3.8 grams and outflew a folded paper airplane in side by side tests.

The powered version uses a brushed micro motor of the type found in small toy quadcopters. Because the supercapacitor tops out at 2.7 volts rather than the 3 to 4 volts of a single cell lithium battery, Stanton fitted a slightly larger propeller optimized for lower RPM efficiency. An analog voltmeter mounted between the hand crank generator and the capacitor prevents overcharging that could rupture the cell.

Supercapacitor Selection Came Down To Energy Density Per Gram

Stanton plotted energy density against capacitance for a range of single cell supercapacitors and found a sharp inflection point. Below the 10 farad mark, packaging weight dominates and energy density drops off. Above it, returns flatten. A 100 farad cell offered roughly six times the energy density of a 1 farad cell but weighed 20 grams, too heavy for the airframe. The 10 farad unit, at roughly 3 grams, hit the efficient middle of the curve.

Wing Aspect Ratio And Torsional Stiffness Dictated The Final Shape

An early long wing fluttered catastrophically in flight, folding upward as aerodynamic loads exceeded the structure’s torsional stiffness. Stress analysis confirmed the forward warping mode visible in the crash footage. A revised short chord, higher aspect ratio wing moved the center of pressure closer to the structural center, reducing twisting moments while preserving span efficiency against induced drag.

Tissue paper proved to be the project’s environmental weak point. Flights at -2°C (28°F) in zero wind succeeded on the first two attempts, but by the third launch damp mist had been absorbed into the tissue and the wing lost structural integrity. Stanton noted the construction technique is probably better suited to calm summer evenings or indoor flying.

Hobbyist Experiments Feed The Broader Drone Research Pipeline

Supercapacitors already have a role in commercial unmanned aviation, just not as a primary energy source. Peer reviewed research on hybrid propulsion systems has used them to buffer peak current demand in hydrogen fuel cell drones, where the cell struggles to deliver transient power during climb. The tradeoffs Stanton maps out are the same ones defense drone engineers work through on every airframe.

The 3D printed airframe angle is worth watching too. DroneXL has covered the 3D printed Stallion fixed wing platform, the Lace foldable research drone, and industrial applications like Firestorm Labs’ xCell expeditionary manufacturing containers. The US Marine Corps recently fielded HANX, the first NDAA compliant 3D printed drone. Stanton’s build sits at the small end of that spectrum, but printing directly onto tissue paper covering is a fabrication trick worth filing for any maker targeting sub 20 gram airframe weights.

DroneXL’s Take

I’ve been covering this industry for more than nine years, and flight time remains the single hardest constraint in unmanned aviation. Every commercial drone manufacturer on the market, from DJI down to garage startups, is fighting the same battery chemistry math that has barely moved in a decade. What I like about Stanton’s project is that it strips the problem to its essentials. A 10 farad capacitor. A 3 gram payload budget. A wing that has to survive its own aerodynamic loads.

Four seconds of winding for 45 seconds of flight is the kind of operational tempo rubber band models have offered for a century. If the approach scales up, even partially, it changes the assumptions behind quick turnaround inspection drones and disposable reconnaissance platforms where a lithium pack is overkill. The energy density is nowhere near a LiPo. It does not need to be. It needs to be rechargeable in seconds without a charger.

At least one commercial micro drone trainer using hybrid supercapacitor and battery storage will reach the consumer market within the next 24 months. The supply chain for small farad cells is mature, and the appeal of a toy that charges in 10 seconds off a USB port is obvious. The first manufacturer to ship that product will not be a household name.

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.