July was a busy but rewarding month for us with continued progress on fuselage construction and AirVenture as our primary areas of focus.

Wing Fillets
In July, we put significant effort into getting the airframe as complete as possible for AirVenture. This pushed us to complete the plug, mold, and final parts for our wing fillets. Wing fillets are a tricky component to manufacture because of their geometry. They form a blend between the contour of two dissimilar sections of the airplane that join at right angles to each other. We ultimately built a single mold that allowed us to manufacture both wing fillets in one molding operation. After we molded the wing fillets we trimmed and bonded them into the fuselage sides. It was satisfying seeing the final fit up between the wing and fuselage with the wing fillets attached. The addition of the wing fillets definitely brought the airframe to a more visually complete state.  
 

Aft Fuselage Skin 
The aft fuselage skin was completed in July after having finished the plug and mold for this part at the end of June. This part represented the last major skin section we had to complete for the DarkAero 1. Completion of this part along with our wing fillets was exciting because it finally gave us a complete look to our airframe. We plan to mold the gear doors and make the gear retract cut-outs on this skin section next month. 
 

Builder Tasks
As we near completion building the airframe for the DarkAero 1, we have started work on documenting builder tasks for the aircraft. One of these tasks involves bonding pre-molded carbon fiber reinforcements into the wing and horizontal tail. Any areas of the DarkAero 1 that are vulnerable to peel failure without the use of tapes will require the builder to bond in reinforcements that strengthen these areas. This task is straightforward and only requires simple tools and epoxy assembly adhesive.
 

AirVenture 2019
AirVenture is an important event for us since we get the opportunity to get in front of the aviation community, promote our company, and get feedback on our work. We displayed our progress on the DarkAero 1 prototype in the EAA Innovation Showcase. This proved to be an excellent location as we received a significant increase in traffic and exposure over AirVenture 2018. We cannot thank the EAA enough for giving us the chance to present our work in this space. We also want to thank everyone that was able to stop by our booth at AirVenture this year. The feedback we received on our work is extremely valuable to us. We were able to talk with engineers and industry experts from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GE Aviation, NASA, SpaceX, Bell Helicopter, Piper, Embraer, Scaled Composites, Cirrus, as well as the FAA, AOPA, and the EAA. We are humbled by the amount of support we have received from the aviation community over the past year since publicly debuting at AirVenture 2018.

Reserving a DarkAero 1 Kit
For those that were not able to attend AirVenture, we are extending our show price of $74,900 for the DarkAero 1 kit for the next week until Aug 7th. If you put down a fully refundable deposit of $1000 during this time you can reserve a production slot and lock in the show price for the kit. After Aug. 7th, the price of the kit will increase to $79,900. To place a deposit, please contact us at info@darkaero.com. 

As we look forward to the month of August we are focused on moving into the systems work. We will be machining the engine mount, building the control system components, and continuing to wire the avionics. In the remaining months of the year, we are focused on the tasks to get the DarkAero 1 prototype flying. These include engine, avionics, and landing gear installation. We are excited to work through these systems and can't wait to get the airplane in the air and begin flight testing!