Van's Air Force
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Wheel Pants Fairing
- Thread starter n38139
- Start date
Tony Kirk
Well Known Member
Gear Leg Intersection Fairings
I got mine from http://www.aerosu.com/part3.htm and they are beautiful and ready for paint (unlike Van's)! Highly recommended!
See some pictures of my wheel fairings at my webpage... http://www.eaa582.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=19
I didn't install them as instructed, like the wingtip strobe mount, but I grafted them to the outside of the wheel pant. It was a lot of extra finishing work, I should have followed the instructions, notice how little filler is on the wingtips.
I think they turned out great anyway.
I got mine from http://www.aerosu.com/part3.htm and they are beautiful and ready for paint (unlike Van's)! Highly recommended!
See some pictures of my wheel fairings at my webpage... http://www.eaa582.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=19
I didn't install them as instructed, like the wingtip strobe mount, but I grafted them to the outside of the wheel pant. It was a lot of extra finishing work, I should have followed the instructions, notice how little filler is on the wingtips.
I think they turned out great anyway.
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gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
Intersection Fairings
You don't mention what model RV you have and the style of gear leg fairing or wheel pants you have. They have changed over the years. The pre-made ones now available from Van's and other sources are for the newer wheel pants (pressure recovery) and new fiberglass gear leg fairing. If you have the old style fairings and wheel pants they may not fit well.
Good luck, recommend you add them to reduce drag and looks. Cheers George
I assume you did not make your plane? The (intersection) fairings between the gear leg and fuselage and gear leg and wheel pants can be made using clay as a form and fiberglass. The instructions to make them can be found in the builder?s instruction. Check builder web sites, some show how to make them.n38139 said:I just returned from OSH and noticed a few airplanes with a nice boot or fairing (whatever you call it) between the gear leg fairing and wheel pant. My airplane doesn't have this and I would like to know where to get these or how to make them etc. thanks, Steve
You don't mention what model RV you have and the style of gear leg fairing or wheel pants you have. They have changed over the years. The pre-made ones now available from Van's and other sources are for the newer wheel pants (pressure recovery) and new fiberglass gear leg fairing. If you have the old style fairings and wheel pants they may not fit well.
Good luck, recommend you add them to reduce drag and looks. Cheers George
Fairings
You are correct, I did not build it however, it has the newer style gear leg fairings but I am not sure about the wheel fairings. They are one piece that completely cover the wheel and tire and have a small piece on the bottom below the the axle to complete the fairing.
thanks,
Steve RV-4
You are correct, I did not build it however, it has the newer style gear leg fairings but I am not sure about the wheel fairings. They are one piece that completely cover the wheel and tire and have a small piece on the bottom below the the axle to complete the fairing.
thanks,
Steve RV-4
godspeed
Well Known Member
wheel pant fairings
I just got home from work and found a box from fairings-ect.com for my rv9a opened the box and was very supprised at the quality of the parts and fit, these are going to save me a load of trouble and help me get the leg fairings straight, sounds like I am bragging about the parts and its true, but keep in mind about two weeks ago, I sent them an email asking about price and if they had any in stock , he replied with an email saying he was on vacation but would have them ready by the end of the month.. I replied great and that was all that was said, I never gave him a credit card or said anything else.. anyway the box showed up here today (supprise) with the instructions and a note saying he would bill me for them in another letter.. talk about a trusting great guy.. I love doing buisness with people like that.. abby at flight line is the same way.. great people.. actually everyone I have dealt with in the Rv groups , builders , suppliers ect have been great.. I am proud to be a part of this comunity.. anyway the fairings look great quality.. so look up fairings ect.. if you plan on buying any, atleast give them a look , you won't be disapointed.. just my thoughts..
Danny..
