This is probably the first system in this airplane that I'm not enthralled with. So much complexity, so many things that all have to work perfectly. I've experienced gear problems before, when you're flying and trying to figure out why your gear is not showing down/locked, you want the simplest system possible, with the smallest number of failure modes, that can be easily overridden and manually actuated. A complex logic sequencing system run over CANBus with many potential points of failure does not instill me with confidence. Those small extend and retract latches, with beautiful tight clearances and tolerances that work so perfectly in your tests - what happens when those are contaminated with grease, or dirt, or bugs, or ice? What happens one of the motor sensors fails or mis-reads, and the logic controller drives the motor to extension at full speed? What happens if any of the logic controllers freezes or fails? What happens if any of the wires going to any of the gear gets pinched, shorted, broken? The answer is: gear-up landing, or worse (partial extension landing). In virtually every retractable aircraft I've flown, the default state of the gear is to be down and locked. That means that in most any failure mode, by design, the gear ends up down and locked. The system operates to keep the gear up, and if something fails, the gear comes down. I don't see this functionality in your design: I see multiple different failure modes in your design that result with the gear up and locked with no way of manually overriding it. You also state that the motor load on extraction is 100 watts - that's fine, but what about when it's extending the gear against relative wind in flight? Lastly, if your "gear up and locked" indication is LEDs off, then you need a "push to test" button next to them to illuminate the LEDs and ensure that they are operational, to rule out a failed LED giving a false indication of retracted gear.
@Mike-oz4cv
Жыл бұрын
Didn’t they show a purely mechanical cable-actuated fall-back solution which lets the gear drop through gravity (edit: and gas springs) in earlier videos? But I don’t know how that’s going to disengage the motors in a reliable way or make sure the latches lock in the down position.
@jcims
Жыл бұрын
It seems complex but these systems can be incredibly reliable. Steer by wire is coming to cars sold in the US (eg Lexus RZ450e) in which there is no mechanical link between the steering wheel and the front wheels. These systems are also extremely testable and able to provide lots of instrumented feedback at relatively low cost. Given they have a redundant system for emergency deployment, this is probably quite a bit more reliable (if engineered correctly) than it would appear at first sight.
@IainMcClatchie
Жыл бұрын
@@Mike-oz4cv Hmm. And gas springs are unreliable.
@SoloRenegade
Жыл бұрын
I don't disagree. the controls are interesting, but I want manual overrides. I want fail-down features. Too many light aircraft experience gear failures.
@mikhailjairnisbett441
Жыл бұрын
You must have missed the video where they show that the gear motors can be disconnected, and the gear will free-fall with the help of gas struts.
@Johnbobon
Жыл бұрын
Wish I'd had the fearless ambition of these lads back in the day. This project is truly exceptional.
@mavigogun
Жыл бұрын
I'm sure they've had exactly their share of fear. "Courageous ambition", more apt, me thinks.
@NeroontheGoon
Жыл бұрын
I wish I was 1/10th as smart as these kids!
@tbrowniscool
Жыл бұрын
Not to be a negative energy but its 5 years and no flight.
@mavigogun
Жыл бұрын
@@tbrowniscool this ain't a one-off- progress has been well paced.
@tbrowniscool
Жыл бұрын
@@mavigogun literally is a one off.. You just don't see the religious parents with millions of dollars backing this. You notice how crystal clean the work/hangers are? The large metal parts are outsourced. I would like to be proven wrong but after 5 years they are still developing landing gear? Like I said before I wish them all the best but this won't work as a business. Who will buy this "kit"?
@Johnny-Too-Bad
Жыл бұрын
It's been a while. You guys must be crazy busy, thank you for sharing this journey with us. One of the YT video series I look forward to most!
@bobheide
Жыл бұрын
Dear DarkAero crew - Green and Red can still confuse a pilot as to up and down, since those colors are port and starboard. And no light means not working or broken. Please use lighted icon symbols indicating Down/Locked or Up/Locked. Thank you. .
