A replacement lavatory toilet base or floor pan for the C-17 Globemaster III used to cost the U.S. Air Force around $10,000 and take multiple weeks to source through traditional supply channels.

The 911th Maintenance Squadron at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station and the 60th Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base addressed this by qualifying both parts for production on a Stratasys F900 printer, using a staged material approach: ASA for prototyping, ULTEM 9085 to validate fit, and Antero 800NA for the final part, chosen for its resistance to the chemical environment inside an aircraft lavatory.

Both designs received C-17 System Program Office approval and Boeing engineering disposition for installation. The printed parts now cost about $1,200 each, ready within 60 hours instead of weeks.

Dozens of C-17s are flying with these components, and Travis has since expanded the approach to twelve more locally designed parts.