My inner child says if you add racing stripes and flame decals, it will absolutely go at least 1% faster

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

You are giving away all our engineering secrets! XD

@bernhardjordan9200

Жыл бұрын

Red definitely helps

@XXfea

Жыл бұрын

Experiments prove more like 2-3%

@cabanford

Жыл бұрын

Add Skulls & Crossbones to get at least 3% 🏴‍☠️

@helplmchoking

Жыл бұрын

I understand a shark mouth usually gets you 1-2% higher speeds

Place the fuselage in a rotisserie, which will allow you to rotate the fuselage 360 degrees. Then you wouldn't be cramping your body when trying to paint various areas of the fuselage. A rotisserie is also used to hold a welded tube fuselage to be able to apply the fabric covering. Keep up the good work ! 🙂

@lamberto6405

Жыл бұрын

Kinda tough with that long horizontal stabilizer in place.

@Conn653

Жыл бұрын

@@lamberto6405 Not really. The height of the rotisserie is very adjustable, on pre-made units. This would need to be a custom built rotisserie to accomplish a full rotation - but - it can be done.

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

We considered something like this initially, but decided that for the minimal amount of time we’ll be spending to paint the fuselage it was a decent trade off to just do some painting in awkward positions compared with implementing a rotating jig. A nice side effect of having a light fuselage is that two of us can easily rotate it when we have to.

@doncunningham3124

Жыл бұрын

Or you can just use a pot gun instead of a gravity fed one.

@CrashNBurn5150

Жыл бұрын

I'm not a professional painter. I am a fabricator. But I need to paint everything. And when I say everything, it includes a lot of sizes and shapes. I built myself a universal Rotisserie that holds pretty much anything. Including a lead clocktower from the top of a college. If you have more projects coming, it might be a good idea. The one I built breaks down and stores easily. Also transportable and easily moved around and set up by one person.

Great to see you are this far with the DarkAero. I think it is probably the best thought out light plane in history.

@itoibo4208

Жыл бұрын

It is a beautiful plane. It looks fast.

I love following this project, the dark aero is looking more like a light arrow now! Hoping to see a cool paint scheme, keep up the good work!

It's great to see you are making progress! I come from gliding, so painting composite aircraft makes total sense. We use a PU or in older gliders UP gelcoat, and we use special templates for sanding to make sure that the profiles are shaped right after painting!

A rotisserie would help a lot with both fuselage and wing.

The monologue at the beginning answered all the questions that I had after immediately considering the problem - well done

Even after the first coat of paint the aircraft looks CG as the lines and contours are so perfect! Nice work!

Did you consider wrapping it? It has been done for fixed wing UAVs to give a smoother surface than paint at a lower weight.

@MRR-qv3bw

Жыл бұрын

He would have to at least prime it first to seal the carbon fiber or use a clear epoxy! But it is a good idea if the wrap will hold up to high speeds constantly!

@vonbuzz9009

Жыл бұрын

I dont think it would have to be sealed if the finish is allready 800grit smooth ...

@spdcrzy

Жыл бұрын

Paints are aerospace-proven. Wraps are not, sadly.

I remember as child (years 1970's) I was "allowed" to polish with waterproof sandpaper repair spots on gliders. They were painted with a coat of what they called "Schwabbellack" and polished afterwards . A lot of work but with perfect smooth result. The new ones produced by for example Schleicher, Glasflugel and others were 'prepainted' in the molds. the molds were first sprayed with this Schwabbellack befor the glass or carbon fibers were placed. Nice to see the plane painted white for the reasons you mentioned (and to prevent the sun warming up the epoxy) and not showing the carbon despite how nice carbon may look.

@neiltwaterhouse

Жыл бұрын

The early composite gliders used gelcoat as their surface finish and this was applied in the molds. Gelcoat is a polyester resin with pigment. Repairs on gelcoat use flowcoat which is the same as gelcoat but with added wax solution so the surface can cure properly and can be refinished. Unfortunately polyester gelcoats do not weather well and will craze, blister or crack over time. It is desirable in the secondhand glider market to purchase an older glider that has been refinished with a polyurethane paint, as this is much longer lasting and easier to repair.