@josephc.9520
Жыл бұрын
I'd assume you can easily customise that to your taste, no biggie
@flexairz
Жыл бұрын
@@josephc.9520 Some will forget that -> will be a biggie. Better to make it fool proof by DA
@xb70valkyriech
7 ай бұрын
many aircraft have the green and red lights for landing gear and it's no issue. There's no common light inside the cockpit I can think of that relies on green and red to indicate port and starboard, those are only the position lights on the wingtips. Icons are fine, but they need to be very easily recognizable at a glance.
@ggroombr
4 ай бұрын
Almost every aircraft on the planet has green and red gear indication lights. The only place you see green and red lights indicating port and starboard in aviation is on the navigation lights on the exterior of the aircraft.
@_Joy_Unleashed
Жыл бұрын
How do you replicate the demand on the landing gear that you'd incur in flight? Will you do wind tunnel testing? What about the icing and humidity challenges that mid level and higher altitudes pose?
@georgedreisch2662
Жыл бұрын
Might consider making the service stands and any unique specialty tools / equipment, available to purchasers, once y’all get into production.
@marcericdavis
Жыл бұрын
As you work through the design, consider ice. Any number of planes have taken off from wet runways and had the water freeze the gear in the up position as the plane climbed to colder conditions. Just something to consider.
@cbale2000
Жыл бұрын
The gearbox assembly appears to be sealed, so it's unlikely icing would affect that part of it. The linkages look like they might have the potential to be exposed to some icing, but given how it looks like the linkages nest and articulate, as long as they design it with enough torque, I'd think it could probably break through ice fairly easily (at least on extension if nothing else, retraction might be more problematic in icy conditions). Still, definitely something worth testing.
@z400racer37
Жыл бұрын
Wow good call @marcericdavis. Totally didn't even think of that.
@smark1180
9 ай бұрын
"Any number of planes have taken off from wet runways and had the water freeze the gear in the up position as the plane climbed to colder conditions." Source?
@duglmac
Жыл бұрын
On the Lancairs, we have a similar gas piston for emergency deployment of our front gear. The mains will fall and lock by themselves. There is a gas pressure decline over time that results in the gas piston not having enough pressure to push the nose gear against the wind all the way until the over center links lock. If this occurs in an emergency, then there is no way around landing without the front gear being locked, and usually results in a prop strike and a scary landing. Owners are urged to routinely cause a deployment to check for this, however it is still happens way more than it should. Here, you have all 3 gear using this method, opening up the possibility of having more than one cylinder fail and not lock at the same time.
@markswain1
Жыл бұрын
Automotive electrical engineer here w/ experience w/ CAN based networks. Love the innovation. Not to be negative Ned here but I'd highly recommend a DFMEA before first flight. What happens if an ESD event takes out your CAN bus? Its not all that unusual in the automotive realm. May want some type of redundancy here. Sorry to throw a dart, just want to make sure your bases are covered.
@TheJustinJ
Жыл бұрын
I've been following this project for a couple years. I'm always blown away by the quality engineering and workmanship. Best of luck in upcoming test flights. Hope it will do everything you want it to. (It will certainly be fast!).
@donanders2110
Жыл бұрын
I can't wait to see this thing fly! I hope you live stream it!
@rdyer8764
Жыл бұрын
In general I don't like having the "LED-OFF" state as being the indication is a valid system state. It doesn't allow for the possibility of a malfunction. I think it would be better to have a different color for each position -- 1) up and locked, 2) down and locked, and 3) in-between. With your current system you don't reliably know if a gear is up, or there is a malfunction somewhere. Yes, with LEDs having practically unlimited life, there's little danger of burning one out. However, with your existing indicator system you won't know if the gear is up, or you have a bad LED, or a broken wire, or a bad switch, etc, in your indicator circuitry. You're obviously using Red/Green bi-color LEDs. Why not use Yellow (both on) to indicate one of the states? That might let you get away without any rewiring. Though Red/Green/Blue LEDs would probably look more polished, since Yellow is often an indication of caution. Like you said, "Make your landing gear smarter!" :)) Just my 2-bits...
