Ben's Build Logs: Single-Engine Aircraft

Ben Friedel

November 2, 2026

Hey, Ben the intern here! 👋

I’m an aeronautical engineering student working with Zoo to explore what practical engineering looks like in Zoo Design Studio.

In this series, I’m designing a small single-engine aircraft piece by piece and sharing the process along the way.

Hope you enjoy following along! ✈️

~ Ben (@benfrdl)

Jump to latest update ↓ - Latest: Build Log #19 · Nov 9, 2026

#1 - Aug 12, 2026

While creating the aircraft tires, I built the outer tire cross-section manually to define the geometry.

Instead of recreating essentially the same shape again for the inner profile, I handed that part to Zookeeper. One prompt later, it reproduced the profile with a consistent offset.

#2 - Aug 17, 2026

For the wheel rims, I needed some info on how the bolt assembly is typically constructed on aircraft wheels.

I asked Zookeeper for some technical context and it gave me a breakdown and technical drawings to support my modelling.

#3 - Aug 21, 2026

I was modeling the fork and oleo strut of the nose landing gear when I wondered if Zookeeper could take over from there.

It completed the assembly and even suggested the next steps.

#4 - Aug 25, 2026

To model the aircraft wing, I first needed to define the rib and its spar geometry.

I sketched out the rough profiles I wanted by hand and gave them to Zookeeper to size them properly.

#5 - Sep 3, 2026

A wing obviously has more than just one rib, so I let Zookeeper duplicate the rib along the entire wingspan.

Then I had him extend the spars and stringers through all the ribs to complete the internal wing structure.

#6 - Sep 9, 2026

Before finishing the wings, I wanted to start on the aircraft’s piston engine, beginning with the crankshaft.

I noticed I had gotten the propeller mounting flange slightly wrong, so I gave Zookeeper reference images of a real aircraft crankshaft.

Zookeeper corrected the geometry and laid the groundwork for the rest of the crankshaft.

#7 - Sep 22, 2026

After modeling the crankshaft and pistons, I asked Zookeeper to bring everything together.

Instead of positioning every part myself, he took over and assembled the almost complete engine internals.

#8 - Sep 25, 2026

For the valve mechanism, I needed to add compression springs, but wasn’t sure about the best way to model them in Zoo Design Studio.

So I asked Zookeeper which approach he would recommend. He suggested using a helix, which turned out to be exactly what I needed for the spring geometry.

#9 - Sep 28, 2026

To finish up the wing structure, I first refined the stringers to make them more representative of a real aircraft.

On top of that, I modelled two different spar angle designs and gave Zookeeper the placement logic for each of them.

He then positioned and duplicated all 45 angles across the wing structure.

#10 - Oct 1, 2026

Of course, the wing still needed a proper wingtip, so I gave Zookeeper the existing wing geometry and some basic design requirements while leaving the actual shape mostly up to him.

The first result looked promising, but wasn’t quite there yet. With a few more prompts, I refined the geometry and ended up with a final version that felt much more convincing.

#11 - Oct 5, 2026

In the Zoo Aquarium, I came across a different approach to generating a wing’s NACA profile, so I asked Zookeeper to compare it with the method I was already using.

Turns out my approach was better suited for this model, so I kept it and completed the wing assembly with the final additions of the ailerons and outer skin.

#12 - Oct 8, 2026

An important part of the crankshaft and camshaft setup is the timing connection that keeps both shafts synchronized.

In a four-stroke engine the camshaft rotates at half the crankshaft speed, so I had Zookeeper create a 2:1 gear setup between them.

#13 - Oct 13, 2026

While reviewing the engine assembly, I realized there was a deeper logic issue in the way I had arranged the layout.

After working through the problem with Zookeeper and exploring a few possible fixes, I reworked the affected geometry to better match the flat-four configuration typical for this kind of aircraft engine.

The result is a more mechanically plausible setup that I’m much happier to continue with.