Great to see the progress!

I'm from the Auto Body Painting world. Some advice would be to build a jig that has a base on the ground with wheels and then connects to the fuselage to it on the engine mount points and the tail section (viticle stabilizer area) The mounts must be on a bearing system at both ends to allow you to roll it when painting.

@TheBarzook

Жыл бұрын

I thought about this too and that's what we use into manufacturing bigger vehicles, but their market is a guy like us doing that in their garage, so building a whole rotisserie fixture might be too much. I think putting the aircraft up 1-2 feet more would help in painting the bottom part and then using a ladder for the top.

@brianb-p6586

Жыл бұрын

@@TheBarzook There are home auto enthusiasts that use rotisseries. It seems extreme at first, but it's not unreasonable.

It’s probably already been asked, but isn’t their a UV blocking clear coat that you could use? I think I’m just too in love with the carbon fiber look

@SavouryLobster

Жыл бұрын

Yes but they wear down over time, and rather quickly. You see it often on cars that have exposed carbon on them. The clear coat starts to flake and yellow.

@hc8714

Жыл бұрын

have sunlight directly hit on carbon fibre is just slow burning money

Amazing work as always, you guys are unreal!

Looking good guys!

Prime, no problem splitting operations. However, when painting you will need to get it all in one go or you will have some dry spot issues and will need to prep the airplane a certain way for round 2. I’m sure you know this already just wanted to make sure! Thing looks sick all white!!!

@AndyRRR0791

Жыл бұрын

Just needs a rolling jig that allows the fuselage to be rolled 45° or so each direction. Crack out that extrusion and get bolting!

@volatilis4526

Жыл бұрын

"Thing looks sick all white!!!" Of course Mr. Swing would say this! Kinda like a Velocity, huh? ;-)

5:55 The fuselage contour looks excellent!

I cannot wait to someday order one of these kits. I've got a WHOLE LOT of saving up to do before then, though

Paint will only make it go faster if you paint it RED!

for your paint problems, the 3m pps solution is one of the most suitable. the flexible vacuum pocket system allows the spray gun to be painted in any position. I personally painted a p300 pioneer, concerning the lower part of the fuselage the most practical remains" the mechanic's horizontal wheeled trolley". nice project, do you have any particular feedback on the inflatable paint booth?

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

The 3M PPS system is similar to what we used in the video, which was the DeKups system by Devilbiss. We like it a lot! The inflatable booth works well for our requirements where we’ll just be painting our plane and storing the tent for production. We’d recommend it for anyone that just needs a semi-temporary clean space for painting. The link to the tent we used can be found above in the description of the video.

@darrenbradnock4553

Жыл бұрын

@@DarkAeroInc Did you hold the gun upside down at the start and pull the trigger? that sucks all the air out of the paint cup and you should be able to spray on any angle including upside down.

I remember listening to a radio interview with a late war spitfire pilot - flying a griffon engine with clipped wings. He was obsessive about aerodynamic cleanness. He filed down the rivets on his plane and filled in all of the rivets an smoothed over joints. After every flight he would clean and polish his plane etc. The result was that his plane was something like 40 mph faster than other Spitfires. (I'm stretching my recollection here, I reckon this interview was in the 90s) He shot down a few Me-262s. They just didn't appreciate that he was almost as fast as them. Anyway, moral of the story... I can totally see where you are coming from. Obsessing about aerodynamic cleanness can have huge payoffs.

Fantastic surface finish @5:53. If that is just two coats, your molding was really great.

I love seeing this thing progress, excellent work, have you guys ever tried slicksand? Basically a polyester high build primer, it's been one of the best things I've found to get my composite stuff optically flat for paint, you can build it up so easily and quickly that I never even bother with filler nowadays, not on composite stuff anyway which is already so close to right.

