3D print your flight track: slicer-ready STL from an IGC

A flight on your desk: the route above the terrain, at its real altitude, every thermal you turned visible. Variograph produces it straight from the IGC — no mesh repair, no drawing supports, no scaling.

How it works

1. Upload the IGC on the 3D Print page (or send the flight from analysis).

2. Terrain is fetched for the area the flight covers; the window is chosen automatically.

3. The route is drawn over it as a sideways-widened ribbon tube — reads like a track from above, never gets thinner vertically, so it does not snap.

4. Overlapping passes are separated vertically; spirals read as distinct strands.

5. Support struts from terrain up to the tube are planned automatically.

6. Download one STL, drop it in the slicer, print.

What the defaults are for

The goal is "upload → download → print" with zero adjustment:

• 200 mm square base (fits 256 mm plates comfortably), 6 mm solid base, 40 mm terrain relief
• Tube of 4 extrusion lines (0.4 mm nozzle → 1.6 mm) — does not snap in PLA
• Supports on, 7 mm spacing, 0.9 mm radius
• Takeoff/landing markers on, 5 elevation colour bands

Everything is adjustable; the print-time estimate updates with the parameters.

STL or 3MF?

STL is one colour, one solid; every slicer opens it. 3MF carries elevation bands as separate objects — assign a filament per band on AMS/MMU systems. Free plan: one lifetime STL. Pro: unlimited STL + 3MF.

Embossed text

A pilot line and a stats line (date, distance, altitude gain) on the front wall, free text on any wall. An 8 mm magnet recess in the base is optional, as are contour lines.

Print tips

• PLA is enough; the ribbon tube is wide horizontally, so bridging is rarely an issue.
• Supports off in the slicer — the struts are in the model.
• If you see spindly struts, cull them with the max-height cap.
• A long gap in the log becomes a straight line; check the data-quality report first.

Terrain data

The model is built from real elevation data. A pilot who knows the site reads the relief at a glance — Ölüdeniz's cliff, Gürle's ridge.

Next: What is an IGC file? — everything that goes to print comes out of that file.