What is lacking with Mechanical Engineers today, is the knowledge of how to design mechanisms correctly. Did know that there's a mathematical formula that can be used for all mechanism designs? It's called Gruebler's Count. I found a way to make it practical for all 3D mechanisms. Here's the link if you are interested. ua-cam.com/video/KFB8gMjxDPk/v-deo.html
@@mauriciocastro2557 glassair, lancair, pulsar are the classic ones that come to mind but there are a bunch more. If you want to see a unique take on a 2 seat airplane go look at my former coworker Cory Bird’s airplane “symmetry”.
@@mauriciocastro2557 it’s a 1.75 seater, Cory modified the airplane design after he married patty, so that’s a fair point “t-tails become unstable at high angle of attack”. Your opinion of airplane science will mean something to me after you’ve designed and built an airplane or two.
I continue to be incredibly impressed by all of your thought and design iteration efforts. The end design is elegant, and the fact that you continually look for more efficient and effective methods to manufacture the planes is impressive. Although I want to start building my plane now, I know it it worth the wait.
Incredible job guys! Interesting to hear that you got 3 independent motors for the gear, because this introduces additional failure modes. But I guess that your approach is safe, as you have an emergency gear down mechanism as backup.
I love the geometry for DarkAero's main landing gear. Since carbon fiber serves as cathode material to sacrifice aluminum as anode material - Engineering blended composites transitional dielectric barrier isolation materials are new solutions waiting to be solved. Great work guys.
Isolating carbon fibre from aluminium is not a new problem. It has been solved quite well by simply electrically isolating the carbon fibre and aluminium. That is actually the very nice thing about the Dark Aero project. They are not trying to experiment with everything (e.g. diesel auto-engine conversions, pressurization, etc.). They are using established and proven processes and applying them to build the world's best 2-place aeroplane. Applying these techniques to a small general aviation plane designed as an easily produced and assembled kit is groundbreaking, but the techniques used to achieve that are not so groundbreaking. That is a good thing. You do not want an aeroplane that changes everything... a la Raptor project (or whatever the scammer running that project has rebranded it to now).
Paint, powder-coat and or anodizing aluminum are surface protections. It's the penetrating fastener (stakes) such as other metal bolts, screws, hinges and rivets that electrically make the connection that promote oxidation under the surface protection to aluminum, chrome-molly and other metals. Carbon-fiber acts as a cathode and is electrically conductive promoting aluminum to act as sacrificial anode corrosion as if connecting two dissimilar metals. The damage occurs under the coating when non-insulated metal bolts and fasteners are employed.
Every area you guys touch has a smidge of the Midas touch...it turns glowing golden. You guys are great airplane design dancers...you don't miss a beat, and you follow the music of thousands of designers before you. In my humble opinion
Hey Guys, great work and nice design! Did you consider using glass fiber laminate for the landing gear struts, because GFRP can take more elongation at break than CFRP, which in turn may lead to a more forgiving landing gear, in particular for side slip landings?
Very IMPRESSIVE! You guy's are on top of it! It's people like you who are the tip of the spear in the modern era of composite structure utilization in general aviation! In the rotorcraft world, lot's of Kevlar is used, honeycomb structural panels, and composites in the rotor blades too! It's the future of aviation! Can't beat the corrosion resistance, weight to strength ratio and easy to work with when you get into the curved structures such as fuselages! Keep up the good work, looking forward to your future video's!
Hi David! The landing gear has definitely been a challenging system, but we are really excited about the solution we have come up with. Thank you for coming along with us on this journey!
I have engineered the manufacturing of composite snowboards since the late 80s, manufacturing metal / carbon composite hydroflight gear now. Bonding to aluminum is notoriously difficult due to the weakness of the aluminum skin layer. Your aluminum parts have a bright finish. light clear anodize? This runs counter to my experience in achieving good adhesion, especially under shock loads. We run a type 3 hard anodize finish on bonding alloy parts (one level of electrical isolation) and use a very thin rubber foil for mechanical shock and secondary isolation, foil from ASK Industries, Japan. Really like what you are doing and the information being shared.
Amazing work. Loved the comment about realworld changes to make things easier to assemble. This begging for a 4 seat version. Can't wait to see her fly.
Looks like a straight forward design. I have a question on those machining fittings interfacing with the composite leg. The fittings are hollow with through holes on each wall (perpendicular to bolt axis). The the composite leg slides in with adhesive and secured with the bolts. There seem to be a long section of the bolt that is not taking any bearing loads. Would that bolt see some undesirable bending on top of the shear? What is your sizing criteria for those joints?