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for checking out the video and for the product recommendation! We haven’t used slicksand but we will look it up.

@thomasbialzik3060

Жыл бұрын

There is a range of in-mold vinylester sprayable primers offered by Hawkeye Industries. I believe it's called Duratek.

@kwittnebel

Жыл бұрын

Duratek sands great but isocyanate polyurethane paints dont stick to it very well. Best is to use female tooling anx pull a painted part.

@thomasbialzik3060

Жыл бұрын

@@kwittnebel Yes. We spray it in our tools and let it cure/dry then infuse the parts inside the coating. It's recommended to scuff the part and primer before paint. Many customers use epoxy primer .

Amazing work can’t wait to see this airborne! Might one one someday

Looking very good! Waiting for flight testing! Are you going to use a pro test pilot???

Hi guys thanks for your effort in revealing so much of your build. Thought...to paint fuselage a 'skewer' rig and rotate as you paint. Not a lot more work considering what you have already done.

very nice job ! would also look beautiful in a uv protectant clear as well!

Will you weigh the parts before and after the paint is applied to determine how much weight is being added by the painting process?

@appa609

Жыл бұрын

Based on the process I'd guess about 1000 gsm. Maybe 40 kg for the whole aircraft?

@noelwade

Жыл бұрын

@@appa609 40kg would be a pretty heavy paint-job on a plane this small. Hopefully its closer to 30-40 pounds. (I just finished painting my kit airplane, also a small 2-seater, and the paint job was around 30-35 pounds; though I used a different primer & paint system so its not exactly apples-to-apples)

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

We will definitely get a weight total on the airframe after painting to check how much was added and assess our process. The total amount of primer that was mixed and prepared to paint both the wing and fuselage was ~8.5lbs. This gives us an upper limit on how much paint is currently on the airframe since we sanded a lot of this off on the wing and not all of it was applied to the airframe either because of overspray or leftovers in the cup. The true amount on the airframe is probably closer to 5-6 lbs presently, but we will come back to this topic once we have completed the priming and have done a final weight check.

@logankistler

Жыл бұрын

@@DarkAeroInc a lot of that is the solvents that will evaporate as well! Excellent progress!

Its been a long road traveling to get this far. Looks like you're rounding 3rd and heading for home!

I have been building composites and the molds for them for over ten years, I worked building mid-size drones for six years. If you haven't already, you may want to consider; First, waxing/seasoning your mold surface I can't remember if we could use the TR 104 for painted surfaces, or the Partial Paste #2 (we waxed/seasoned new molds five times, less is needed after you start pulling parts, and you will want to play around with different types of wax, my preferred was TR 104, but I did both painted and unpainted parts, as well as different mold and mandrel materials and cloths carbon, kevlar, and glass). After you pull a part from the mold, wash both the mold and the part with dawn soap and warm water. Second, DO NOT USE the PVA. The painter and I spent a couple of days playing with different combinations of wax as well as PVA/no PVA. You do not gain anything from it beyond potential runs on the mold surface, which result in low spots in the paint which need filling, and consequently adding an uneven distribution of mass via filler to the surface as well as changing it's shape. Yes, these small variations can be taken care of with trim, but that is additional drag. Third, just paint the waxed/waxed and PVA'd mold surface. You will want to play around with WHEN you start your layup on the painted mold surface to get a feel for your paint/resin finish and bond. When you paint the mold surface, you end up with no pinholes. When you paint the wings/fuselage/cowls/spinner cones et cetera, you DO end up with pinholes. Fourth, when you paint the mold surfaces, you skip then entire priming process, and that saves a significant amount of mass. Fifth, you may consider a temperature stepping post-cure, to toughen your parts. You will need a large oven with a good blower to circulate that air for your wings and fuselage, but easy enough to make with cinderblocks. I am sure you are aware that it is pretty easy to damage sharp/thin areas, and carbon is soft. That post cure helps a lot, and makes working/repairing go a little better. Talk with your resin supplier about this. Sixth, you may want to think VERY HARD about a surface layer of 1oz glass or to provide a tougher surface than carbon. It also eliminates the issue of the cloth pattern printing through the paint.

