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  #11  
Old 01-05-2013, 10:35 AM
Mike S's Avatar
Mike S Mike S is offline
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Terry, I believe this was done to Steve Barnards plane, n157st.

Steve only flew a short time with the root fairings, and then removed them.

At the time, he had the fastest 6a, Tracy Salor had the fastest 6, and of course Dave Anders with his 4 was the fastest RV. This was in the "golden" years of CAFE competition.
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  #12  
Old 01-05-2013, 10:55 AM
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Mike S Mike S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F1Boss View Post
To better understand the design intentions, read up on the AR-5.
http://www.ar-5.com/tapes.html

"Why it goes so fast" is a really interesting story, his discussions on the nozzle effect are very good.
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VAF 909

Rv-10, N210LM.

Flying as of 12/4/2010

Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011

Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.

"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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  #13  
Old 01-15-2013, 08:17 PM
Falcontech Falcontech is offline
 
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Location: Big Bear CA
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I have been reading Kelly Johnson's autobiography "More Than My Share of It All." He was trying to correct a directional instability problem on the Lockheed model 10 Electra. One of the fixes was "we removed the wing fillets, or fairings onto the fuselage--put on apparently because they were coming into style and being used successfully on such airplanes as the Douglas DC-1."
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  #14  
Old 03-04-2013, 12:47 PM
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ronschreck ronschreck is offline
 
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Default Me too.

I would also be interested in something other than the standard rubber fairings. Not trying to go faster (tho that would be OK) but trying to find something that won't break away at the most inopportune times. You wouldn't believe the racket that a flailing rubber fairing makes when it separates at 200+ knots!

I suppose I could lay up some composite fairings but there must be someone who has already done the work. Anybody?
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  #15  
Old 03-04-2013, 01:58 PM
Sid Lambert Sid Lambert is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ronschreck View Post
You wouldn't believe the racket that a flailing rubber fairing makes when it separates at 200+ knots!

Haha, same thing happened to me. (170kts though). Coming out of a loop one of the rubbers popped out and made a horrible noise. It's amazing how calmly you get the airplane straight, level and slowed down before trouble shooting those noises.

Back to the thread topic....

The Speed with Economy book talks in length about how any angle less than 90 needs to have a radiused fairing. Our wings meet the fuse with less than 90 because of dihedral. I haven't tested but I have heard 20 people say 20 different things.
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  #16  
Old 03-04-2013, 04:27 PM
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woodmanrog woodmanrog is offline
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Florida
Posts: 774
Default Get rid of them

On my first RV6 I had molded wing root fairings. They looked really nice. My friend(guru) who has won more awards for RV construction and speeds than most, took one look and told me to get rid of them and put it back to Van's design. I did speed test and GAINED 8 KNOTS by going back to the original design.(Read my article on speed mods) I just might mention that gaining speed in the air by reducing drag means a difference in amount of fuel used at a given RPM. I happen to think that is an important benefit to having a slicker airplane. Also I might mention that if the distance between the fairing and the fuselage is the required 1/8 inch, the rubber will not come out at 17 knots. I'll prove that to anybody who wants to go for a ride with me.
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  #17  
Old 03-04-2013, 05:05 PM
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JonJay JonJay is offline
 
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Not too many of us going purposefully over 200kts (Smokey). I would find out what extrusion supplier Van's is using for that part. My guess is that it is a standard product. With the thousands of extrusions out there, if you where able to find one with a deeper cut or overlap and perhaps slightly thicker and/or stiffer, it might just work. That would be a relatively easy "fix".
Another idea, and one I am not a big fan of, would be to glue the extrusion on. This has been tried with mostly bad results. However, if you where to just glue a few inches of each end, perhaps it would keep the thing from un-zipping?
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  #18  
Old 03-05-2013, 10:57 PM
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KRviator KRviator is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Clark
Here is a shot of a 747-400, no radius, no fairing. Cool paint job, though!
That's what happens when you park your airplane too close to the perimeter fence in Sydney, overnight!
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  #19  
Old 03-05-2013, 11:27 PM
chrish chrish is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KRviator View Post
That's what happens when you park your airplane too close to the perimeter fence in Sydney, overnight!
The problem we are having is too many of them are being 'parked' permanently with no replacements. In fact the boss has no qualms about parking all of the aircraft for pilots wearing a red tie
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  #20  
Old 03-06-2013, 11:31 AM
MarkSchmitz MarkSchmitz is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 42
Default Evo style fairings on RV-8

Quote:
Originally Posted by F1Boss View Post
The wing root fairing makes up for an 'incorrect' fuselage section at the wing attach area. I'll wager the 747 has a nearly 90 deg angle there, with no fuselage taper. Very efficient, almost like a mid-wing application.
To exhibit the opposite, look at a Spitfire, or a C-47: absolutely the largest fairings in the business!
All 3 ships are known as good flying types, and very good in their intended mission profiles. The fairings fitted to each help with their success.
A wing root fairing is supposed to help with climb, and maneuvering flight - both higher alpha than cruise flight.
To better understand the design intentions, read up on the AR-5. I see similar straight flow lines on the Evo fuselage, if that is the design intention of the application.
Does the typical RV need a larger fairing? Probably not, but simplicity has triumphed over any R&D to determine if such might help.
Personally, I think they 'look' appropriate, so they are fitted to my designs. Do they help? Dunno, but the chick's dig 'em.
Also, on the Evo, part of the flap operating system is hidden under the fairing...so they actually serve a second purpose!
I have sold a few sets of fairings to -8 builders, but have never heard back regarding any performance changes.

Carry on!
Mark

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone actually flying with the Evo style fairings on their RV-8. Very much like the look, just wondering about flight characteristic impact (aside from a possible speed penalty.)

Thanks -

Another Mark...
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