CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/919214
NEWS 33 CompositesWorld.com Diamond Aircraft Austria tester, manufactured by Olympus (Waltham, MA, US). Diamond Aircraft also uses traditional tap testing, which the company says works very well. It also considers tap testing not unlike ultrasonic testing: "Same principle, different frequency," quips Bausek. e next stop is CNC machining, which is performed with an HG Grimme SysTech GmbH (Wiedergeltingen, Germany) rotary cutter (Fig. 6, p. 32). Offering 5 axes of freedom at the spindle, with another two available via part manipulation, the system cuts holes for fuel ports, instruments and other devices. At this point, also, the interiors of the wings are fitted with rubber liners for fuel contact. Pre-assembly, paint, assembly Bausek moves on to pre-assembly (Fig. 7, p. 32), where wings, doors, tails and fuselages come together for final fitting, after which they are sent to post-cure at 120°C for 6 hours. Next comes painting, which is done in one of three paint booths. is includes epoxy primer/filler, grinding, electrostatic discharge coat and then final color coat. After painting, all composite structures move on to final assembly (Fig. 8, above), where the plane's noncomposite compo- nents — windows, seats, avionics, wing guts, ailerons, flaps, push/ pull rods, fuel tanks, engines, propellers (wood core with glass fiber skin), landing gear and de-icing systems — are integrated to realize the final aircraft. Bespoke features ordered by customers are usually added here as well. DA40s and DA42s are assembled on one side of the assembly area, with DA62s assembled on the other. Each craft, when it is fully assembled, goes through five hours of production flight testing before customer delivery. A finished DA40 weighs 900 kg, is 8m long, 2m high and has a wingspan of 11.6m. e DA42 weighs 1,410 kg, is 8.6m long, 2.5m high and has a wingspan of 13.55m. e DA62 weighs 1,590 kg, is 9.2m long, 2.8m high and has a wingspan of 14.5m. e single- engine, five-seat DA50, when it enters the market this year, will weigh around 1,200 kg, be 9m long, 2.9m high and have a wingspan of 13.4m. Increasingly, manufacture and assembly of Diamond Aircraft planes will migrate out of Austria and toward the company's other facilities. Indeed, DA62 production was moved to Diamond Canada in October 2017. As this pattern continues, the Wiener Neustadt facility will focus more on research and development and low-rate production, and less on full-rate production. Says Bausek: "Diamond Aircraft Industries, with its innovative spirit, has progressively innovated sustainable, environmentally friendly, reliable, high-performance general aviation products, and will continue to help make general aviation the automobile of future." e final stop of CW's Diamond Aircraft tour was a walk out of the final assembly line and onto the tarmac, where a DA40 and a test pilot waited to give us a demonstration flight (Fig. 9, above). e captivating 45-minute flight took us up to, and around, the snow-capped peaks of the Alps surrounding Wiener Neustadt. And then safely back to Earth. FIG. 8 Complex final assembly A DA62 undergoes final assembly, integrating windows, seats, avionics, wing guts, ailerons, flaps, push/pull rods, fuel tanks, engines, propellers (wood core with glass fiber skin), landing gear and de-icing systems. Source | CW / Photo | Jeff Sloan FIG. 9 Savoring the sights from a DA40 The CW tour of Diamond Aircraft concludes with a 45-minute aerial tour of the towns, Alpine countryside and Alps surrounding Wiener Neustadt. Source | CW / Photo | Jeff Sloan Jeff Sloan is editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld, and has been engaged in plastics- and composites-industry journalism for 23 years. jeff@compositesworld.com Read this article online | short.compositesworld.com/DAATour