Re: Addressing Galvanic Corrosion via Dielectric Isolation. This discussion stimulates the question, what provisions for mitigating electrostatic discharge are incorporated in the DarkArrow 1 design?
My understanding is that the main concern with building a static charge is attracting lightning. Being a non-FIKI single-engine experimental plane the idea is probably to simply avoid getting anywhere near storms. I'd personally love to see them incorporate a conductive top ply (products exist with copper threads already embedded in the weave). This is a change that could be made for production later. It would increase weight, but so does adding more avionics or other optional equipment.
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn The thoroughness of design gives me confidence the DarkAero Team has addressed the potential for static electric discharge. I am curious to hear the analysis and design considerations given to it. The ability to pass a lighting strike through the aircraft while avoiding damage is a significant concern. Indeed, the intended mission profile is not likely to frequently expose this aircraft to lighting. However, other risks associated of static discharge come to mind. Some areas of concern include the fuel system, ECU, navigation, communication - especially antennas, the electrical system’s Solid-State circuit breakers. I envision static discharge risks running the full scale from inflight explosion, to communication / navigation noise, to nuisance “CB” tripping in some nonessential circuit.
Really starting to get into this build process - thank you for all your posts. Have you, or could you, post a video on how the carbon fiber bonds are tested for strength / fatigue?
Great video as usual of 3 talented professionals. I wish your videos are longer , no pressure I know it takes a lot of hard work to do 10 minutes video. Keep up the great work and thank you again.
My question is the angle of the landing gear. I took a measuring wheel and put it in front of me and it seems like it impacted rough spots harder than when I used a trailing technique. Not sure why it's leading and not trailing. Can you enlighten me? Thanks.
Did you consider using wet installation and fay sealing to address galvanic corrosion? Also, what provisions do you have for Bonding and grounding, P-static, EME, HIRF, and lightning strike? Are you using EMF in your composite panels or some other method of getting currents to the Current return network?
Great stuff! I find it all absolutely fascinating... Regarding carbon fiber construction, I can see how it is well suited to building a prototype as you are here. But it is so labor intensive, it is hard for me to understand how production items can be made this way without the ultimate purchase costs being extremely high. Maybe that is just the nature of the beast, sort of in the "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" category...? Having said that, I guess it is really not much more labor intensive than fiberglass construction, if at all, and fiberglass has certainly found its way into many reasonably priced machines.
I agree with you on all points. Add in the expertise required to ensure all of the pieces are properly bonded/cured whatever, not sure the normal Vans builder type (normal skill-set person) could ever pull this one off. I love the aircraft design and ultimately this design needs to be sold to Cirrus so they can produce them for the masses. I can’t imagine getting insurance on a new concept aircraft right out of the blocks. If any insurers would even touch it the costs would be eye watering. Getting insurance on aircraft with low numbers or no numbers in the field is a major obstacle. I have to say these guys are doing everything right and I want one !! Insurance is optional…
I'm loving this build and the documentation of all of the things it actually takes to ground-up build an airplane. I'm curious if your design's limit on Airspeed is because of Horsepower, frontal air pressure, or structural resonant frequency?
beautiful cfrp - aluminium part assembly. One thing I'm wondering since you're glueing the alu parts to the glassfiber, have you tested the interlaminar shear between the glass and carbon fibers of the laminate ? And if yes, how ? :) thanks and keep up the great work !
Thanks for asking this, I have the same question and you expressed it better than I could. I’m also concerned about the longevity of the bonding compound and it’s resistance to temperature, UV, atmospheric chemistry etc. If it already in use elsewhere in aerospace construction, that would be handy to know.
@@tomcoryell - As a sailplane pilot I've flown plenty of GFRP and CFRP aircraft that have been flown for 40 years, and have never witnessed any bonding failure of joggles, lap-joints, or embedded hardpoints (which is similar to what they're doing with the machined components). Yes, you can find examples of skin delamination but these are almost always aircraft that were either exposed to UV over an extended time with no covering/paint to protect them, or they were left outside for many years allowing moisture to be absorbed into the gelcoat/laminate and then expand & contract with day/night cycles and seasonal changes.
i can't wait to see this beautifully crafted airplane , finally we can see this plane in its all beauty . really really gorgeous design i have been following you from last year from concept to engine to wings 😀 really good design and team
got a friend that works in marine, they use stuff called Mastinox for corrosion protection on bolts , and electric motors on struts was a Hmm Nope idea, the limit switches can make break when the gear moves around. and burn the motor out from cycling so much , A pilot he works with saw how it caused a crash on a plane called a turbine legend..
