“Don’t paint it!” …(we painted it)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- Learn how to make your own high-quality carbon fiber parts: darkaero.com/c...
We recently finished up applying primer to the airframe of the DarkAero 1. We had the airplane disassembled for that project but now we are in the process of putting everything back together.
We thought it would be a good time to pause and show you the results of the paint work since the airplane obviously looks pretty different compared to its original naked carbon look. We also wanted to discuss some more of the details and lessons learned from painting and talk through what is next before we fly the airplane.
DarkAero 1 Aircraft - www.darkaero.c...
DarkAero Knowledge Base - www.darkaero.c...
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If you enjoyed this video and would like to see more of this type of content, follow along as we work to create the fastest, longest-range aircraft you can build in your garage!
More information on DarkAero can be found on our website and other social media accounts:
www.darkaero.com
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Nikafshar S, Zabihi O, Ahmadi M, Mirmohseni A, Taseidifar M, Naebe M. The Effects of UV Light on the Chemical and Mechanical Properties of a Transparent Epoxy-Diamine System in the Presence of an Organic UV Absorber. Materials (Basel). 2017 Feb 14;10(2):180. doi: 10.3390/ma10020180. PMID: 28772538; PMCID: PMC5459211.
You guys' professionalism shows through in spades. Can't wait to see it fly. :-)
Can't wait to accept a shipment full of beautiful carbon parts I can arrange in my workspace and make airplane noises with.
@@sloth6765 c6
This is coming along so well.
The attention to details is just mind blowing. I think you have a unique combination of forward thinking innovation, communication and simplicity that will stand out in the future. I can't wait to see the first flight and the actual flight performances !
This story warms the heart, and the result is progressively more and more amazing. You guys are awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Can't wait to see this fly and hear about your testing process. Good luck in the final stages!
Good choice on deferring paint. I flew my Velocity in primer for about 2 years before painting. And I'm glad I did. Made a few fixes and changes that I probably wouldn't have done if it was in paint.
Getting close! And it looks amazing. I’m super excited for y’all!!!
The white really looks great too - I'd leave it. At least in places the Caribbean you really end up going light colors everywhere, interior spaces of dark objects (ie, black plastic barrels etc) can become incredibly hot. To the degree you probably have some heat envelope sensitivity light paint is an incredibly easy solution.
I agree, it looks like apple made a plane 😍
You guys must be very proud, that is an amazing accomplishment! Looking gorgeous, great work on fairing and priming. You guys keep making intelligent choices.
If this has solid crosswind tolerance it will be the perfect cross country machine for someone like me that is a pilot and business owner with satellite offices spread across the country. We aren't big enough yet to justify a company plane, but it will pay for itself by saving me time for our current mission. Super excited to see the flight testing. I'd really love to build this as well. I'm a sucker for a well engineered design, and having followed this project I can say you guys have done a stellar job.
A lancair 320 would be perfect for you now, if you enjoy working on the airplane as well, but I can 100% see the practical aspects of an airplane like this. I cant wait to see it fly
This will handle crosswinds just fine.
There is an exponential function of the earths boundary layer, it rapidly becomes nearly zero wind at the surface. The smaller and lower the airplane the less crosswind effects it during rotation and in the flare.
It also will land rather fast for most General Aviation type aircraft. Due to wing loading, small wing, short wing chord, low Reynolds Number. Wing loading is your friend in gusting conditions because its less effected by bumps. Speed is your friend in a crosswind because of trigonometry. The faster you go, the lower the crosswind component for any given crosswinds strength and direction.
@@abel4776 I own a specialized service company that contracts with municipalities across the country. There aren't direct flights to my client cities from where I'm located, so it's always a long endeavor to get there.
@@abel4776 you'd think so...honestly, at a certain point, it becomes quite routine - especially if YOU'RE the pilot.
@@TheJustinJ Hey don't talk about stuff you clearly don't know anything about. Other aircraft with similar design characteristics have demonstrated crosswind limits of 12-20kts. It's not "12 knots except if you're going fast", it's 12 knots. A high speed landing with high crosswind is a recipe for disaster.