B17s were painted [70ishlbs extra weight] they did a paint, unpaint test to evaluate the weight saving and found that fuel consumption went up by 3% on unpainted airframes, the extra fuel to recoup the 100mile range loss was heavier than the paint.

Very nice! It would be interesting if there was a way to lift the tail higher (perhaps putting a long lever on the engine mount, which also prevents overrotation). That would make it much easier to get to the underside.

The rotisserie idea is the best, just some other thoughts on how to paint. Look for an old Model 7 Binks (1-quart-size) suction spray gun, or to make your life much easier, go with a pressure "Spray-Pot," setup. FYI Spray-pots come in all different sizes, from 1 quart size, up to 20 gallon spray-pots, with air operated constant mixing / stirrer (BIG $$$$.) Another option is to go "Airless - Spray setup," that's what we used when painting 747 Wings, and be able to keep the entire wing paint wet during cross lap's. As someone who has 25 yr's autobody experience, 5 year's as a painter 747's & 767's Boeing Aircraft, Everett, Washington, U.S.A., the word Epoxy and flexible is a non starter. Flexible = Polyurethane, Epoxy = rigid / kitchen stove top finish, read it and weep.

I am a 45 year ( Just retired ) PPG Automotive Paint Refinish Technician and you will have better results if you go with 2 quart pressure Pot paint spray system, many manufacturers still make them , Anest Iwatta, DeVilbiss, Binks. Its a very easy to use spray gun , as all you have is the gun and a couple hoses in your hand , and with a pressure filled system the paint sprays in any position with no spitting or sputtering. But the real bitch of this system is making sure you take off the FLUID HOSE and CLEAN IT VERY VERY well, this is the BANE of a pressure pot system, but works so well on big spray projects, I used mine when I had to spray complete Box Vans and Suburbans and the like . Try this and I think you will like the ease of spraying. Cool ass airplane too by the way 👍😎

For painting any tubular section of the fuselage you really need to have 2x pyramidal triangular frames with pillow block bearings at the top so that you can attach an axle at either end of the fuselage & you'll be able to spin the plane 3t60 degrees for painting optimally in the best light as well. You could attach a temporary jig that attaches to the vertical stabilizer that has a horizontal pipe that fits into a pillow block bearing at one end & put an engine mounted jig that also mounts to a horizontal pipe that goes into the pillow block bearing.

Does this mean you'll be changing the name to light aero? :P

happy I found this, I love experimental Aircraft, inspiring me to build my own from carbon fiber.

It's going to take some getting used to the new look. Maybe Light Aero or White Aero now instead of Dark Aero? Anyway, I love following this project. Happy Thanksgiving!

I noticed while getting back in to doing some body work that there's new primer fillers on the market that seem to be the new "thing". Basically it's a lightweight primer with more filling. Not sure if there's such a product that's good for aviation, but it looks like you're not using that zinc phosphate primer, so maybe automotive primer is OK? If so, I could see it being very useful in QC during production for the first coat.

And of course, the gel coat colour chosen, "white", helps to reflect the sunlight which would also contribute to keep the temperature lower inside the airplane, while on ground! The resin used on the skins, could also "suffer", just in case the gel coat was pigmented black, for instance... It could "melt" a little bit!

Too late now but there’s a product called xcr coating which has uv protection and a shiny clear surface it also self levels it’s used a lot in carbon manufacturing I run my own carbon company so thats how I know. If you ever make spare parts or new/updated parts maybe consider it as it would look awesome in visual carbon.

Rotating the air cap will change the angle of the spray pattern to help get into tighter areas.

Added my own background music, really helped

You succeeded in removing a great deal of the Suck in painting composites in your crafting the high-precision molds. A front line finish is still going to swallow many hours, but Dark Aero’s construction methodology will save many more hours. It’s a big Win, overall.