What sort of bearings are you using in the aft end of the trailing links to handle the lateral loads imposed by the action of the shock? I would not have though nylon bushings would be strong enough.
Such an incredible project, so much work and talent thats gone into this. I love that you guys are documenting the journey. Also you guys got me excited for the new mill, you get a 5 axis? Horizontal? 3 axis with with rotary?
Like! Question: When did you decide to place the main gear in the fuselage, and retract the gear into the fuselage (a la, the Cessna 210) and not place and retract the gear into the wings (a la the Denali)? Are these questions answered in an earlier video? Thanks! Love all the information you provide!
Hi Leslie! Great question! We discussed the reasoning behind the landing gear design architecture in this video: ua-cam.com/video/9N0SaJZ4Rjk/v-deo.html
Really nice workmanship? I couldn't see any downlocks on the gear? Will there be something on one of the drag links that locks when they're over center?
Great question! It wasn't discussed or shown in the video but there is a lock mechanism incorporated into the drag link mount that latches onto the upper drag link to constrain the gear in the extended position. Thank you for checking out the project!
You have a cool prototype coming together. When you get to the production stage will you be having rough casts made of your metal components which you then just have to finish machine?
Thank you for following along! We will stick with billet machined components for production. Strength is a critical requirement for the majority of the landing gear components. Cast aluminum is, in general, not as strong as billet. Aluminum is pretty cost effective as a raw material, even for the aerospace grade alloys such as 7075, so there isn’t much for us to gain in terms of cost savings by going to cast machined instead of billet machined.
Thanks for watching! We did the wing layup before we started making UA-cam videos so there is no wing layup video. However, do have a few videos about load testing the wing. ua-cam.com/video/bMT7JNX33iA/v-deo.html
Huge fan of your channel and the Dark Aero Project! Perhaps I’ve missed it, but I can’t remember you talking about Kevlar. Do you utilize it in construction? Why? If so, is it also conductive like carbon, ie., subject to potential galvanic-corrosion? Is the weight of Kevlar comparable to carbon fiber? Benefits of Kevlar?
Love the work, guys. Question - to reduce weight (minimally I imagine), can you have a cover or shroud over the main gear struts so you don't require actuators and doors when the main gear retracts?
Excellent as usual guys… When everything you build is at the pinnacle of excellence, you guys only have One direction to go. lol… Maintain maintain maintain! You guys need to sell your complete landing gear strut assembly. I will buy one, I will even pay twice your asking price. It is worth it, just so I don’t have to make one, seriously!
Curious what you guys have thought in terms of repairability/field-serviceability of these legs? They are fantastically engineered and I applaud what you're doing, but given that everything is bonded together it seems like any flaw or minor failure** means throwing away the whole gear leg. **Other than damage to the bores that could be shimmed out, or that could be machined open slightly so that a sleeve can be inserted.
@@Jack-ne8vm - Yep. Of course, backcountry airplanes have a markedly different mission profile than the DarkAero 1. Still, maintainability is something to think about with *any* machine/vehicle.
Hey guys. I thought you mentioned some kind of training on carbon fiber, “link in the description”. I don’t see the link, but I did buy a nice shirt and the sunglasses. Although, I thought for sure the sunglasses would be carbon fiber.🙂. Thanks for putting this on UA-cam.
How much carbon fiber dust/ epoxy dust do you have to inhale before it becomes dangerous? I remember in med-school they taught that just a one time exposure to asbestos enough to give COPD later in life.
There is a carbon fibre called Dyneema Carbon. Is is a carbon fibre and Dyneema UHMWPE hybrid material that gives a 200% impact resistance improvement over other high quality carbon fibres. For a landing gear this vastly improves impact resistance, this would make this the perfect material for a landing gear. Have you considered this material?
@@richardvisscher2626 i was talking engine "options".... but maybe access to such an engine would force consideration of an entirely different air-frame design, where production would have to, of course, start with the current proto-concept, if to fund any possibility of a second offering..
@@richardvisscher2626 and i don't know if that engine is even commercially available anyway....it's a very interesting areo engine, but production seems absorbed buy military UAVs at the moment..
air intakes must be reduce to only 2 symmetric oval 3 or 4 inches apart on the top , they can't be square like that on the side for uniform aerodynamic vibration and flow pattern
My dream airplane can do 400 KTAS and/or 2000NM and also be fully aerobatics. Two seats and underwing removable baggage and/or fuel pods for cross country flights. I'd be happy with 2000NM with a 2.0g limit and 9g with limited gas....like 150 gallons on a tiny plane. Rotate speed would be near 110 KIAS.
Aero propellers "... should always be an odd number of blades from 3~7[as i was told through the years], ... depending what is most beneficial for her potential aerodynamic performance out of all samples in air coefficient tunnel tests & completed..." in full scaled DarkAero flight tests. Is that correct? And, so far, what has proven as the best performer.? 3, 5 or 7 bladed propellers ? Next, have you considered an all electric motor that would only require 1 or 2 12V. battery(ies) for take-off [and to be recharged while in flight] ... Which could carry enough of an electrical charge while in flight... w/entire flight requirements are ALL available with 2 or more scoops holding a turbine(s) of brushless magnetic generation in [V. & W. & Amps] which could keep the DarkAero in flight with enough power recharging until landing & to a complete stop/static ?? If not, why don't you side-experiment on that idea.? Yes? Congrats on & onto your new facility! I love all your works as per videos on UA-cam platform. TY for your contributions to mankind's processions onwards so all might benefit from. Thank you so much... Sincerely ~paul b p ||| > > > > > > > ^j^ ~"Whheeeeeee!"
New subscriber here. Love what you guys are doing. What is the expected top speed for this? Also. What motor types are you planning to test on it? Just one, Or multiple?
Thanks for checking out the channel and for subscribing! :) Cruise speed is targeted at 275 mph. We have not yet disclosed a top speed. The aircraft is designed around the UL Power 520iS engine. Currently, this is the only engine variant we've designed it to.
Nice! As a "senior" prototype machinist in the aerospace industry. I have mad respect for what you guys are doing!!
What is lacking with Mechanical Engineers today, is the knowledge of how to design mechanisms correctly. Did know that there's a mathematical formula that can be used for all mechanism designs? It's called Gruebler's Count. I found a way to make it practical for all 3D mechanisms. Here's the link if you are interested. ua-cam.com/video/KFB8gMjxDPk/v-deo.html
This is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever! Can’t wait to see it fly!
Thank you! We are excited to get it in the air as well! ;)
Meh, there’s a dozen airplanes that look nearly identical to this.
@@mauriciocastro2557 glassair, lancair, pulsar are the classic ones that come to mind but there are a bunch more. If you want to see a unique take on a 2 seat airplane go look at my former coworker Cory Bird’s airplane “symmetry”.
@@mauriciocastro2557 it’s a 1.75 seater, Cory modified the airplane design after he married patty, so that’s a fair point “t-tails become unstable at high angle of attack”. Your opinion of airplane science will mean something to me after you’ve designed and built an airplane or two.
Thank you for demonstrating the use of protective equipment when cutting carbon fiber. We need people like you guys to live long.
I continue to be incredibly impressed by all of your thought and design iteration efforts. The end design is elegant, and the fact that you continually look for more efficient and effective methods to manufacture the planes is impressive. Although I want to start building my plane now, I know it it worth the wait.
Incredible job guys! Interesting to hear that you got 3 independent motors for the gear, because this introduces additional failure modes. But I guess that your approach is safe, as you have an emergency gear down mechanism as backup.
I love the geometry for DarkAero's main landing gear. Since carbon fiber serves as cathode material to sacrifice aluminum as anode material - Engineering blended composites transitional dielectric barrier isolation materials are new solutions waiting to be solved. Great work guys.
Isolating carbon fibre from aluminium is not a new problem. It has been solved quite well by simply electrically isolating the carbon fibre and aluminium.
That is actually the very nice thing about the Dark Aero project. They are not trying to experiment with everything (e.g. diesel auto-engine conversions, pressurization, etc.). They are using established and proven processes and applying them to build the world's best 2-place aeroplane. Applying these techniques to a small general aviation plane designed as an easily produced and assembled kit is groundbreaking, but the techniques used to achieve that are not so groundbreaking. That is a good thing. You do not want an aeroplane that changes everything... a la Raptor project (or whatever the scammer running that project has rebranded it to now).
Why not powder coat the aluminum?
Paint, powder-coat and or anodizing aluminum are surface protections. It's the penetrating fastener (stakes) such as other metal bolts, screws, hinges and rivets that electrically make the connection that promote oxidation under the surface protection to aluminum, chrome-molly and other metals. Carbon-fiber acts as a cathode and is electrically conductive promoting aluminum to act as sacrificial anode corrosion as if connecting two dissimilar metals. The damage occurs under the coating when non-insulated metal bolts and fasteners are employed.
Every area you guys touch has a smidge of the Midas touch...it turns glowing golden. You guys are great airplane design dancers...you don't miss a beat, and you follow the music of thousands of designers before you. In my humble opinion
Hey Guys, great work and nice design! Did you consider using glass fiber laminate for the landing gear struts, because GFRP can take more elongation at break than CFRP, which in turn may lead to a more forgiving landing gear, in particular for side slip landings?
Very IMPRESSIVE! You guy's are on top of it! It's people like you who are the tip of the spear in the modern era of composite structure utilization in general aviation! In the rotorcraft world, lot's of Kevlar is used, honeycomb structural panels, and composites in the rotor blades too! It's the future of aviation! Can't beat the corrosion resistance, weight to strength ratio and easy to work with when you get into the curved structures such as fuselages! Keep up the good work, looking forward to your future video's!
Great progress guys, you always knew the gear would be the most challenging part on the DA1, your almost there!!!
Hi David! The landing gear has definitely been a challenging system, but we are really excited about the solution we have come up with. Thank you for coming along with us on this journey!
Incredible work guys, and an outstanding video series.
Brilliant video. The gear are my favorite part of this project
I have engineered the manufacturing of composite snowboards since the late 80s, manufacturing metal / carbon composite hydroflight gear now. Bonding to aluminum is notoriously difficult due to the weakness of the aluminum skin layer. Your aluminum parts have a bright finish. light clear anodize? This runs counter to my experience in achieving good adhesion, especially under shock loads. We run a type 3 hard anodize finish on bonding alloy parts (one level of electrical isolation) and use a very thin rubber foil for mechanical shock and secondary isolation, foil from ASK Industries, Japan. Really like what you are doing and the information being shared.
Amazing work. Loved the comment about realworld changes to make things easier to assemble. This begging for a 4 seat version. Can't wait to see her fly.
Looks like a straight forward design. I have a question on those machining fittings interfacing with the composite leg. The fittings are hollow with through holes on each wall (perpendicular to bolt axis). The the composite leg slides in with adhesive and secured with the bolts. There seem to be a long section of the bolt that is not taking any bearing loads. Would that bolt see some undesirable bending on top of the shear? What is your sizing criteria for those joints?
The details and the quality are BEAUTIFUL.
can't wait to see this thing in the Air, the quality is incredible
This project is an awesome showcase to pickup defence and commercial aviation engineering contracts. You guys are very, very smart!
This is brilliant! When is project completion and expected test flight?
Re: Addressing Galvanic Corrosion via Dielectric Isolation.
This discussion stimulates the question, what provisions for mitigating electrostatic discharge are incorporated in the DarkArrow 1 design?
My understanding is that the main concern with building a static charge is attracting lightning. Being a non-FIKI single-engine experimental plane the idea is probably to simply avoid getting anywhere near storms. I'd personally love to see them incorporate a conductive top ply (products exist with copper threads already embedded in the weave). This is a change that could be made for production later. It would increase weight, but so does adding more avionics or other optional equipment.
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn The thoroughness of design gives me confidence the DarkAero Team has addressed the potential for static electric discharge. I am curious to hear the analysis and design considerations given to it.
The ability to pass a lighting strike through the aircraft while avoiding damage is a significant concern. Indeed, the intended mission profile is not likely to frequently expose this aircraft to lighting. However, other risks associated of static discharge come to mind.
Some areas of concern include the fuel system, ECU, navigation, communication - especially antennas, the electrical system’s Solid-State circuit breakers. I envision static discharge risks running the full scale from inflight explosion, to communication / navigation noise, to nuisance “CB” tripping in some nonessential circuit.
Beautiful project. What people would really love is a 4 seater version too. Maybe a future idea to stretch this design for 4 seats?
This project is going by so fast, can't wait for the end result! I'd love a DarkAero coin maybe for launch ay?
Really starting to get into this build process - thank you for all your posts. Have you, or could you, post a video on how the carbon fiber bonds are tested for strength / fatigue?
I just recently began following you. A FAST, LONG range, small aircraft is what I'm looking for.
What brand adhesive do,you utilize to bond CF together? Do you employ different adhesive when bonding aluminum to fiberglass?
Have you considered the shifting front-to-back weight distribution when actuating the landing gears?
Dark Aero, I learned about Galvanic corrosion when I was in the USAF.
Great video as usual of 3 talented professionals. I wish your videos are longer , no pressure I know it takes a lot of hard work to do 10 minutes video. Keep up the great work and thank you again.
As always, fantastic project, love watching you guys!
My question is the angle of the landing gear. I took a measuring wheel and put it in front of me and it seems like it impacted rough spots harder than when I used a trailing technique. Not sure why it's leading and not trailing. Can you enlighten me? Thanks.
It does seem very complex. I had envisioned a molded landing gear with the doors right in the gear itself. Or something like Mooney.
*mega progress* congrats DA team! thank you for sharing another great segment!
Did you consider using wet installation and fay sealing to address galvanic corrosion? Also, what provisions do you have for Bonding and grounding, P-static, EME, HIRF, and lightning strike? Are you using EMF in your composite panels or some other method of getting currents to the Current return network?
Are those aluminum parts going to be anodized?
I can't even afford a pilots licence, but I wish you guys a big success.
I really like the project, and look forward for the next update.
Great stuff! I find it all absolutely fascinating...
Regarding carbon fiber construction, I can see how it is well suited to building a prototype as you are here. But it is so labor intensive, it is hard for me to understand how production items can be made this way without the ultimate purchase costs being extremely high. Maybe that is just the nature of the beast, sort of in the "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" category...? Having said that, I guess it is really not much more labor intensive than fiberglass construction, if at all, and fiberglass has certainly found its way into many reasonably priced machines.
I agree with you on all points. Add in the expertise required to ensure all of the pieces are properly bonded/cured whatever, not sure the normal Vans builder type (normal skill-set person) could ever pull this one off. I love the aircraft design and ultimately this design needs to be sold to Cirrus so they can produce them for the masses. I can’t imagine getting insurance on a new concept aircraft right out of the blocks. If any insurers would even touch it the costs would be eye watering. Getting insurance on aircraft with low numbers or no numbers in the field is a major obstacle. I have to say these guys are doing everything right and I want one !! Insurance is optional…
Would be a good video idea to talk about bonding/ Grounding and static discharge on a composite aircraft.
I'm loving this build and the documentation of all of the things it actually takes to ground-up build an airplane. I'm curious if your design's limit on Airspeed is because of Horsepower, frontal air pressure, or structural resonant frequency?
Everything needs a double purpose. I like how the strut folds into the structure itself.
Those are some beautiful parts. Why dont you use back boring for the 2 holes?
No finish on those aluminum parts? Anodize? Alodine?
Looking good. Will you be getting the aluminium parts anodised for production?
I’m in awe with the quality of your work 🤗
beautiful cfrp - aluminium part assembly. One thing I'm wondering since you're glueing the alu parts to the glassfiber, have you tested the interlaminar shear between the glass and carbon fibers of the laminate ? And if yes, how ? :) thanks and keep up the great work !
Good point but it looks like the bolts and the design of the steps on the machined pieces negate that concern.
Thanks for asking this, I have the same question and you expressed it better than I could. I’m also concerned about the longevity of the bonding compound and it’s resistance to temperature, UV, atmospheric chemistry etc. If it already in use elsewhere in aerospace construction, that would be handy to know.
@@tomcoryell - As a sailplane pilot I've flown plenty of GFRP and CFRP aircraft that have been flown for 40 years, and have never witnessed any bonding failure of joggles, lap-joints, or embedded hardpoints (which is similar to what they're doing with the machined components). Yes, you can find examples of skin delamination but these are almost always aircraft that were either exposed to UV over an extended time with no covering/paint to protect them, or they were left outside for many years allowing moisture to be absorbed into the gelcoat/laminate and then expand & contract with day/night cycles and seasonal changes.
i can't wait to see this beautifully crafted airplane , finally we can see this plane in its all beauty . really really gorgeous design i have been following you from last year from concept to engine to wings 😀 really good design and team
Great update gentlemen!
great job ,
can you please provide or suggest books or any material about composite aircraft structures and loads
Solid progress and great video as always. Keep up the great work fellas!
Thank you Marc! Fly safe! 🤙🏼
Are those components and interfaces going to withstand a hard crabbed landing?
got a friend that works in marine, they use stuff called Mastinox for corrosion protection on bolts , and electric motors on struts was a Hmm Nope idea, the limit switches can make break when the gear moves around. and burn the motor out from cycling so much , A pilot he works with saw how it caused a crash on a plane called a turbine legend..
With a forward swept gear leg, are there any concerns with regards leg shimmy/oscillation?
I’ll be following closely, great content and keep up the good work!
I applaud you guys on this endeavor. It is difficult to sell airplanes in any market condition.
Like your "BrightAero" idea. It certainly applies.
Beautiful work.
What sort of bearings are you using in the aft end of the trailing links to handle the lateral loads imposed by the action of the shock? I would not have though nylon bushings would be strong enough.
The flanged sleeve bearings are made from a self lubricating polymer called ATGF.
Such an incredible project, so much work and talent thats gone into this. I love that you guys are documenting the journey. Also you guys got me excited for the new mill, you get a 5 axis? Horizontal? 3 axis with with rotary?
Did you do any FEA on this and if so, will you or have you done a video on that process?
Ditto! Nice work!
Looks awesome !!! 2021 engineering. Congrats.
Like! Question: When did you decide to place the main gear in the fuselage, and retract the gear into the fuselage (a la, the Cessna 210) and not place and retract the gear into the wings (a la the Denali)? Are these questions answered in an earlier video? Thanks! Love all the information you provide!
Hi Leslie! Great question! We discussed the reasoning behind the landing gear design architecture in this video: ua-cam.com/video/9N0SaJZ4Rjk/v-deo.html
@@DarkAeroInc thanks!
Wow, this is awesome !!
So awesome, I can't wait to see it in the air
Really nice workmanship? I couldn't see any downlocks on the gear? Will there be something on one of the drag links that locks when they're over center?
Great question! It wasn't discussed or shown in the video but there is a lock mechanism incorporated into the drag link mount that latches onto the upper drag link to constrain the gear in the extended position. Thank you for checking out the project!
You have a cool prototype coming together. When you get to the production stage will you be having rough casts made of your metal components which you then just have to finish machine?
Thank you for following along! We will stick with billet machined components for production. Strength is a critical requirement for the majority of the landing gear components. Cast aluminum is, in general, not as strong as billet. Aluminum is pretty cost effective as a raw material, even for the aerospace grade alloys such as 7075, so there isn’t much for us to gain in terms of cost savings by going to cast machined instead of billet machined.
Awesome guys keep up the great work!
Which video shows how to lay up the wing? Thank you!
Thanks for watching! We did the wing layup before we started making UA-cam videos so there is no wing layup video. However, do have a few videos about load testing the wing.
ua-cam.com/video/bMT7JNX33iA/v-deo.html
What a great job you are doing.
Huge fan of your channel and the Dark Aero Project! Perhaps I’ve missed it, but I can’t remember you talking about Kevlar. Do you utilize it in construction? Why? If so, is it also conductive like carbon, ie., subject to potential galvanic-corrosion? Is the weight of Kevlar comparable to carbon fiber? Benefits of Kevlar?
Impressive work, guys! 👌🏻 Would love to fly her one day! 😀🤙🏻
It's looking damn sexy eh Jolmer!
@@brushitoff503 Yes! I think it's a dream to fly too! 😀👌🏻
Love the work, guys.
Question - to reduce weight (minimally I imagine), can you have a cover or shroud over the main gear struts so you don't require actuators and doors when the main gear retracts?
Some Ti "Gold-Tooling Coating" on those aluminum parts would look sweet against all that black!
Nice work👍
Excellent as usual guys… When everything you build is at the pinnacle of excellence, you guys only have One direction to go. lol… Maintain maintain maintain!
You guys need to sell your complete landing gear strut assembly. I will buy one, I will even pay twice your asking price. It is worth it, just so I don’t have to make one, seriously!
Amazing and informative videos, keep up the great work :)
Dry bolts in carbon structure?
don't forget use inhibitor corrosion compound between disimular materials 👍
like how do you design the number and angle of cf layers 😳😳 great video
I think the inside of the aluminum molds should be very sandy inside so that the glue grabs.
That's not a garage, that's a laboratory, hehe. Great work guys!
Curious what you guys have thought in terms of repairability/field-serviceability of these legs? They are fantastically engineered and I applaud what you're doing, but given that everything is bonded together it seems like any flaw or minor failure** means throwing away the whole gear leg.
**Other than damage to the bores that could be shimmed out, or that could be machined open slightly so that a sleeve can be inserted.
Maybe why back country planes tend to have steel tube/fabric fuselages. Bend it back into shape after a crunch.
@@Jack-ne8vm - Yep. Of course, backcountry airplanes have a markedly different mission profile than the DarkAero 1. Still, maintainability is something to think about with *any* machine/vehicle.
How will this do on grass?
whats the estimated production date and msrp?
check their website,, it's all there, including the order forms
@@richardvisscher2626 Thanks, checkin that out now!
Hey guys. I thought you mentioned some kind of training on carbon fiber, “link in the description”. I don’t see the link, but I did buy a nice shirt and the sunglasses. Although, I thought for sure the sunglasses would be carbon fiber.🙂. Thanks for putting this on UA-cam.
Thank you for your support! We will send you an email about the course. 🤓
3years. Will there be a flyable soon?
How much carbon fiber dust/ epoxy dust do you have to inhale before it becomes dangerous? I remember in med-school they taught that just a one time exposure to asbestos enough to give COPD later in life.
There is a carbon fibre called Dyneema Carbon. Is is a carbon fibre and Dyneema UHMWPE hybrid material that gives a 200% impact resistance improvement over other high quality carbon fibres. For a landing gear this vastly improves impact resistance, this would make this the perfect material for a landing gear. Have you considered this material?
Nice sweatshirt Riley. I've just about worn mine out.
We are glad you are getting some serious use out of the DarkAero apparel! Thank you for your support! 👊🏼
Would a Liquid Piston 40HP diesel fit in that ?...that would get supreme aircraft mileage if it did..
nope....see earlier you tubes on the engine choice
@@richardvisscher2626 i was talking engine "options"....
but maybe access to such an engine would force consideration of an entirely different air-frame design,
where production would have to, of course, start with the current proto-concept, if to fund any possibility of a second offering..
@@richardvisscher2626 and i do understand your engine choice as part of the design..
@@richardvisscher2626 and i don't know if that engine is even commercially available anyway....it's a very interesting areo engine, but production seems absorbed buy military UAVs at the moment..
air intakes must be reduce to only 2 symmetric oval 3 or 4 inches apart on the top , they can't be square like that on the side for uniform aerodynamic vibration and flow pattern
So nice
Are you guys by chance related to the guy who designed the landing gear for the Bf109.😂😂😂😂😂. By the way, very elegant design.
And this is how it should be done!!
When will this fly?
My dream airplane can do 400 KTAS and/or 2000NM and also be fully aerobatics. Two seats and underwing removable baggage and/or fuel pods for cross country flights. I'd be happy with 2000NM with a 2.0g limit and 9g with limited gas....like 150 gallons on a tiny plane. Rotate speed would be near 110 KIAS.
Aero propellers "... should always be an odd number of blades from 3~7[as i was told through the years], ... depending what is most beneficial for her potential aerodynamic performance out of all samples in air coefficient tunnel tests & completed..." in full scaled DarkAero flight tests.
Is that correct? And, so far, what has proven as the best performer.? 3, 5 or 7 bladed propellers ?
Next, have you considered an all electric motor that would only require 1 or 2 12V. battery(ies) for take-off [and to be recharged while in flight] ... Which could carry enough of an electrical charge while in flight... w/entire flight requirements are ALL available with 2 or more scoops holding a turbine(s) of brushless magnetic generation in [V. & W. & Amps] which could keep the DarkAero in flight with enough power recharging until landing & to a complete stop/static ?? If not, why don't you side-experiment on that idea.? Yes?
Congrats on & onto your new facility! I love all your works as per videos on UA-cam platform. TY for your contributions to mankind's processions onwards so all might benefit from. Thank you so much...
Sincerely
~paul b p
||| > > > > > > > ^j^ ~"Whheeeeeee!"
New subscriber here. Love what you guys are doing. What is the expected top speed for this? Also. What motor types are you planning to test on it? Just one, Or multiple?
Thanks for checking out the channel and for subscribing! :) Cruise speed is targeted at 275 mph. We have not yet disclosed a top speed. The aircraft is designed around the UL Power 520iS engine. Currently, this is the only engine variant we've designed it to.
Only watched a couple videos and I see next level design/build assembly. Do you perform any FEA on critical joints?
MOAR! Wen hop?
You should anodize the bare aluminum parts for corrosion protection. Paint will not provide sufficient protection