At A Glance
The U.S. Air Force used the Stratasys F900 and Antero 800NA to 3D print replacement lavatory components for C-17 aircraft. By producing parts at the point of need, the team reduced replacement costs from about $10,000 to $1,200 and cut lead times from multiple weeks to just 60 hours. The validated additive manufacturing workflow also created a repeatable solution for hard-to-source aircraft components, helping keep dozens of C-17s mission ready.
Customer Profile
The 911th Maintenance Squadron at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, part of Air Force Reserve Command, and the 60th Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, part of Air Mobility Command, support sustainment of the C-17 Globemaster III. Both units maintain aircraft readiness with in-house fabrication capabilities and a growing focus on point-of-need additive manufacturing.
Challenge
C-17 lavatory components are exposed to harsh chemical environments and require reliable sealing performance. When these items fail, they can drive maintenance burden and readiness impacts. The units needed a durable, repeatable replacement approach that could be executed at the point of need and validated through the required engineering and airworthiness processes.
Solution
Pittsburgh and Travis each produced different lavatory components using the Stratasys F900 platform and a structured qualification approach. Pittsburgh produced the lavatory toilet base (the structure the toilet mounts to), while Travis produced the lavatory floor pan. In both cases, teams used a stepped material strategy to accelerate iteration and ensure fit and performance, prototyping in ASA, then printing initial qualification or test-fit parts using ULTEM™ 9085 resin, before moving to Antero® 800NA for final parts to achieve chemical resistance.
For both parts, the C-17 System Program Office approved the final design, and installation was approved via Boeing’s Request for Engineering Disposition (REDI). Each subsequent aircraft requiring a replacement uses a new REDI submission for tracking purposes.
“Antero 800NA gave us the durability we needed, and 3D printing gave us the speed and precision to replicate the part exactly.”
Master Sgt. Michael Howard
Aircraft Metals Technology Section Chief, 911th Maintenance Squadro
Impact
Cost per part of the drip pan dropped from about $10,000 for a one-off replacement to about $1,200 printed, an 88% reduction, saving roughly $8,800 per pan. A part replacement that used to take weeks of downtime is now printed within 60 hours. The lavatory toilet base delivered a different kind of value: as they could no longer source the original part, the team reverse engineered the toilet base to create a validated replacement option moving forward, preserving mission capability where there was effectively no viable procurement path. Together, these efforts established an approved, repeatable pathway to replace failed C-17 lavatory components with qualified, point-of-need additive parts.
Today, dozens of aircraft are flying with 3D-printed lavatory parts installed. With REDIbased approval and per-aircraft tracking for subsequent installs, the Air Force now has a governed mechanism to scale adoption across more tails and extend the same model to other hard-to-source C-17 parts. In addition to the lavatory components, Travis has progressed to 12 locally designed C-17 parts produced on the same Stratasys F900 platform.
Downtime Avoided
>88%
60 Hours vs. Multiple Weeks
Cost Reduction
88%
$1,200 vs. $10,000
