Top Row (left to right): Completed canopy frame mold, Completed parts of the airframe to date, Completed canopy mold installed in our thermoformer Bottom Row (left to right): Machining of the canopy mold top section, CFD (computational fluid dynamics) of the DarkAero 1, Completed CAD rendering of the fuselage side mold pattern
In January, progress continued on the production tooling and parts for the fuselage of the DarkAero 1.
Canopy
Construction of the canopy mold was completed in January. It is ready for the first trial runs in our custom-built thermoformer. This mold was time consuming since the outer surface required several layers of high temperature epoxy that were sanded and smoothed over the course of a couple weeks.
Along with the canopy mold, the canopy frame mold was also completed. We plan on constructing a part off this mold shortly so stay tuned to our social media feeds for images of the completed part.
Completed Parts
The fuselage forward upper and lower section skins have been completed. These two parts will form the top of the fuselage between the cowling and canopy and the bottom of the forward cockpit where the pilot’s feet will rest.
Fuselage Plugs
Construction has begun on the fuselage side plugs. The left and right fuselage sides are around 13 feet long, so these plugs will each be made in three sections. A motivating aspect of these is that every plug/mold we construct from here on after will only get smaller.
We made a small adjustment to the wing root fillet geometry to improve manufacturability. Additionally, the impact this change had on the aerodynamics was checked in our CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software and showed a slight reduction of drag at the wing root.
Materials for Plugs
The final shipment of tooling board arrived at the end of the month. All the raw materials necessary for completing our production plugs and molds are now under one roof.
Fuselage Bulkhead Panels
The last of the 1/2”x4’x8’ honeycomb panels were completed this month, giving us all the material necessary to complete our fuselage bulkheads. We have held off on machining the bulkheads as we complete the wiring on our engine and firewall mock-up to ensure we have all the necessary conduit holes in the correct positions.
Engine
All the engine accessories have been purchased. We’ve been putting a lot of effort into refining the firewall forward, keeping in mind serviceability, maintenance, and ease of assembly. We have also been refining the engine mount design using a new software technology called generative design, which uses cloud computing and AI to test and iterate on designs that are fully optimized around our strength and weight requirements. More information to come.
The most exciting takeaway from this month is that we now have everything necessary to complete the production tooling and the airframe of the DarkAero 1 in our shop. We have a lot to keep us busy going into February so stay tuned!
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