I just got home from work and found a box from fairings-ect.com for my rv9a opened the box and was very supprised at the quality of the parts and fit, these are going to save me a load of trouble and help me get the leg fairings straight, sounds like I am bragging about the parts and its true, but keep in mind about two weeks ago, I sent them an email asking about price and if they had any in stock , he replied with an email saying he was on vacation but would have them ready by the end of the month.. I replied great and that was all that was said, I never gave him a credit card or said anything else.. anyway the box showed up here today (supprise) with the instructions and a note saying he would bill me for them in another letter.. talk about a trusting great guy.. I love doing buisness with people like that.. abby at flight line is the same way.. great people.. actually everyone I have dealt with in the Rv groups , builders , suppliers ect have been great.. I am proud to be a part of this comunity.. anyway the fairings look great quality.. so look up fairings ect.. if you plan on buying any, atleast give them a look , you won't be disapointed.. just my thoughts..
Danny..
godspeed
Well Known Member
gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
One piece wheel fairing
That one piece is the old design. You may want to consider re-doing the wheel pants with Van's "pressure recovery" wheel fairings before making new intersection fairings.
All the new style fairings are two-piece and will add several MPH and look better. If you have to go thru the trouble to make intersection fairings than this would be a good time to make the switch. Also with new style wheel pants and new style gear leg fairings allow you the option of buying pre-made intersection fairings from several sources.
I don?t care for Van's big wheel pant fairings (Balloon style) and bought the high-speed fairings. These aftermarket wheel fairings can be bought 3 places: James Aircraft (maker of the holy cowl), Lightspeed engineering (maker of the electronic ignition) or Team Rocket (maker of the F-1 Rocket airplane kits). They are all alike in design but cost adn construction are different. I went with James Aircraft for lower price and the quality. Lightspeed makes nice ones but they are very lightweight by using thinner lay-up and cost a lot more. Could be wrong but my understanding is the LS fairing is lighter duty. The Team Rocket Guys can sell you wheel pants, gear leg fairing (wide chord) and intersection fairings (not for all RV models). They make nice fiberglass products for a fair price.
The style I mention above looks better to me and I think is might be faster. I have no proof they are faster than Van's fairing, except the fastest RV's have this style of wheel pant and not Van's Balloon wheel pants.
Regardless you will gain speed with any new two-piece wheel pants over the old ones you now have. The old ones have very large gaps between the tire and fairing, making them more draggy. The two-piece allows a tighter fit between tire and fairing.
You say your gear leg fairing is new style? Than it is made of fiberglass and not metal. If it is two piece metal it is old, and you should replace it along with the wheel pants. You can get wider chord gear leg fairings from two sources: Team Rocket and Tracy Saylor (found it the RV yellow pages). Both make new versions fiberglass gear leg fairing that may be faster and also look better in my opinion. They may be faster because they are wider. This should give a little lower drag. However having wide gear leg fairings may have some effect in the stability of the aircraft in theory. With real wide gear leg fairings ahead of the CG of the aircraft acting as airfoils there may be some issue there, especially in a spin. However if you don't plan on doing spins it's not an issue. Whether it affects handling or not I can't say, but in theory it could. I don't plan on spinning my RV because they are all marginal. Remember you can avoid any chance of a spin by not stalling. You can avoid stalls by flaying fast enough (i.e., below the critical angle of attack).
All the effort to redo you fairings and add intersection fairings will add a few MPH to your cruise and top speed. Good Luck.
That one piece is the old design. You may want to consider re-doing the wheel pants with Van's "pressure recovery" wheel fairings before making new intersection fairings.
All the new style fairings are two-piece and will add several MPH and look better. If you have to go thru the trouble to make intersection fairings than this would be a good time to make the switch. Also with new style wheel pants and new style gear leg fairings allow you the option of buying pre-made intersection fairings from several sources.
