The Anti Splat "Nose Job" a review

[mkbreezy]

Rick,

I owned the airplane for about 6 months and was agonizing about brining it in here. I looked at all kinds of ideas, but none gave me enough confidence to try it. The brace came out, and it was obviously my solution. Now after landing in here more than 50 times, I have a procedure that works, and with the brace on, I can concentrate on flying the landing, and not have the "Splat" running around in the back of my head. All the video did was to reenforce the correctness of this solution to the nose strut problem. I do believe that Allan did a great service to the "A" community with this, and I hope he makes gobs of money with it.

[RVbySDI]

Originally Posted by Rick6a

. . . I'm not too enthusiastic about match painting the new fiberglass fairing and getting it to seamlessly fit into the existing upper intersection fairing but I'll make that tradeoff for the peace of mind I will gain anytime I choose to land or taxi on anything less than a smooth surface.

Rick, just a data point to ponder. I installed my original leg fairing around the anti-splat brace. It does not fit perfectly but it does fit well enough that you do not notice any difference unless you crawl underneath the belly and examine the fairing from the back side. In addition to appearances I have noticed no unusual flight characteristics with this set up either. I have been watching for any abnormal wear on any of the fairing materials. I have about 12-15 hours now with the brace and have noticed nothing unusual.

There is a slight gap at the back of the fairing where the bracket attached to the gear leg. The trailing edge of the fairing is spread out just a little but the hinge is holding the fairing on well. I was able to slide the hinge pin through the bottom 1/3 of the fairing. Then at this section where the hinge would not come together the pin does not slide through any of the eyelets. Above this section the hinge comes back together and I slid the pin through the rest of the hinge eyelets to the top. If you go back to post #29 in this thread you can see pictures of my installation.

I know this is not an ideal setup and I anticipate installing the provided leg fairing down the road sometime. However, as long as my original fairing continues to stay mounted in this fashion without any problems I will continue to fly with it this way.

This installation is working for me so far. As I said, just another data point to ponder.

Live Long and Prosper!

[Walt]

For whatever it's worth here's a picture of my new fairing with "Anti-splat" mod:

[cjensen]

Nice job Walt!

[FlyingArcher]

Wow,

I ordered mine yesterday and received a tracking number some 25 minutes later!
Checked tracking today, it's on its way

Thanks Allan

[swisseagle]

Hello Mike

Thanks for sharing your take offs and landings in video.
So far, all looks good for such a small strip.

Whats the difference inbetween the first and the second flight?

On the 2nd, the wheel comes off earlyer, you rotate far beyond the hangar, by the landing, you turn in front of the hous ... thats all earlyer, shorter compared to the first flight.

Did you had the Pax seat empty on the 2nd, or did you had wind?

Thanks and regards,

Dominik

[mkbreezy]

Good Eye, in fact I did have a pax on the first time around. My youngest son's girlfriend was visiting, and I took her up for a brief ride. Her first time in a small plane and she LOVED it. I think we have a new aviation enthusiast. More reason for my son to get his PPL.

[Rick6a]

...any feedback that you may have or suggestions to improve our products are always welcome. Thanks, Allan Anti Splat Aero LLC (909) 824-1020...

I received the Anti-Splat kit today and gave it a look over. My impression of the parts including the small amount of welding on either end of the brace looks to be of high quality. It is obvious that for me at least, the biggest part of the retrofit process is going to be riveting on the hinge halfs, trimming and match painting the new fiberglass fairing. Out of curiosity, I weighed the individual parts and then together minus the hinges needed for the fairing. I'm guessing the total installed weight of the mod should come in around 2.6 lbs. but about 9 ounces of that total weight includes the fairing. I am very pleased with the speed in which the kit was delivered. Not to quibble, the average purchaser may reasonably expect the hinge stock and rivets needed to tie the trailing edge of the new fiberglass fairing together be included with the kit but for some reason, are not. I'd expect there are more than a few builders or second owners out there who do not have spare hinge stock or even rivets laying around. Oh well. The important thing is to get the brace installed as soon as possible and worry about installing the leg fairing later. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this kit an 8.5 - 9.

[gerrychuck]

I was curious about the lack of a hinge on the fairing when I received mine, and emailed Allan about it. He replied that the new fairing is much stiffer than the stock fairing and will stay closed at the back without any fastening at the back, or will work very well with some heavy duty velcro sealing the seam. He said the hinge was not included in an effort to both keep the cost down, and I would assume, weight as well. I plan to go with a velcro strip when I install mine.

[Rick6a]

Originally Posted by gerrychuck

.....He replied that the new fairing is much stiffer than the stock fairing and will stay closed at the back without any fastening at the back.....

Gerry,

Much stiffer? If he saw what I saw, I don't think Allen would want to be held to the exact wording in your post. I've only worked on a few stock fiberglass fairings but even with the limited experience I do have, none ever exhibited the consistent gap along its length that this Anti Splat fairing does. There is no way this fairing is going to seal itself shut without some help. Sure, using Velcro as an alternative to aluminum hinge is a more economical alternative but in this particular application I choose to use a material I have never had any trouble with and am most comfortable using. Velcro? Not for me. Call me a traditionalist. Good thing I happen to have some spare hinge on hand.