Mace Aviation builds structural aerospace prototypes from composite and metallic materials in days or weeks, not months. Our rapid prototyping capability is not additive manufacturing or 3D-printed models. It is real structural hardware, built in our composite and metallic fabrication shops, using the same materials and processes the production part will eventually use.
The aerospace prototyping market is increasingly dominated by additive manufacturing companies offering 3D-printed parts. Printed parts have a role in concept mockups and fitment checks. But when a program manager needs a structurally representative prototype for load testing, fit-check under actual assembly conditions, or first-article review with a DoD customer, a printed part is not a substitute for a fabricated one.
Mace Aviation prototypes are built from aerospace-grade composite and metallic materials, to engineering definition, using production-representative processes. A prototype we build can be tested, qualified, and transitioned to production without a material or process change.
Mace Aviation’s prototyping speed comes from vertical integration. When the engineer who designed the part is in the same building as the fabricator building it, questions get answered in minutes rather than days. When prototype tooling is built in-house, lead time is measured in days, not weeks. When composite and metallic fabrication happen in adjacent shops, integrated assemblies do not wait on supplier coordination.
We have taken programs from hand sketch to structural prototype hardware in under two weeks. The limiting factor is engineering definition. If you have a drawing or 3D model, we can move.
Provide your material, your timeline, and your application. We'll give you a straight answer.
Defense program prototyping has specific requirements that commercial rapid-turn shops are not equipped to meet. Those requirements include controlled material traceability, first article documentation, and structural proof testing. Mace Aviation’s prototyping deliverables include material certifications, fabrication records, and dimensional inspection data packaged to support program configuration documentation.
Rapid prototyping at Mace Aviation starts with engineering definition and ends with structural hardware. Aerospace Design and Engineering provides the design definition prototypes are built from, and Composite and Metallic Tooling covers the prototype tooling fabricated in-house to support first-article builds. Programs that successfully prototype with us typically transition directly into Aerospace Composite Fabrication and Aerospace Metallic Structures for production.
No. Mace Aviation builds structural prototypes from aerospace-grade composite and metallic materials using production-representative fabrication processes. Our prototypes can be structurally tested, qualified, and transitioned to production without a material or process change. 3D-printed parts cannot meet this requirement for most structural aerospace applications.
For programs with existing engineering definition (drawing or 3D model), we have delivered structural composite and metallic prototypes in under two weeks. Timeline depends on part complexity, material availability, and the required level of documentation. Contact us to discuss your specific schedule requirements.
Starts with an idea...ends with a product, the sky's the limit.
Cutting edge rapid prototyping, design, engineering and production. Mace Aviation has been our go to for the last 19 years.
Director | L3Harris
Mace Aviation is a unique company that can rapidly design and develop advanced composites for the aerospace industry and then produce these products at a very competitive price. The Mace team is both innovative and practical with decades of experience in the fixed and rotary wing market. They are smart, practical and affordable and very good to work with. Mace is a top notch team.
CEO | MD Helicopters, LLC