One of the best carbon fiber looks I’ve seen is in the canoes manufactured by Placid Boatworks. They will gel coat parts that will be prone to scrapes and scratches, but the rest is bare carbon fiber BUT with a tinted resin so you get that gorgeous texture but with a brilliant red or green color. Some mix of white gelcoat with exposed tinted CF could look amazing on a plane.
100%
Sanno!!! Gorgeous airplane, great lines, superfit construction.
Looking awesome, love the paint scheme. Can’t wait to see it fly.
Looking good guys! keep up the good work, I can't wait to see them fly!
I believe I'm not the only one that would gladly watch over the entire design and assembling series if you bother to record it, I'd love to have a closer look on how you guys put it all together and how you dealt with the issues and testing
So smooth and so, so few joints, fillets even. I cannot wait to see how the flight tests/aerodynamics are in real life. Primer just makes it look even MORE perfect.
Absolutely gorgeous guys!!! Cannot wait for its first flight!
I'm always impressed by the attention to the smallest detail and the design and manufacturing methods chosen with the builder in mind. They say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder in my eyes the aircraft is simply gorgeous. Thanks for the update.
Amazing build. Love the final paint scheme. It's perfect.
Honestly looks amazing just in light grey as it is!
Thanks Elwin! The new look is growing on us as well.
It’s a beauty! I wish you great success with this project.
Thanks for the answer to the clear coat question! Your diligence is fun to watch.
Top work guys, you’ve created something amazing.
Please consider wrapping, is my unsolicited advice... Great update - In my humble opinion white is the best color for protecting an aircraft or boat from UV ray degradation and reducing radiant heat absorption. I'm thinking one of the best paint schemes could be achieved by wrapping. Gelcoat and clearcoats are tricky to keep from crazing and cracking over time. With new boat manufacturing wraps add a level of protection and are cost effective to repair. Adding cobalt is the activator for making gelcoat hard for all colors including clear. However, over time with production too much cobalt makes the epoxy too brittle and different pigments require different amounts for longevity. Metal fleck requires hard clear gelcoat however I've not seen many aircraft with metal fleck finishes. You can eliminate all that by wrapping with any color scheme you want. I've been using wraps on my personal stuff for years and when I'm wanting to make changes, I simply peel the old wrap off, clean and rewrap. It's amazing how well wraps protect the underlying paint. I use liquid wax formulas I blend on the wraps to add, longevity, depth and slickness. Polymer wax technology is a viable alternative for aerospace coatings. I love spending time on your channel and the stellar creation of DarkAero 1. You guys are leading edge with efficient aviation. Thank you for sharing, guys.
Will Hibbard II, I agree completely.
After 32 years in aerospace composites (Sikorsky Blackhawk; Airbus A340,A380;F22; to name a few)best techniques, your young team exhibit all the best engineering I've ever seen. I wish I were nearby enough to be a hands-on craftsman on this project.
Real life issues just wouldn't allow that for me. Thanks for your videos, I've followed your entire build, and it's been amazing, entirely.
Best of success, congratulations, you're practically there.
I totally concur with the *wrap* idea suggested by Will Hubbard.
Agreed! Slightly more weight but better cleaner easier outcome.
Mike Fitzgerald Calgary Canada 🇨🇦
On my 82” TV (via cast from iPhone), this ‘paint’ looks like satin white. And it looks way cool to me.
SO fun to watch your processes, and how meticulous you’re being in every step. I get the lighter paint(primer)- straight naked black carbon would create SO much heat fro the pilot and systems at every level. I also appreciate the level of cleanliness in your shop. I strive to use the same mindset, as much as I can with the tasks I perform at my home shop. Keep it up!
This is my dream plane. I need a plane to get my wife and myself from California to Iowa, preferably non-stop. I figure this would be roughly 5 hours faster door-to door than the airlines....to go half way across the continent.
WE LOVE THE PASSION! One day I will own and fly a DarkAero1
So the "Aero" is not that "Dark". Isn't it? 😁I'll see myself out...
Fascinating series. Looking forward to flight videos and data.
Beautiful work!
