DAR Corp Software...your take?

[cbl2799]

All:

Has anybody used any of the software suites from DARCorp? In particular, I am curious about AeroPack, Shark FX, Advanced Aircraft Analysis and Aircraft Performance Program. Their web page is

http://www.darcorp.com

If you have used one or more of these products, I would like to know your opinion, because it looks like it can be a great asset to us here, but, I would like to know some end-user critiques. Thanks!

-Brian

"Insert inspirational latin quote here"

 

[Aerodesign]

Hi cbl2799,
We used the software to compare the existign analysis of a project a few years ago. We wanted to see how it would compare with the outputs from our more conventional analysis. We concentrated on flight loads, performance. The aerodynamic coefficients used as input were as per our standard analysis (soem of the DAR coefficients are suggestions or typical values).
We also tried using the CAD environment but this proved to be immature. Our baseline at teh time was Rhino so this is a tough act to follow. We now use Catia, which is a step up again.
The DAR package is usable and the backup information, formulii and references is excellent. It is not totally intuitive (later versions may have fixed that).
Ironically the people most at home with it were our engineering students, who liked the format and could follow it (l believe it is used in the USA for aero eng degree tuition). It certainly made the old-hands look more carefully at the way we do things.
I recommend you get a (free) trial license key and use it for a known (old, archived) project. You can then compare what it produces against the old results you have.
Generally we found that it correlated pretty good and l woudl state that it is an excellent basis for a conceptual design analysis. Ultimately as development of that aircraft progresses you may wish to substitute real data for the theoretical values and hence it may have whole-life use. We have not used it in that way yet.
I hope this short piece helps you.