I don?t care for Van's big wheel pant fairings (Balloon style) and bought the high-speed fairings. These aftermarket wheel fairings can be bought 3 places: James Aircraft (maker of the holy cowl), Lightspeed engineering (maker of the electronic ignition) or Team Rocket (maker of the F-1 Rocket airplane kits). They are all alike in design but cost adn construction are different. I went with James Aircraft for lower price and the quality. Lightspeed makes nice ones but they are very lightweight by using thinner lay-up and cost a lot more. Could be wrong but my understanding is the LS fairing is lighter duty. The Team Rocket Guys can sell you wheel pants, gear leg fairing (wide chord) and intersection fairings (not for all RV models). They make nice fiberglass products for a fair price.
The style I mention above looks better to me and I think is might be faster. I have no proof they are faster than Van's fairing, except the fastest RV's have this style of wheel pant and not Van's Balloon wheel pants.
Regardless you will gain speed with any new two-piece wheel pants over the old ones you now have. The old ones have very large gaps between the tire and fairing, making them more draggy. The two-piece allows a tighter fit between tire and fairing.
You say your gear leg fairing is new style? Than it is made of fiberglass and not metal. If it is two piece metal it is old, and you should replace it along with the wheel pants. You can get wider chord gear leg fairings from two sources: Team Rocket and Tracy Saylor (found it the RV yellow pages). Both make new versions fiberglass gear leg fairing that may be faster and also look better in my opinion. They may be faster because they are wider. This should give a little lower drag. However having wide gear leg fairings may have some effect in the stability of the aircraft in theory. With real wide gear leg fairings ahead of the CG of the aircraft acting as airfoils there may be some issue there, especially in a spin. However if you don't plan on doing spins it's not an issue. Whether it affects handling or not I can't say, but in theory it could. I don't plan on spinning my RV because they are all marginal. Remember you can avoid any chance of a spin by not stalling. You can avoid stalls by flaying fast enough (i.e., below the critical angle of attack).
All the effort to redo you fairings and add intersection fairings will add a few MPH to your cruise and top speed. Good Luck.
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One piece wheel fairing
Thanks for the input. My gear leg fairings are fiberglass. I know that the original owner replaced the metal ones. I am sure after what you have described, I have the "baloon" type fairings. Do you have the website addresses for the makers of the newer style fairings?
thanks,
Steve RV-4
Thanks for the input. My gear leg fairings are fiberglass. I know that the original owner replaced the metal ones. I am sure after what you have described, I have the "baloon" type fairings. Do you have the website addresses for the makers of the newer style fairings?
thanks,
Steve RV-4
gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
Yes here is the info
Van's Aircraft: (two piece wheel pants, intesection fairings)
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...85-336-39&browse=airframe&product=wheel-pants
Van's intersection fairing:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...336-39&browse=airframe&product=inter-fairings
(NOTE: If you have not already done this notify Van's aircraft you are the new owner so they can contact you with safety info if needed. I also recommend you get a subscription to the 5 times a year news letter called "The RVator" for important info you don't find on the web. In the future maybe they will do internet service of the news letter. Van's new wheel fairings are large round jobs, so I call them balloon wheel pants but they do work.)
Team Rocket:
http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/TeamRocketAircraftcgi/hazel.exe
(Select fiberglass from the drop down menu of Product Category: and hit begain search: select the detail button for the item you want:
[TRGF] Team Rocket Gearleg Fairings
[TRGIFRV6] Team Rocket RV6 Gearleg Intersection Fairings
[TRGIFRV6A] Team Rocket RV6A/7A/8A/9A Gearleg Intersection Fairings
[TRWP] Rocket Wheel Pants
James Aircraft: (wheel pants)
http://www.jamesaircraft.com/South_Shop.html
Light Speed Engineering: (wheel pants like James Aircraft but more expensive)
http://www.lightspeedengineering.com/Services/WheelFairings.htm
TRACY SAYLOR 805-933-8225 [email protected] FIBERGLASS RV GEAR LEG FAIRINGS, LEFT HAND THROTTLES FOR RV6/6A AND HOT TIPS LIGHT KIT & POWELL'S PREMIUM RV PRODUCTS (TRACY SAYLOR'S DAUGHTER) 541-258-3885 GEAR LEG FAIRINGS (Tracy's daughter makes the product and does a nice job. Their fiberglass gear leg fairings are wider than Van's stock units but not as wide as the Team Rocket gear leg fairings, so they are a happy middle of the road. The bad part is you are not going to find the off the shelf intersection fairings will fit. However since you hae the Van's new style fiberglass gear leg fairing I would stay with that.)