You guys rocking. You're creating so great thing that I wish I would be rich enough to just volunteer at your facility.

LightAero! looks dope

You guys have made such a fantastically light fuselage, it may not take much to create a jig that rotates the body along the longitudinal axis while in the paint booth. It may pay itself off in reduced spraying/sanding time.

Perhaps use a jig that allows you to rotate fuselage during painting.

Science and perseverance. All the best gentlemen.

Great explanation, looks great. Could you hang it from a gantry from the engine mount, or is that load too much over multiple hours.

An option for a UV resistant clear finish would probably sell well. Carbon fiber is pretty cool.

@jaakkoiswatching6437

Жыл бұрын

Just like many car roofs are done. I don't see any aging in my six year old BMW carbon roof.

Beautiful build! To simplify painting bottom, Maybe consider putting a mount in front and rear that would allow you to partially "roll" the fuselage.

Incredible guys!

Great Work! How did you ensure that the primer was smooth? Just by feel?

thank you for the video. can you share more details about the paint booth, maybe the manufacturer of it, and the ventilation system? thank you.

It looked so cool In black

Wow. She just keeps getting better.

For production I think a rotating jig that works like a rotisserie would work really well. Should just require two metal rod to serve as axles with a flange welded to one end that allows one axle to be bolted into the bolt holes for the rudder in the back and the other to the engine mount in the front with the axles in line with each other. A-frame stands for the front and rear with two bearing each at the apex of the "A" supports the axles. Oh, and by using two bearings on each stand, there are no bending forces in the flange and into the fuselage like there would be if a single bearing was used. To make it easier to get the axles go through the bearings as the A-frames are moved over the axle, you could make the axle OD smaller than the bearing ID. Then thread the axle and put one threaded collar with a tapered OD on the axle first with the taper facing towards the bearings. Slide the A-frame and the bearings over the axle to the desired position along the axle. Then thread a second tapered collar onto the axle and screw both collars so the tapered end goes into a bearing until both are snug to take out the play between the axle and the bearings. This also serves to lock the A-frame to the axle. Once both A-frames are in position, two "ladders" trusses made with square tubing and cross pieces at 45 degree angles could be used to lock base of the two A-frames together. I suggest this ladder structure so that an racking forces as the fuselage is rolled into the painting bay go through the ladders rather than the axles and the fuselage. Once in the paint bay, thread a crank handle onto the end of each axle and you can easily use it to rotate the fuselage to allow you to paint every section from the optimum angle. No more having to stand on a box and stretch to spray the top or squat and try to spray upward to get the bottom, while still allowing the entire fuselage to be painted at one time. Sorry if this is over the top, but I am a design engineer and I can't help but see design solution leap unbidden into my mind's eye.😊

Nice plane! It is so lean looking that I thought it was an RC model when I first saw pictures.

Would it put too much stress on the engine mounts if you used them to mount the fuselage on a rig that would allow it to rotate on it's longitudinal axis kinda like being on a rotisserie?

I know that in boats, they sometimes paint the mold before adding the laminates. Not sure if that process could work for you. It might slow down production too much.

@jj4791

Жыл бұрын

This is Gelcoat technology and its great for boats and it would also work for aircraft. But, gelcoat has long term issues as it degrades over time and is difficult to repair. Laying up quality composite materials in smooth molds under vacuum should produce a smooth and pinhole free surface thats as easy to paint as a scale plastic model. I believe there is a wide discrepancy in builder hours to fill, sand and paint Rutan style mold-less composite aircraft. First, RAF prototypes were often built and flown with fewer man-hours start to finish than some people claim to have spent just on sanding filler on their projects. There is a wide variance in not only skillset and productive ability, but also in mental concepts about what the task actually entails. And what level of finish can be archived with a certain process. People don't know whats involved, and the EAA is full of "expert" builders offering advice like how to sand and finish composites who also believe it takes 2,000hrs to do it right. But their claim to fame is taking 20 years to build a grand champion that deviated from the instructions in two hundred places and required re-building and fixing and fitting. And then there are absolute masters of finishing who can make a true laminar surface award winning Velocity or LongEZ and they claim they have leas than two weeks of sanding on the whole airplane to get there. True experts who are highly Productive generally dont waste their time trying to teach people of mediocre ability who lack potential. They work fast alone. And cant convey the nuance of what they do verbally. And teaching hands on takes ten times as long to demonstrate.