You didn't ask me - but IMO I'd paint that ship the brightest color I could stand. It's a prototype - I'd want it so da** bright I could see any crack, flaw, anything from five feet away 🙂 I'd also suggest a dark aircraft that size is going to be very hard to spot in perfect VFR conditions, let alone anything less than perfect. As an outside observer, it's been great watching you guys pull this all together. Stay safe, always check for FOD and all the best!
Highlighter yellow or green?😂 construction 🦺 Jersey orange? 😂. I agree it’s already super hard spotting traffic while flying. A super small and super fast plane would be very hard to see.
I don't plan to ever make a DarkAero or any other kitplane but it's always fun to see these updates.
Love all the updates, and as a fellow wisconsinite im proud of you guys! Keep it up :D
Also are there plans for a 4 seater plane after dark aero hits mass production?
Hi OzanKalan! Thank you for following along! A 4-seater would be a logical next step for us once production gets stable with the DarkAero 1, but we are focused on one airplane at a time for now. ;)
@@DarkAeroInc Do you think y'all would ever make a tandem version of the 2 seater also?
@@DarkAeroInc just build a notebook with ideas for the next version while you focus on the current one.
I don’t have much to say other than this looks like a very fun airplane to fly and I want one. If it’s half as fast as it looks, you’re all in for a huge success.
My favorite notification..... a new video from Dark Aero
BrightWhiteAero. Can`t wait to see the first flight. Good luck guys!!!
Love the Craftsmanship, can’t wait to see her fly. BTW does the new up coming rules for experimental amateur built have any impact on your business model? Hopefully positively?
Love this channel, great content. Love the physics/maths explanations.
Looks SOOOO MUCH BETTER with a white paint job..this plane is awesome
Soooooooooooooo dope.. Thought i was gonna miss the bare carbon, but it looks sick...
Beauty and precision, nice work!
The paint is absolutely gorgeous
Looking SWEET. Can’t wait to see test flight
Super smart not going with clear. It’s a gigantic pain. I have a WRC wing that’s just getting painted next time so it doesn’t need to be redone every 5 years.
Nice!
Love it! Would love to see a model available for MSFS
High quality content as always
Incredible work. I’m speechless
beautiful plane and professionally done. Nice!
Your team inspires me to learn and do more in life. Thank you.
Impressive professionalism and discipline. Remarkable brother-team! Best wishes as you move toward flight testing!
Nice! I was expecting some news, since it’s been a while! Great job!
You should upload way more videos
im also hungry for this kinda stuff, i bet these guys are really busy behind the scenes
That is a beautiful air frame
Honestly I think exposed carbon is overdone these days especially in cars. I’m a fan of a nice paint scheme with a little carbon accenting. Enjoying your vids for the work and process going into this. I have a dream to make a carbon tub sports car but I don’t think I’ll pursue it.
Yes I fix broken carbon fibre bicycles and the carbon fibre look is overrated. My art teacher always said black is not a colour but the absence of light. Bring the colour on and let the light shine.
I build a few acoustic guitars with carbon fiber, and appreciate the *light effect* that displays the deep, wet-look of the weave, yet I prefer a
a little bit of logo/graphics/color accents to make the visual appearance really POP!
The sound is the _real signature_, though..
Light Aero1 looking good!
Always stoked to see a new video
Guys painting the Aircraft is the right ✅️ thing 2 do . Perhaps leaving some areas underneath the Dark Aerio in Carbon would be a nice touch where the 🌞 ☀️ 🌤 doesn't get 2 it .
Maybe a Competition 4 color scheme ?
Love the Bubble Cockpit . Xcellent
Gorgeous process. Love following!
Beautiful bird!!! can't wait to see test flights! On the clear coat, have you tested "Glasurit - Carbon Fiber system", then finished with ceramic coat. - not sure if it is aerospace certified, but the stuff is fantastic.
WOW thats GORGEOUS 😍
Can't wait to see it fly
Didn't think it could look better, but here it is! I wonder: would there be anything to gain from building the fuselage differently (eg. monocoque instead of assembly)? Barring sheer cost, of course.
Not far to go now before she takes to the skies, can't wait to see it!
So many companies fail when they start out under-capitalized, under-brained, and under-skilled. Happy to see this is not the case with DarkAero.
