Carbon vs Aluminum Fuse

Gong Titanium fuselage is 207 Euros!

My titan fuselage from gong is way heavier than the aluminium counterpart

Yeah a Ti fuse could be lighter than an aluminum fuse if it used less material to produce a part of similar strength. The Gong Ti fuse is the same shape as the aluminum one, so itā€™s much heavier.

Sounds exactly like the Allure (French brand) fuse, Titanium between the front wing and the mast, and a carbon tube bonded for the tail. Description on their website justifies using carbon on the back of the fuse to save weight vs titanium. The wing to fuse connection is a flat mount with 4 screw, not to far from what Axis or AFS use.


YES! the allure fuse looks like the optimum to me. Wish I could get one for axis mast/wing or AFS mast/wing joint config. I think we may see this architecture more widespread

Nobody mentioned yet about Titanium - perfect corrosion properties for salt water, and also compatible with carbon fiber direct joints. Aluminum is absolutely terrible on both properties, corrosion but also significant galvanic problems when joining with carbon. Magnesium and Steel are pretty much not an option. Stainless steel with appropriate corrosion properties sacrifices the structural properties.

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I duno man, Iā€™m willing to die on a lot of hills to improve the industry and I find aluminum to be GREAT! Makes for a stiffer fuse than carbon at a lower cost and the corrosion is a non factor if you just throw on some clear bathroom silicon. A titanium fuse would cost more than my whole rig and realistically wouldnā€™t make anything stiffer - connections design and manufacturing tolerances are still the Achilles heel for stiffness

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Stainless/carbon combo vs alu full alu. Total weight of the full planes are very similar. Waiting for some wind so i can try the new KT

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New SailGP T-foils are machined titanium, not carbon composite. They hit 102kph top speed.

Gong Titanium fuse is 450 Euros.
Itā€™s beefy, beautiful tolerance and fit.
I have 2 of the V2 (~500g) and 1 of the the V3 (~600g).
The bolts goes straight into Titanium, no helicoil.
No corrosion to worry about (esp since I put them on and leave them on Cedrus Evolution aluminum adaptor).

Hey John, will be interesting to hear how the aluminum adapter holds up over time. Although the titanium will not corrode, it is very noble so will setup a circuit with aluminum. Corrosion happens faster if the surface area of the aluminum is small compared to the Titanium which is true in your case. The anodization will provide insulation in theory to stop the connection, so hopefully that is enough, Iā€™d really try to avoid scratching the surface of the aluminum foot.

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There would not be any aluminum at all. just titanium and carbon - thatā€™s key.

Youā€™re absolutely right John, I quoted the wrong post somehow.

Maybe it was another thread or the post was deleted - would have sworn Iā€™d read someone talking about using a mast with an aluminum foot in a titanium fuselage.

That or Iā€™ve just been breathing too much epoxy fumes!

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Itā€™s not the fume lol.

Cedrus adapters are anodized aluminum.
Yes I pay attention at not scratching the surface.

The Gong fuse I have are Titanium.

I put a small layer of dielectric grease in between the two.

The bolts are titanium going into stainless steel helicoils.

I didnā€™t think it would be enough reaction realistically to worry about Titanium-Aluminium reaction. But Iā€™m no chemical engineer

haha, yeah I see your original post now - I was just looking at the quote - so itā€™s at least a little bit the fumes affecting my brain!

yeah, between keeping up with the greasing and keeping the anodization in place I imagine youā€™ll get decent part life. There may still be a an electrical connection through the helicoils but hopefully factory applied coatings prevent that.

Please update us in 6-12 months on how the aluminium is looking!

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Itā€™s been a year now (got the preproduction Evolution mast with their first Gong V2 connector) and thereā€™s wear and grease everywhere so I donā€™t know the oxidation status. :rofl:
Never got stuck, and I leave them connected for weeks at a time.
Fit is still snug and perfect.

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Nice, good to know for anyone considering similar!