@mckenziekeith7434

Жыл бұрын

@@jj4791 the vast majority of boats use gelcoat. But sometimes for epoxy/fiberglass boats, they spray the mold with 2 component polyurethane paint before putting down the laminates. Gelcoat would be terrible for dark aero. But taking the time to have a perfect mold, and then spraying it with paint prior to placing the laminate, that could be a huge long-term time saver.

I would love to build a scaled R/C version of this.

@abel4776

Жыл бұрын

Motion RC can get this going.

It's looking awesome already! Are you guys planning some design or just plain white?

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Marlon! We've only had a few brief discussions on the final paint scheme so nothing is set in stone yet.

Is it possible to put the fuselage at 45 degrees? to get all the surfaces accessible at ±45° maybe that way will be easier

Do you paint extra on the leading surfaces? Do you worry about small wear points in the paint exposing sections of the airframe to UV?

I'll very interested by what paint you will use, direct gloss/base + clear... PPG is an excellent brand, in my experience direct gloss will be the lightest option but if you try to minimise labor and orange peel then a clear coat can do that. Oranges peel might be a thing because with such curvature, to not have orange peel with direct gloss and runs...

Did you need to sand down any orange peel afterwards or did it all lay down pretty flat?

Kinda , no, absolutely miss, the dark color. Well done gentlemen

Need to change the name to White Aero now! Looks awesome.

Imperfections is a better word. Good job guys.

What about galvanic issues with the conductivity of carbon fibre ? We saw recently the feud between Emirates and Airbus because of the paint cracking, owing to the electrostatic characteristics of the carbon fibres.

I think you need a chassis rotisserie. They are made for cars (to access everything during restorations) but one could be adapted to a plane fuselage (without wings).

use hand held card to block over spray at tail surfaces joint - also lower air pressure with narrower pattern this area can help -

One additional reason for painting the aircraft; solar heating of composite materials can weaken them. Gliders are usually white. to avoid warming them to floppiness What is the weight of the paint and fillers likely to be?

Ten years ago, painting was completed on the first Boeing 787 in Everett, WA and it came out looking really slick. Little did Boeing or Airbus know at the time that the paint would at some point peel off from composite surfaces. Emirates got really mad at Airbus for their peeling paint and Boeing has also had its issues with peeling paint. 🤠

You should be able to build a jig that lets you put the plane on a rotisserie style mount.

Looking great. 👍 Can't wait to see her cutting through the sky.

Awesome project. How did your Sherwin Williams fill bond filler at the stabilizers work out after painting. Ever see any cracks yet? In marine use, we tend to apply g-flex from west system. I guess the stuff you used is much lighter.

Nice job guys! I'm sure you know already, and just didn't mention it. One of the main reasons plastic airplanes are painted white or a light color is because of heat. The difference between black and white in the sun is huge. Heat (oil and UV light) is an enemy of anything composite. ...composites don't work harden like aluminum, they just snap. Incidentally, you should put a coat of paint on the inside of the engine cowling for oil protection. It's not structural but it will prevent delamination and make it easier for repairs later. Cheers!

you could use a high end clear coat that could cut UV issues.

The 3M PPS H/O system, provides a pressurised paint supply and is excellent for painting out of position.

If you are going for laminar flow, I’m guessing you will be avoiding any spanwise stripes or color changes? Love the inflatable paint booth!

@acruzp

Жыл бұрын

I'm fairly certain that flow becomes turbulent quite quickly at those Reynold's numbers.

@marc_frank

Жыл бұрын

@@acruzp there are laminar flow airfoils for RC airplanes with chords of just 20cm ...

@acruzp

Жыл бұрын

@@marc_frank yes because the scale is smaller* and the* speed is lower*. Hence my use of the term Reynold's Number edit: fixed spelling and grammar

@marc_frank

Жыл бұрын

@@acruzp and here comes the fix for the content: Precicely because the Reynolds numbers of model airplanes are so small, combined with the fact that there are laminar flow airfoils for them, means that full scale planes must be able to have large sections of laminar flow, whose Reynolds numbers are gigantic, compared to those of model airplanes.

@kadmow

Жыл бұрын

@@acruzp : that is very true - laminar flow is maintainable during the "positive pressure gradient" sections of a wing - it breaks down on the back end of the pressure gradients. (Often the "laminar aspects" of aerodynamics are moderately overstated. Many laminar flow wings tend to have very narrow AOA windows and rather unsafe behaviour - they rarely stall progressively)

In the aerospace world (using pre-preg carbon fiber), the first ply against the mold surface is always a very thin sheet of resin rich pre-preg to give you a good surface without needing any filler. The aircraft in this video, even though you didn't use any filler, required a lot of extra coats of primer to get a good finish. This probably added 20-25 pounds to the weight of the aircraft.

What about wrapping after the primer? Have you considered a wrap?

Would a ceramic coating after painting and final polish be helpful?

Is this going to be sold as 'experimental'? Do you know when you are going to start taking orders? Great job!

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

Yes, this aircraft will be sold in the experimental category as a kit. We have started taking deposits for the kit. More information can be found on our website: darkaero.com/aircraft.

1:34 is it that carbon fiber doesn’t require the sanding that foam/fiberglass does, or is it just the molds that removes the need whatever the material?

Considering both decreasing the air resistance and increasing weight, what integral effect does painting have in terms of range capability?

@triedproven9908

Жыл бұрын

Net neutral resultant.

0:50 same thing with F1 cars,they are mostly carbon fiber chassis and the paint protects and removes some of the drag of the car (also sponsors of course), some teams like mclaren have removed paint from parts of the cars like bottom of surfaces and etc.

Did you consider using horizontal and wing to body fairings like Andy Chiavetta created for Lancair Legacy racers?

There's also a heat element. Black gets quite hot compared to a white color.

With black body filler would it be psooible to use clear paint to achieve a full carben/black look and retain the anti-UV properties?

may want to look at a suspension cradle/crane for paint ... will allow painters complete under access and the ability to lower/raise the surface being worked on ... cradle may be set to rotate +-45

Are there any paint guns available that can spray upwards? Even if the nozzle was tilted up at 45* that might be enough to reach the underside of the wing better and that corner under the horizontal stab would be a piece of cake.

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

The gun and cup system we used can spray while tilted upward. This is how we were able to paint the inverted surfaces. My complaint about the setup was that it isn’t ideal to crouch under the airplane to paint the underside.

Why not use gelcoat when you mold the wing skins, as they do on boats? If the gelcoat is heavier than paint, WHY is it heavier? Is there some reason the gelcoat has to be thicker than paint and primer would be?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

@DarkAeroInc

Жыл бұрын

Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for checking out the video!

OOooo, vacuum infusion. I did some composite fab work a couple years ago on some fancy new Q/V band satellite antennae, and we used vacuum infusion for all our parts. I wasn't involved in quality control for the actual reflector surface, but I believe our tolerances were something like 50 microns, and as far as I know rework was basically never needed outside of issues caused by leaky bags, wrinkled layups, and thermal runaway. Now that i've done it that way, I don't think I'd ever use wet lay ups for anything but repairs and the quick-and-dirtiest of projects.

could you do some form of clearcoat/topcoat to protect the airframe while preserving the carbon-fiber look?

DarkAero, Inc 6:50 To paint in one go try mounting between ctr’s. Like a normal engine stand fixtured to the firewall hard points and an oversized one on the tail. Might work slick.

could you hold the fuselage on a spit roast type setup and rotate it along the longitudinal axis for better access?