May 142015
GE went and built themselves a tiny little turbojet using a Direct Metal Laser Melting process. Not *quite* and simple as hitting “print” and then popping the engine into the test stand; very brief mention is made of some necessary post-processing including machining and polishing. Still, these little hobby-size turbojets are, as I understand it, machining nightmares; if the pricing is competitive (something I rather doubt at the moment), then perhaps we can *all* have little RC cruise missiles. Just the thing to give the FAA fits.