Aero-Strategies Unlimited: (Intersection fairings)
http://aerosu.com/part3.htm
(Intersection fairings that work with Van's part, guess they will not work as well with rocket gear legs or other wheel pants)
Fairings Etc
http://www.fairings-etc.com
http://www.fairings-etc.com/gear leg, wheel pant, nose gear.htm
I might suggest you go with the whole Van's package for ease of installation. Van's pants include all parts and installation hardware for two main wheels. One advantage of using Van's wheel pants is the hardware/brackets, where the "other" go fast fairings come with brackets. However the Van's bracket can be modified to work with the other style fairings. It might be easier to go with all Van's parts, wheel pants, intersesction fairing and brackets.
Have Fun, fly safe. George
Van's Aircraft: (two piece wheel pants, intesection fairings)
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...85-336-39&browse=airframe&product=wheel-pants
Van's intersection fairing:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...336-39&browse=airframe&product=inter-fairings
(NOTE: If you have not already done this notify Van's aircraft you are the new owner so they can contact you with safety info if needed. I also recommend you get a subscription to the 5 times a year news letter called "The RVator" for important info you don't find on the web. In the future maybe they will do internet service of the news letter. Van's new wheel fairings are large round jobs, so I call them balloon wheel pants but they do work.)
Team Rocket:
http://www.teamrocketaircraft.com/TeamRocketAircraftcgi/hazel.exe
(Select fiberglass from the drop down menu of Product Category: and hit begain search: select the detail button for the item you want:
[TRGF] Team Rocket Gearleg Fairings
[TRGIFRV6] Team Rocket RV6 Gearleg Intersection Fairings
[TRGIFRV6A] Team Rocket RV6A/7A/8A/9A Gearleg Intersection Fairings
[TRWP] Rocket Wheel Pants
James Aircraft: (wheel pants)
http://www.jamesaircraft.com/South_Shop.html
Light Speed Engineering: (wheel pants like James Aircraft but more expensive)
http://www.lightspeedengineering.com/Services/WheelFairings.htm
TRACY SAYLOR 805-933-8225 [email protected] FIBERGLASS RV GEAR LEG FAIRINGS, LEFT HAND THROTTLES FOR RV6/6A AND HOT TIPS LIGHT KIT & POWELL'S PREMIUM RV PRODUCTS (TRACY SAYLOR'S DAUGHTER) 541-258-3885 GEAR LEG FAIRINGS (Tracy's daughter makes the product and does a nice job. Their fiberglass gear leg fairings are wider than Van's stock units but not as wide as the Team Rocket gear leg fairings, so they are a happy middle of the road. The bad part is you are not going to find the off the shelf intersection fairings will fit. However since you hae the Van's new style fiberglass gear leg fairing I would stay with that.)
Aero-Strategies Unlimited: (Intersection fairings)
http://aerosu.com/part3.htm
(Intersection fairings that work with Van's part, guess they will not work as well with rocket gear legs or other wheel pants)
Fairings Etc
http://www.fairings-etc.com
http://www.fairings-etc.com/gear leg, wheel pant, nose gear.htm
I might suggest you go with the whole Van's package for ease of installation. Van's pants include all parts and installation hardware for two main wheels. One advantage of using Van's wheel pants is the hardware/brackets, where the "other" go fast fairings come with brackets. However the Van's bracket can be modified to work with the other style fairings. It might be easier to go with all Van's parts, wheel pants, intersesction fairing and brackets.
Have Fun, fly safe. George
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