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Wheel pants old vs new style

Radioflyer

Well Known Member
I'm looking for a cheap set of wheel pants to retrofit on to a non-RV. Occasionally I come across the old VA-108 wheel pants for an ok price. 1) Are they for the 5.00x5 tires? 2) is there really a significant aerodynamic improvement between the old style VS the newer pressure recovery types?
 
yes they are for the 500x5. i have been told the new pants are good for a few knots. I have the old style, i like the look of them better. however, they are rather tight on the tires and care must be used when fitting them to get tire clearance.

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB
 
If I remember correctly, we gained 6 knots when we upgraded Louise’s RV-6 from the original, old pants to the new ones - it was not insignificant!
 
Ok,thanks for the data points. Sounds like between clearance and aerodymics, I should just go the newer type after all.
 
If I remember correctly, we gained 6 knots when we upgraded Louise’s RV-6 from the original, old pants to the new ones - it was not insignificant!

That seems to good to be true. . A neighbor with a -8 claims 4 knot gain from no pants to new ones. Another 5 to 6 knots from the gear fairings. .
 
That seems to good to be true. . A neighbor with a -8 claims 4 knot gain from no pants to new ones. Another 5 to 6 knots from the gear fairings. .

That is way off what is typical.

When the new Pressure recovery wheel pants and leg fairings were introduced, testing showed a speed gain of about 7 mph over the original fairings.
People typically get about a 15 mph increase in cruise speed with all fairings vs none (varies depending on tri-gear or tail dragged)

When the RV-8A was developed, flight testing showed that flat out max speed increased by almost 25 mph after switching from bare gear to all fairings installed.
 
That is way off what is typical.

When the new Pressure recovery wheel pants and leg fairings were introduced, testing showed a speed gain of about 7 mph over the original fairings.
People typically get about a 15 mph increase in cruise speed with all fairings vs none (varies depending on tri-gear or tail dragged)

When the RV-8A was developed, flight testing showed that flat out max speed increased by almost 25 mph after switching from bare gear to all fairings installed.

Goign back and looking at our notes from the -6 upgrade, yes - we saw about 20 knots from completely bare gear to all new stuff, and yes - 6 knots from old config to new config. Now we’re goign to have a fresh engine and prop on the plane - it’ll be the fastest in our (piston) fleet!

Paul
 
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