Nascent Carbon Fiber Aircraft Manufacturer Spreads its Know-How to Advance the Craft

Dark Aero, developers of an all-carbon, high-speed general aviation aircraft, updated followers of the project with a recap of their work throughout March, but one interesting tidbit stood out...

Surprisingly, the firm has found the time for education while working on their aircraft, holding Session 24 of the DarkAero Aerospace Composites Course. The educational course saw a small milestone among the fully-booked audience: The 200th Dark Aero composites student. It's a small thing, but indicative of where Dark Aero's head is. They're happy to help disseminate their know-how as they hone their own expertise in carbon fiber composites, spreading the art of composite use across the industry. This was news to some, around our water cooler, but a quick search shows Dark Aero has put together a pretty successful 'side gig' in education.

The DarkAero Aerospace Composites Course is said to save time, money, and frustration for those learning to effectively use composites in their own projects. The course includes its own 70-page course guide, 2 days of instruction, PPE, and meals for both days. Students go through the selection of resin systems, core materials, demonstrations of infusion, wet layup, vacuum bagging, and prepreg processes. That's the start, as the courses go on to teach quality assurance and inspection, curing, layering, testing, and repairing composite structures, in addition to the overall design and theory that goes into them.

Of course, 'side gigs' don't come free, and Dark Aero is charging $1,399 for the privilege. Their students seem pretty pleased with their education, if nothing else. It's not just limited to aero expertise, too, as alumni can apply their newfound knowhow on rockets, drones, cars, and whatever else needs to be light, reliable, and strong. Alumni get access to post-graduation info too, like a buying guide with Dark Aero's favored materials, a video library of the course itself, and guides for bonding and vacuum infusion for later reference and re-use.

FMI: www.darkaero.com