@mausball
Жыл бұрын
Agreed. LED off should only indicate a failure or power-off state. Red/Yellow/Green has been a standard for decades for a reason.
@brois841
Жыл бұрын
Not a pilot or engineer, but doesn't preflight checklist cover checking all instruments? I assume the LED's would go through their sequence when starting up (like in a car dashboard). Additionally, if the lights are constantly on while the gears are retracted it'll be super distracting, especially when flying at night. I like their implementation because I'm sure you'd feel/hear the drag if the wheels aren't fully retracted (equivalent to the LED being out as you've mentioned). It's not just the LED that has to malfunction, but also the system. All this is to say that I like their approach; there are indications of what's happening when it's needed, without distractions when not needed.
@s14slide
Жыл бұрын
As someone who specialized on landing gear and flight controls for over a decade, I agree that an off led gives to little information. Maybe look into: Green=down Alternating G/R=gear in transition Red=up LED's are reliable, but not infallible.
@Johnbobon
Жыл бұрын
@@brois841 Just thinking aloud here, a pre-flight check wouldn't indicate an in-flight system failure. I think the 3-color, never-off concept makes good sense.
@rdyer8764
Жыл бұрын
@@s14slide I'm definitely not experienced in aircraft, but I really like the idea of a flashing LED indicating movement between valid states. Great idea, and also only changes the software. No additional hardware/wiring required.
@telecomwiz2004
Жыл бұрын
This project looks so good in white. Well done boys.
@ThomasSchick
Жыл бұрын
…congrats on 100K…Please, accept this virtual “high-five” 🖐🏻
@romanlightman4937
Жыл бұрын
I operated a Baron on a Part 135 certificate. One of the very important preflight items was checking the the gear down locks for grease. If they werent properly visibly externally greasy, the bare metal to metal part can bind when under an air load. Gear that work just fine on the ground can act differently under an air load. Im sure that you guys are already aware of this potential severe problem, some of your viewers may not. In spite of my knowledge of this problem, I had a gear failure on my Baron. I was able to help the sticky gear to break loose by pulling some negative then positive Gs. At the moment that I reversed from negative to positive Gs I hit the gear switch down and they broke loose. The left main gear torque tube had already twisted into a pretzel because the main gear up lock held even though the torque tube was still spinning trying to put both gear down simultaneously. When I didnt get a green on the left main, I made sure that it wast just an indication problem by doing control tower flyby. Then I went out and did my G loading gear assist procedure. (I was schooled on this procedure at the time of purchase by a highly experienced AI Beechcraft mechanic.) The left main gear fell down hard under G loading and clunked into place. I got 3 green the second time I put the gear down. My AI mechanic saved me from a huge repair bill.
@FiferSkipper
Жыл бұрын
2:45 Full disclosure, I paused to post this, so I admit I haven't watched the rest... I have been migrating yachts away from direct circuit control to CAN control for over a decade. I am so satisfied to know that you have chosen this route. If it has been good enough for factory automation since the '80s and good enough for the auto industry since the '90s I'm excited to see the reliability and weight savings being applied to the aviation industry by such a forward-thinking group like yours! Kudos... and I look forward to the rest of the video.
@FiferSkipper
Жыл бұрын
Another great video guys! Well done so far and we are all (of course) excited to see the upcoming maiden!
@yououtuber4176
Жыл бұрын
Nice work. Try to avoid "off" LED's as you do not know whether the LED is broken, without power or in the stored position.
@purchasingagent1780
Жыл бұрын
I agree- a color to indicate retracted would be ideal
@ginginthing
Жыл бұрын
I like the idea of electric power over hydraulic retracts especially on smaller home builts. For one reason, the smaller hydraulic pumps now are almost impossible to get repaired if something goes wrong since Parker decided to condemn their use on aircraft. Also hydraulic systems can get messy at times and in general are more difficult to install compared to wires. Not sure of the eventual cost of this system electric system will be, but if they it is about the same as hydraulic, I would go with the electric, as long as it was adequately tested. And as far as testing is concerned, one thing that caught my attention was the mention of how fast the gear came down due to gravity, compared to how fast it went up. That will be the opposite during flight. The gear will take much more power to come down than it does to go up in this configuration due to drag forces. Your main gear legs have much more drag then say like the Cessna Cardinal RG main gear legs have, which have the same gear swing as your system or Lancair aircraft. There's a reason why many of these RG systems have single tube main gear as opposed to bulkier gear designs like your gear. Two reasons really, weight and air drag. More the drag, the more the power requirement. Your main gear look nice and beefy, but at least 3 times the width of single tube design such as used on a lot of home builts with hyd RG.
