Rightfooted Foundation

10/13/2026

THE WINGS ARE ON! ✈️🎉

This is a moment we've been working toward for years.

Jessica Cox walked into the hangar and saw The Impossible Airplane with its wings attached for the first time. Her excitement says everything.

Those wings represent years of engineering, problem-solving, collaboration, and a shared belief that aviation should be accessible to everyone.

And now, we get to share this milestone with you!

✈️ Want to see The Impossible Airplane in person?

Join us Saturday, November 14, at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, for a special fundraising evening with Jessica Cox, hosted by the Arizona Aviation Historical Group.

This will be the airplane's first public event appearance!

🎟️ Tickets (dinner included):
https://www.aahg.org/events/jessica-cox-2026

Online ticket sales close November 6.

09/17/2026

The first sock changes the problem.

A person who uses their feet can grip the first sock with two bare feet. Once that sock is on, the fabric reduces the friction needed to pull the second sock around the heel and up the leg.

That small, specific challenge became SecondSock, one of five design briefs Rightfooted Foundation International contributed to MakerWorld’s Make for Good: Accessibility Design Contest.

We are not asking makers to reproduce a solution we already know. We are asking them to understand the task, explore different approaches, and create something Jessica can actually test.

If you use CAD, own a 3D printer, teach engineering, belong to a makerspace, or simply enjoy solving practical problems, take a look. If this is not your challenge, there are 23 others to choose from.

Please share this with someone who might be able to design the missing piece.

Contest link in the first comment.

Bambu Lab 3D

08/31/2026

Have you heard about Living Unlimbited?

RFI Executive Director Jessica Cox has teamed up with Pauline Victoria for an independent podcast about life with limb differences—from two women who have plenty of lived experience to bring to the conversation.

Living Unlimbited gets into the things that don’t always make it into the usual disability conversation: the practical stuff, the emotional stuff, relationships, identity, independence, awkward moments, laughter, and the perspectives that come from figuring out life in a body that works differently.

Jessica and Pauline are both armless women, but their experiences aren’t identical—and that’s part of what makes the conversations worth listening to.

Living Unlimbited is produced independently by Pauline’s One Leg Up Productions, rather than by Rightfooted Foundation. But it’s exactly the kind of conversation we think many people in our community will appreciate, so you’ll see us sharing new episodes from time to time.

08/27/2026

You can now fly The Impossible Airplane!

Thank you to all the folks at X-Plane, Sim Your Plane, X Force PC, and especially Ben for making this possible!

We're introducing a very special livery to X-Plane 12.4.4. ❤️ In collaboration with the Rightfooted Foundation, we're bringing their 'Impossible Plane' livery into X-Plane.

This gorgeous RV-10 livery is based on an in-development aircraft, designed to be operated by foot and make aviation accessible to disabled people. We couldn't be prouder to showcase their fantastic work!

Learn more about the project
https://www.x-plane.com/2026/08/making-the-impossible-possible/

More about Rightfooted Foundation
https://rightfooted.org/

08/20/2026

08/19/2026

You found a way—but what should work better?

People without arms develop countless techniques for navigating products and everyday tasks that were designed with hands in mind. Today, Rightfooted Foundation wants to hear about the ones that still require more effort, improvisation, or frustration than they should.

We have an opportunity to put a few real-world problems from the armless community in front of designers who can explore possible solutions.

Tell us:

• What are you trying to do?
• How do you do it now?
• What makes the current method or product frustrating?
• What would a better experience allow you to do?

We’re looking for the problem, not a finished invention.

Comment below or privately message Rightfooted Foundation today. Photos and short videos showing the difficulty are also welcome by private message.

If you know someone who lives without both arms, please share this with them. Their experience should help shape what designers work on next.

08/18/2026

The Impossible Airplane has made it to Arizona… but apparently we brought a giant puzzle with us. ✈️

After moving the airplane more than 2,500 miles from New Jersey to Arizona, final assembly is underway. Right now, that means unpacking, sorting through parts and pieces, checking part numbers, and figuring out exactly where everything belongs.

Fortunately, Van’s Aircraft gives builders some VERY detailed plans. 😅

The airplane may look a little incomplete behind Jessica right now, but that’s about to change.

Next step: the wings go on!

Every part we install gets us closer to the moment this airplane becomes what it was designed to be: the first airplane purpose-built for a pilot to fly using only their feet.

Follow along. The next phase is going to be a fun one.

Lycoming Engines Van's Aircraft Advanced Flight Systems

08/18/2026

What everyday tasks are we missing?

Rightfooted Foundation is helping identify real-world problems for an upcoming 3D-printing design challenge. We’re especially interested in tasks experienced by people with upper-limb differences—including people who use their residual limbs or feet in place of hands.

Here are four examples already suggested:

• Turning a round doorknob
• Dispensing toothpaste
• Fastening a bicycle helmet
• Picking up after a service dog

Now we want to hear from you:

What everyday task is harder than it needs to be? How do you handle it now, and where do existing products or methods fall short?

We’re looking for problems—not finished inventions—so designers have room to explore practical, 3D-printable possibilities.

Share your experience in the comments or send RFI a private message by August 19. Please share this post with someone whose lived experience should help guide better design.

08/17/2026

What everyday task should be easier?

Rightfooted Foundation has been invited to propose design briefs for an upcoming 3D printing design challenge focused on disability-inclusive design. We’re gathering real-world problems experienced by people with upper-limb differences—especially people who use residual limbs or their feet to complete everyday tasks.

We’re looking for the problem, not a finished invention:

• What task is harder than it needs to be?
• How do you handle it now?
• What doesn’t work well about the available products or methods?
• Would you be willing to answer follow-up questions or test a future prototype?

Share your experience in the comments or send RFI a private message by August 19. Please share this post with someone whose lived experience should help guide better design.

We’re also looking for one or two potential judges with relevant lived experience. Message us if that sounds like you or someone you recommend.

08/14/2026

It almost works. And that’s exactly the problem.

Jessica tried this dog p**p bag holder, and the basic idea is pretty good. But using it with her feet? Not quite.

Sometimes universal design doesn’t mean inventing something completely new. It means looking at something that’s almost useful and asking: How could we make this work better for more people?

That’s the kind of question we’ll be exploring at our next RFI Volunteer All Call as we discuss an upcoming opportunity involving makers, engineers, designers, 3D printing—and, most importantly, real problems identified by people with disabilities and their immediate support networks.

Want to join the conversation?

📩 Meeting details are being shared through the RFI newsletter only. Sign up here to get the invitation:

https://signup-usa.keela.co/social-media-newsletter-signup

You don’t have to be an engineer. You don’t have to know the solution. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can bring is a problem worth solving.