No debate on the paint scheme. The one shown is money 💸. Lock it in, that’s winner. Beautiful!
I mentioned this before. In boat building they sometimes paint the mold with polyurethane paint prior to layup. The paint sticks to the composite material not the mold, obviously.
Thanks for checking out the video! Applying paint in the mold is something we could take advantage of, but we opted to not do this on the DarkAero 1 mainly for structural and quality inspection reasons. Paint obscures visual inspection on the mold face of the infused part after we demold it and inspect it for any dry spots. This inspection step is pretty critical for structural parts like the wing skins. There are other inspection methods like ultrasound that allow you to "see through" paint, but they are not as good as having the ability to simply visually inspect everything. The other reason we don't apply paint in the molds is that it would interfere with bonding airframe sections together since we have lap joint jogs molded right into the parts. Of course, there are ways around this too like masking off the bond areas of the mold or sanding the paint off of lap joints, but that probably adds more effort than just painting the whole airframe in a single operation.
@@DarkAeroInc thanks for the detailed reply, which makes sense!
Awesome as usual! Amazing work
Sweet looking Aircraft !!!
I would take a look around the boating segment if you plan to go this route. There are many boats which have exposed clear coated carbon fiber as a structural element
Stoked to see it take flight
Looks Epic.
Keep it Up.
Love the concept and your engineering excellence.
Just a minor thought. I don’t see protection of the rudders in the event of a tail strike during take off or in the shop. Shaping the bottom of the rudders or a skid would do the job.
Again congratulations on a magnificent achievement. Eager to see it fly but respect your patience in ensuring that first all is right.
Yes, paint it! Plenty of videos on the structure.
Just clear over the primer that thing looks frickin sleek
You mention testing, here's a good quote from Wernher von Braun: “One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions.”
You guys works are very thorough, as far as engineering is concern. I have being following you since the begining and never disapointed in what I see, I am an inovator too, have you conscidered designing your craft arround a new technology of combustion engine that does not have crankshaft nor piston, this engine has change how combustion engine is, I am priviledge to see it... let me know what you think, one of the objective in the design of the said engine is to reduce weight size and increase efficiency close to electric motor efficiency.. and the amazin thing about this engine is it can be scale up or down at will and you can reduce power or increase power...
What a beautiful machine! I assume 'production' will be for EAB kits? Curious how something as involved as a carbon fiber composite monocoque airframe and the 51% rule go together.
From my understanding, it's 51% of tasks must be completed. And there of course is a limit to this, you wouldn't consider mining or smelting the aluminum used in a sheet as a task.
I wouldn't be too worried, there is still plenty of work needed on the builder's end.
Dear Brothers. Thanks for the info and Peace Be With You with Three
A video about watching paint dry. Yay...
lol
MORE UPDATES!!! love your content
Looking great … 😊
Really impressive seeing just two guys lift and rotate the airframe like it was a sofa.
They make a clearcoat for water towers... check that stuff out.
Your brand choice of epoxy primer was excellent. You're going to need more after blocking so may as well order another couple gallons.
That's ok you want it to be painted white anyway so you can be seen, and not have a mid-air. Great work guys!
Can't wait for the next video.
looks very good
Beautiful machine
Beautiful.
That finished paint render is very sexy!
good looking aircraft
White with some design colors I believe is the best look for aircraft in my opinion.
Thank you
Love this thing ♥️
How did you size the NACA vents? Is there good software to model flow for them? Also what kind of paint did you choose, I heard the brand but not the type.
It would be nice to see some of the amazing carbon fiber through clear coat, but it certainly isn't necessary, nor important given the amazing progress made on this prototype. White has some advantages as well. Reflects heat when sitting outside on the ramp or flying low in the equatorial regions of our planet. This is something a DarkAero may be doing one day... 😀👍
Great set of videos that your are doing - really like them.
However, one question: - why didn't you mount the fuselage on a rotisserie as they do in the motor vehicle rebuilds?
It would have made things a bit easier for access.
its beautifull. insane
This bird is going to look like a hypersonic dove flying through the Wisconsin skies. Going to make all the swans jealous.