@maxhoweth
Жыл бұрын
One small adjustment I'd recommend from a software/hardware point of view is to have successfully stowed be an illuminated color maybe red. And then in transit be yellow and successfully deployed be green.With this system the pilot can tell the difference between complete gears software/hardware failure(no power) and successful retraction. If this failure were to happen in flight the pilot would have more time to prepare and troubleshoot which could save lives. Great work guys!
@JustinJackson11
Жыл бұрын
The light color logic they're using is standard throughout the GA industry. Green for down, red for somewhere in-between and off for fully retracted. Two colors keeps it simple plus they are easily visually differentiated to know the condition. Adding a yellow would be potentially too close to green and if there is a partial deployment the pilot may mistake the yellow for green, especially if flying with sunglasses or the sun in their eyes, and land with the gear not fully down.
@tropicthndr
Жыл бұрын
I want to see the speed of retraction a little faster because this plane is going to accelerate so quickly, it needs to get the gear up out of the wind forces into the wheel wells very quickly. Let’s also see the gear extending with simulated “wind loads” against them, I’m not convinced those little motors can overcome wind stresses over hundred mph, manual emergency extension under wind loads also. Then I’ll be impressed.
@wjenkins96
Жыл бұрын
It’s amazing how complex some of the systems these guys have built. Pretty amazing to see some highly motivated people working towards the finish of the plane they imagined.
@Alex-yq2tf
4 ай бұрын
A long coil-over spring with an oil/gas damper might help to alleviate concerns with the gas spring leaking or failing with age. I know they make similar springs for automotive lift gates that are basically the same geometry as your gas strut, but have a coil over spring around it. Stabilus makes them!
@justinsk1
Жыл бұрын
I can't wait for this to fly in 2047!
@AwestrikeFearofGods
6 ай бұрын
3:19 Rather than autodeploying, it might be preferable to issue an audio warning. At low altitude and airspeed, a sudden change in drag or pitching moment is not always a welcome surprise. Furthermore, each time it autodeploys (especially without warning the pilot), it trains the pilot to forget gear-extension in retractable-gear aircraft.
@772CODEMASTER
Жыл бұрын
I recognize those CIM style motors/Gearbox anywhere lol (We used them a lot in FRC) 0:01
@John-wk2fd
Жыл бұрын
Speaking from personal experience with hydro. One less system to cover in hydro is a win. If the electric motor is reliable I say go for it.
@antbran1916
Жыл бұрын
Glad to see you got rid of the gas struts. Really impressed with the progress!!
@milxl
Жыл бұрын
100k subs congrats !
@nothingtoseehere5760
Жыл бұрын
Good lord I can't wait for this beast to fly!
@jonfife3637
Жыл бұрын
Bravo Dark Aero Team, bravo
@smithtorreysmith
Жыл бұрын
We are huge fans of this crew.
@hubgold487
11 ай бұрын
Red: gear retracted and locked. Green: gear deployed and locked. Yellow: gear motors in operation.
@jtuttle11
Жыл бұрын
It's actually much more common to find the landing gear in model planes driven by pneumatics.
@BrianPhillipsRC
Жыл бұрын
Awesome system! Thanks for sharing
@keithjurena9319
Жыл бұрын
Hydraulics were used because precise control with electric motors had been unreachable until high power MOSFET and IGBT were developed. CAN bus control further reduces weight of electrical drive.
@ReedEzra
Жыл бұрын
Killer info and demo! One thing, as per electric vs. hydraulic retract gear system...large passenger jets use almost always hydraulics, except the Boeing 787 which is all electric/electronic.
@j121212100
Жыл бұрын
this is quite possibly the most challenging part of the whole build executed like industry experts.
@Patshes
Жыл бұрын
Unbelievable what you have achieved so far.
@samuelhayes5198
Жыл бұрын
Just curious but why didn't you guys use a tail-dragger design for the landing gear? Wouldn't it be lighter and simpler?
@camofelix
Жыл бұрын
Congrats on 100k!
@mwsiviero
Жыл бұрын
100K! Congrats
@lohikarhu734
Жыл бұрын
there's actually a move toward full-electric actuation, from what I've seen, as there are no issues with leaking hydraulics, or leaks from incoming fire/shrapnel, and it's easier to use distributed control and monitoring. BTW, I think I'd prefer, personally, that you had amber lights during correct extend/retract cycles, only going to red if a fault is detected... over-current, under-speed, locked /stuck, sensor/feedback failures. Funnily, I was thinking of how simple one could make the functions that you are using a computer to control, with relays (solid-state or not), resistors/potentiometers, switches...a bit more complicated wiring, but operation that anyone with basic electro-mechanical understanding could make work, while still providing the feature set that you have... but, CANbus works fine in cars, and quite robust systems can be designed with CAN/LIN, smart drivers and actuators. Looks good.
@alexanderarnett4966
Жыл бұрын
CAN/Bus is also extensively used in commercial aircraft, I think in many military aircraft as well.
@Synergy7Studios
Жыл бұрын
Gear auto extend sounds very dangerous. If a pilot accidentally ends up low and slow and the plane thinks they're trying to land and puts down the gear, the extra drag could slow them down even more and cause a crash.
@sharpx777
Жыл бұрын
what about aerodynamic forces when in flight and extending the gear, would you test that at some point (I see you're adding gas struts which would make sense to aid against air flow over the gear, would be interesting to see what the power draw is in a simulated in flight extension).
@JH-tc3yu
Жыл бұрын
They've already addressed this 100 times. The gas struts are enough to fully extend the landing gear with no motors. That means the power draw when extending gear in flight will be ~nothing.
@sharpx777
Жыл бұрын
@@JH-tc3yu what's the rating on the struts? (it was probably mentioned but I missed those 100 vids where it was explained)
@alyoungwerth9908
Жыл бұрын
Did you consider pneumatic actuators? Extremely reliable, high forces, relatively small actuators, flexible hoses that are easy to route, push-to-connect fittings, off-the-shelf components, easy to add redundancy, etc.
@johnjensen2217
Жыл бұрын
Will you eventually add fairings/doors to cover the landing gear while retracted?
@mikhailjairnisbett441
Жыл бұрын
Yeah they did make some in an earlier episode
@Smokeyr67
Жыл бұрын
I'm getting Cessna 337 vibes from the rears 😀
@microcolonel
Жыл бұрын
Your solution is cool :+ ) Retraction-only motors would be another interesting option; you could solve the soft-extension problem with mechanical design. Couple the retracting motor with a clutch/dog coupling and a ratchet, and you'll have the option to extend the gear during electrical failure. Torque limiters are another elegant way to prevent damage from overdriving an assembly like this; it won't look as graceful as the computer control option, but also doesn't have to involve sensitive electronics of any sort, nor software correctness (take it from a software guy... betting on the correctness of software is a fool's errand), just crude electric limit switches.
@veryimmature
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for another well produced and really informative/interesting video. You guys amaze me.
@RobertWillis-mw9nd
Жыл бұрын
The nice thing about fixed gear is there always locked down and higher than ten thousand feet not that much drag!
@z400racer37
Жыл бұрын
Happy 100k!!!!!🥳🍾🎊🎉🍻
@iamjtjoyce
Жыл бұрын
Do you guys plan on using a weight on wheels switch to prevent pilots from accidentally raising the gear on the ground? I've really enjoyed the aircraft I've flown where this is a feature and its also included an aural tone that alerts the pilot when the gear isn't down after crossing an AoA or Airspeed threshold. That way if the pilot is trying to maneuver the aircraft in a way that would appear to be landing configuration but actually isn't, the gear wouldn't auto-extend and risk being oversped when the pilot completed the maneuver and recovered.
@pilotmiami1
Жыл бұрын
Bravo.Go Ahead
@remoweber729
Жыл бұрын
I like to see simplicity in aircraft. I'm a pilot and the first thing I look at is, what if it does not work? Jammed motor, jammed gear, or no electricity. How will that gear extend and be safe to land? I love new engineering, and also a great critic and available for consulting.
@paulbade3566
Жыл бұрын
In an earlier video, there's a clutch that disengages a failed motor/gearbox, and a gas strut that pushes the gear down. That part isn't installed in this test series. I expect the gas strut will require regular checks to ensure it hasn't failed.
@armoureddiver5262
Жыл бұрын
Will you require any type of ‘weight on wheels’ sensor into the logic unit to prevent any possibility of retraction when on the ground. Looking forward to seeing if the latches used in the locking mechanism require any sort of actuator. Looking really neat. Good luck from the UK
@luffy858
Жыл бұрын
How do you plan for the increased wattage / power requirement to overcome drag when in use real world? Ie. do you know roughly what the additional power requirement would be? Very cool video, thanks for sharing.
@NuttySwiss
Жыл бұрын
Any concerns with having radar interfere with the CAN bus? Some cars had to implement extra things for wake-up control due to car batteries going flat at airport parking…
@TheStuartstardust
Жыл бұрын
Related to airport parking or just general long term parking? 🤔
@NuttySwiss
Жыл бұрын
@@TheStuartstardust airport parking. The radar pulse would wake up the CAN bus.
@tireballastserviceofflorid7771
Жыл бұрын
I just recently saw that a mini turboprop had received or was about to receive certification. Is that something you guys would consider on V2 or V?? Obviously they burn more fuel, but they are crazy light. Wonder if there is some sweet spot with a feather weight plane and power plant. Can't wait to see it fly. You guys are great ambassadors for engineers.
@jetski7611
Жыл бұрын
Have you given any thoughts about designing a circuit which will allow the landing gear lights perform a flashing mode during transitioning or an unsafe condition?
@danielreuter2565
Жыл бұрын
As the owner of a turbo arrow with auto gear extension, I would urge you to really consider whether that's an appropriate feature. Personally, I wouldn't want it.
@keppelsmall5313
Жыл бұрын
thanks to the shout out to the ole 727 landing gear.
@victomeyezr
Жыл бұрын
Awesome stuff!!
@danieljust2226
Жыл бұрын
Ah yes, Multi-rotor consumer tech on an aircraft, bound to work out well
@Tenright77
Жыл бұрын
How will you be simulating Air Loads on the Gear to validate reliability and function? In the automotive applications, CAN/BUS systems are not user serviceable without OBD type readers. What Service Units will be applicable to this aircraft? While Electro/Servo seems simplest, Electro/Hydraulic may be needed with air Loads. Will watch for development with interest.
@simplyfocus9937
Жыл бұрын
Looking forward to see the maiden flight
@invincibearofficial
Жыл бұрын
It might be a good idea to use a color other than red to indicate the landing gear is in motion. Red should mean FAIL, orange could mean in-motion, green should mean good. Assigning red to dual-purpose indicate failure and gear-in-motion is less clear to the pilot.
@timpierce6708
Жыл бұрын
Needs ground proximity sensor …. How does the panel know if altitude at any runway or off runway excursions… ref. Emergency extend / retract
@davidf2281
Жыл бұрын
Another interesting update! I have zero experience in avionics or aircraft systems but I was suprised at 3:25 when you mentioned _automatically_ extending the gear instead of sounding an alarm and leaving the pilot fully in control. Is that standard, or a departure from what you'd normally expect in a light aircraft?
@daszieher
Жыл бұрын
There have been a few aircraft types that featured interlocking systems extending the gear automatically at full flaps. Personally, I like the idea of an intelligently automated system. It should be better and more flexible than a fixed connection.
@chester8420
Жыл бұрын
I don't want my machine to ever make a configuration change without my input. A warning to the pilot is sufficient. Gear up landings are never a safety problem, but unexpected uncommanded configuration changes have crashed a lot of aircraft over the years. Including airliners.
@daszieher
Жыл бұрын
@@chester8420 would you like a copilot to make saving inputs, if you as PIC happen to miss them? The configuration change could be announced with an option to abort. It doesn't have to be man vs machine.
@jimx1169
Жыл бұрын
How far aft does the CG move when the gear retracts?
@AeroworksProductions
Жыл бұрын
What is your back up for a failed motor or electrical system?
@joshc7091
Жыл бұрын
I will say these are some smart young men 👍
@brianb-p6586
Жыл бұрын
Indicator lights off when retracted is a bit of a concern to me. There's no way to distinguish between an indication of normal retracted status and a complete lack of display functionality, since both correspond to lights off. Another colour of each indicator would provide a positive indication of system functionality. The locks are not currently installed. What happens to the indications if a gear extends or retracts all the way, but the lock doesn't engage? Are the locks monitored by position switches?
@JohnGBeckett
Жыл бұрын
Is "off" as an indicator of closed a good safety option as there's no way to tell the difference between a light circuit malfunction and closed landing gear? I know there have been several industrial accidents stemming from the use of "off" as an indicator, so I'm surprised that it's allowed in aircraft.
@NonEuclideanTacoCannon
Жыл бұрын
Larger scale model RC planes use pneumatic retracting gear.
@diosanto2022nuevomundo.
Жыл бұрын
Es perfecto ..felicidades .. Exelente trabajo
@Ljet600
Жыл бұрын
For such a small aircraft, a simple pneumatic system is good enough. I think your electric system is too complicated and heavy compared to the pneumatic. What is about free fall system?
@wv_
Жыл бұрын
You have probably considered this but how would an operator distinguish a indication / logic failure from the gear being retracted successfully. It may not be the norm in aerospace but in some industries a positive indication is not used to show an unsafe state. I’m not saying I’m right, more for my own curiosity. It’s an interesting system design challenge. EG the lights fail to indicate when the landing gear has failed to raise. It’s common for problems to cross failure domains.
@michaelklepacz
Жыл бұрын
Great job y’all
@VeldboerMike
Жыл бұрын
how do you make sure that off lights don't mean the light is broken? wouldn't a blue color be more useful when the gear is retracted?
@TopDedCenter1
Жыл бұрын
Many aircraft have a push-to-test button than illuminates all annunciators on the panel to check for burned-out bulbs. Maybe they'll incorporate one?
@-GBD-
Жыл бұрын
Very cool! Chuckled when you said 100w bulb and then showed an LED! I assume you'll be testing repetitive cycling of gear? What if system fails to deploy...is there any manual action if motors aren't working?
@bruceyoung1343
Жыл бұрын
I hope the mains the way they deploy, I hope it has a STRONG locking mechanism
@spdcrzy
Жыл бұрын
Just a thought: if you design the linkage to be more aerodynamic while retaining strength, you won't have to worry about increased drag when trying to extend the landing gear. And it might even provide some stability when landing in windy conditions since the airfoil design would act as a zero angle rudder all the time (similar to how Le Mans Hypercars use shark fins on the roof for stability at high speeds).
@billrepucci4054
Жыл бұрын
You are making great progress! There will be times when you want to land and leave the gear up, such as an engine failure that leads to an off-airport landing. As for your gear up landing warning system, check your Gramin EFIS. The Dynon SkyView has the ability to warn pilots of amphibious aircraft that their gear is up when landing on a hard surface and that the gear is down when landing on water. I don't know a great deal about your Garmin EFIS, but I suspect they have the same ability, and you might be able to work that into your gear position warning system. One minor nit, when designing panels, try to design them so your hand / arm doesn't cover the EFIS when activating switches, such as your landing gear switch. (Panel ergonomics are a big deal for me.)
@mariocremajr2476
11 ай бұрын
Hello guys, Are you intended to use any kind of steering system? Or the turning will be made using differential brake and propulsion? great work, guys! keep it on!
@NZ_NATIV3
Жыл бұрын
a toroidal propeller would be epic
@luggie111
Жыл бұрын
What's the airspeed where the electrical actuators can't achieve deployment against the airflow?
@parrotraiser6541
Жыл бұрын
Just a thought; how about making the sequence as follows. Selecting "gear down" actuates a solenoid to retract the up-lock. The lock operates a power switch for the gear motor until the leg reaches the end of its travel and the down-lock engagement cuts off the power. Retraction switch reverses the process. Where are the glaring flaws in my cunning plan? :-)*
@brianb-p6586
Жыл бұрын
The light bulb @6:14 is not "100 watt" by any measure. It appears to be an LED lamp, so it doesn't use 100 watts of power; no "100 watt" bulb produces 100 watts of light. I understand the use of a light bulb for the comparison, but to make any sense it has to be an old incandescent bulb that actually uses 100 watts. Since those are generally not used any more, it's not the useful example that it once was.
@IamSomeDude22
Жыл бұрын
With the logic of no part is the best part, I think you could do without the locking mechanism all together. With that thinking I also think a centralized lowering shaft could be positioned between each gear strut including the front gear so lowering was sequential and not independant, this will improve the less parts anonolgy and strength. A duel ended piston positioned under the cockpit that pushes out the front and rear gear.
@e.sstudios1015
Жыл бұрын
Love it!! ❤❤❤
@SoloRenegade
Жыл бұрын
how do you determine, in flight, if an LED has failed (off) versus stuck gear? What if the right main LED failed, and so never illuminated, but the gear came down and locked? What if the right main gear failed to unlock and extend, how would you know the LED wasn't bad? What if the right main LED failed, and the gear was extended but not locked?
@a-spears
Жыл бұрын
With the airplane being as light as it is, im curious why they didnt go with a fully mechanical retract system with a large lever actuator. Similar to a mooney
@HamBown
Жыл бұрын
What redundancy exists in the system in the event of a CAN bus, logic module, or electric motor failure? Will it be possible to manually lower the gear or release the up locks and have them lower by gravity?
@navion1946
Жыл бұрын
Excellent questions. With the depth these lads have plummed in this design we can have confidence that they thought of this, however NONE of that is addressed in this video. They could know their audience better and that we would have these questions.
@chriskroeker1889
Жыл бұрын
They literally mentioned their emergency extend system in the video.
@jtuttle11
Жыл бұрын
So what happens when you add in the aerodynamic loads of the plane at approach and landing speeds? It would seem that added load of moving through the air would have a significant force on the components.
@peckerwood780
Жыл бұрын
Killer project man
@rawhide154
Жыл бұрын
Don’t forget that gear deploying must overcome wind resistance, which could be substantial.
@JH-tc3yu
Жыл бұрын
They've already addressed this 100 times. The gas strut is enough to extend the gear with no electric motor.
@rawhide154
Жыл бұрын
@@JH-tc3yu what about wind resistance though?
@peter572
Ай бұрын
I would prefer an OLED screen with detailed info regarding gear position, system error conditions etc, besides the primitive LEDs. Also, what about a color camera that shows the gear position and the belly of the aircraft? Can partially color-blinded pilots get licensed? These guys may be confused under certain light conditions by red/green lights.
@daviddorado5632
Жыл бұрын
This is not a project. It is an endevour
@zmanmd1641
Жыл бұрын
This is a very smart system. I have one question. How much additional power will be required to push against the airflow at maximum landing gear deployment speed?
@michaelthacker6121
Жыл бұрын
For some reason it came to my mind to have the gear go in the opposite direction of the wind when deploying. As to have the wind help deploy the gear for less hydraulics needed on a normal deploy. Going against the wind seems counter intuitive. Also the gear being deployed is more important than retraction. If it doesnt retract it not life threatening as to if the gear doesnt deploy that can be. Idk im not an engineer just seems common sense to me but i know nothimg.
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