Make Your Own Plane

New Zealander John Nicol is the founder of Makerplane, the first open source aviation organization allowing people to download its aeroplane plans for free. Canada-based Nicol says the use of home-based manufacturing technologies is changing the way people make things and how fast they can do it. “Instead of taking a couple of years to make aircraft parts,” Nicol says, “I should be able to cut out parts in a few days and then assemble and finish them into a complete aircraft. I will no longer have to ship parts from a manufacturer or distributor. I will make my own kit as I need it. I will just need to download a file, load the material into a machine and cut it out.” Nicol was recently awarded the Canadian-issued Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for services to business and aviation.