When a P3 Orion plane arrived at the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast, it had sustained a unique injury to the truss that supported its nose landing gear, no minor detail for a 100,000 lb plane. To add insult to injury, the timeline for fixing the machine was restricted as the runway was scheduled to close in June. Working with engineers from Lockheed Martin, the team at the FRCS began working on a solution to the pressing problem. When the engineers at Lockheed sent the design for the repair to the FRCS so that the necessary tooling could be created, the model, printed in Lego plastic, revealed some design flaws that needed to be addressed. Thanks to the 3D printing of the prototype, the engineers at Lockheed Martin were made aware of the problems quickly enough that they could re-engineer the piece and have the Orion back in the air, just in time. Check out how in the full story: http://3dprint.com/66603/3d-printing-saves-airplane/
Below is a look at the P3 Orion plane: