Happy New Year! 2021 marked another year of progress on the DarkAero 1 prototype and another year of growth for DarkAero as a company. In the past month, efforts on the DarkAero 1 prototype were focused on installing the main landing gear. This goal was achieved, and the aircraft was assembled onto its landing gear for the first time!

Trunnion Frame Installation
The main landing gear on the DarkAero 1 is joined to the fuselage through a carbon fiber structure called the trunnion frame. The trunnion frame is bonded to several bulkheads in the fuselage just aft of the wing. Most of these bulkheads were already installed in the fuselage, but additional bulkheads were recently CNC cut and bonded into the fuselage to complete the mating structures for the trunnion frame. The trunnion frame was trial fitted into the fuselage a number of times to check its position and alignment relative to the rest of the airframe. Once the fit was confirmed, the structure was permanently bonded in place. This was accomplished with the airframe oriented inverted for easier access to the work area and to allow gravity to assist in holding everything in place as it cured. 

Fuselage Close Out
After the trunnion frame was bonded in, it was possible to close out the fuselage by attaching the segment of fuselage skin that covers the trunnion frame and main landing gear. This skin section contains the gear door cutouts for the main gear to swing through as they retract and extend. These cutouts were made after the skin was bonded in place to preserve the structural stability of the skin section while it was being handled during the bonding operation. Cutting the gear door openings provided access to the gear well areas and allowed for a quick installation check of the main landing gear hardware. The fuselage remained inverted for these tasks.

Wing Fit 
Another important task that was accomplished before the fuselage was flipped upright was the final fit check between the wing and fuselage to confirm proper alignment between these two structures. A tight fit between the wing and fuselage is desirable to keep the bottom surface of the aircraft aerodynamically clean. After the alignment was confirmed, fasteners were installed to tie the lower wing skin to the lower fuselage skin.

On the Gear!
Once all the necessary tasks were completed with the airframe sitting inverted, the wing and fuselage were disassembled and flipped upright for reassembly and installation of the landing gear, engine, and other firewall forward accessories. This stage introduced new challenges as assembly procedures were sorted out. Assemblablilty was considered from the beginning of the project, but finally putting everything together was the true test. Ultimately, everything came together successfully, but a number of improvements for production were identified. The landing gear shocks were pressurized with nitrogen to allow them to support the weight of the airplane. This marked the first time the aircraft stood on its landing gear! A number of critical measurements were confirmed such as propeller ground clearance, wheel camber, and landing gear alignment. Despite the outstanding tasks that remained to bring the DarkAero 1 to airworthy status, it felt difficult to ignore how complete the prototype appeared in its assembled configuration on the landing gear.

YouTube
New YouTube videos were released documenting the process of installing the main landing gear as well as the process of assembling the aircraft onto the landing gear for the first time. Check out the videos below:

Main Gear Install on the DarkAero 1 Prototype!

The DarkAero 1

2021 in Review
Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past year! Whether through reserving a DarkAero 1 kit, joining our YouTube Community, purchasing merchandise, enrolling in one of our courses, engaging our consulting services, or simply cheering us on, all the support and patronage has helped us make it this far. We are proud of the progress we have made on the DarkAero 1 and grateful for the privilege to continue pursuing this endeavor. Our overarching goal in 2021 was to achieve the first flight of the DarkAero 1 prototype. While we fell short of this goal, many significant milestones in the development of the aircraft were achieved. We also launched a number of initiatives that were complementary to the project.

DarkAero 1 2021 Milestones
-Installed and integrated the propeller system and spinner with the firewall forward package. 
-Fuel system completed and integrated with the airframe.
-Full test of the electrical system including propeller, engine, instrument panel, and avionics boxes as a complete assembly. 
-Redesigned and manufactured new nose landing gear and retract mechanism.
-Manufactured, assembled, and installed the main landing gear.
-Assembled the aircraft on its landing gear.

Reservations
Kit reservations nearly doubled this year from 74 to 133. These numbers are beyond the level of interest we envisioned when we started DarkAero. What has become clear from customers who have reserved production slots is that they are looking for an aircraft with more performance and a better build experience. We continue to focus on this as we work to bring the DarkAero 1 to market. 

Courses
Beyond our primary focus on the aircraft, we launched the DarkAero Aerospace Composites Course. The first few sessions of the course were held in 2021, and we expect to run many more sessions in 2022. Both the January and February sessions are full and the March and April sessions are filling up as well. If you are interested in attending a session of the course, check out darkaero.com/courses.

Consulting
Another line of our work not often discussed in our monthly updates is DarkAero Consulting. In 2021, we provided engineering support to over 10 aerospace projects ranging from other kit aircraft to new eVTOL designs. We feel fortunate to have worked with some great individuals and companies and are excited about the contracts we have extending into 2022. If you need engineering support, contact us at consulting@darkaero.com.

Knowledge Base
One of our objectives is to inspire others to push the frontiers in aerospace, and to nurture that objective, we created the DarkAero Knowledge Base. This year we added more information to the Knowledge Base including one of our biggest updates yet, which is the DarkAero CAD Library. This free resource contains 3D models of hundreds of common aviation parts including hardware, avionics, landing gear components, and many more being added soon! Learn more at darkaero.com/knowledge.

DarkAero 2022
We are excited for the year ahead as we finalize work on the DarkAero 1 prototype to prepare for flight testing and kit production! We plan to start the year by disassembling the prototype to complete some remaining tasks on the canopy, landing gear, and flight controls. We will continue to share progress and document our journey in 2022.