Van's Air Force
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Fairings that improve stalling and landing
- Thread starter biggles
- Start date
gmcjetpilot
Well Known Member
Build per plans, fly than worry about it
Go down to: The RV-8 "tail-shake" story:
http://www.romeolima.com/RV8/Flying.htm
The "Cuff" as I read Randy's write up is the upper gear leg to body fairing. That is key to the stall character. Clearly with RV-8 the upper gear leg fairing (cuff) does interact with the wing at high angles of attack, it's right next to the wing, so that upper fairing/cuff has affect on the stall. The RV-8A is a different story. The main gear on the "A-model" is tucked under the wing.
Start with the stock or a homemade gear leg fairing design. I'm sure one of the commercial pre-fab gear fairing vendors might make claims their "cuff" is better for the RV-8, but the RV-8 really does not have a problem to "fix". The gear fairing/cuffs are part of the basic plans. Who is to say one cuff is better than another, unless comparative test are done.
The cuff's Randy made are pretty. You can make them more swoopy with more curves or larger radius, it might change the local air-flow more (good or bad). Personally I'm a shameless thief, I steal good ideas. I'd make them just like Randy made them. If you want pre-made fairings do it for convenience, not that they're better for landing or stalls.
The "strake" is a different deal:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=4734&highlight=Strake
I would not put a strake on unless you want to experiment. In general when you improve one thing, like low speed aerodynamic flow, you tend to lose somewhere else, usually a little more high speed drag. Aerodynamic treatments and modifications, like VG's (vortex generators) or "strakes" can have noticeable affect on aircraft performance. They are used all the time on commercial aircraft. I would ues the "KISS" principle and fly first than decide. The guys with the strakes swear by them. How the affect landing in ground effect?
May I suggest just build per plans, fly and worry about it later. If you want to buy pre-made gear leg fairings ("cuffs") or make them your self, does not matter. Personally "custom fit" (make yourself) cuffs are a minor pain to make, but in my opinion it's no big deal. Some like the pre-made ones and some don't, finding they don't fit as well as they like.
Here are the pre-fab guys:
http://aerosu.com/index.htm
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...38-558&browse=airframe&product=inter-fairings
http://www.fairings-etc.com/
Do you mean the "Strakes" and "Cuffs".biggles said:
Go down to: The RV-8 "tail-shake" story:
http://www.romeolima.com/RV8/Flying.htm
The "Cuff" as I read Randy's write up is the upper gear leg to body fairing. That is key to the stall character. Clearly with RV-8 the upper gear leg fairing (cuff) does interact with the wing at high angles of attack, it's right next to the wing, so that upper fairing/cuff has affect on the stall. The RV-8A is a different story. The main gear on the "A-model" is tucked under the wing.
Start with the stock or a homemade gear leg fairing design. I'm sure one of the commercial pre-fab gear fairing vendors might make claims their "cuff" is better for the RV-8, but the RV-8 really does not have a problem to "fix". The gear fairing/cuffs are part of the basic plans. Who is to say one cuff is better than another, unless comparative test are done.
The cuff's Randy made are pretty. You can make them more swoopy with more curves or larger radius, it might change the local air-flow more (good or bad). Personally I'm a shameless thief, I steal good ideas. I'd make them just like Randy made them. If you want pre-made fairings do it for convenience, not that they're better for landing or stalls.
The "strake" is a different deal:
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=4734&highlight=Strake
I would not put a strake on unless you want to experiment. In general when you improve one thing, like low speed aerodynamic flow, you tend to lose somewhere else, usually a little more high speed drag. Aerodynamic treatments and modifications, like VG's (vortex generators) or "strakes" can have noticeable affect on aircraft performance. They are used all the time on commercial aircraft. I would ues the "KISS" principle and fly first than decide. The guys with the strakes swear by them. How the affect landing in ground effect?
May I suggest just build per plans, fly and worry about it later. If you want to buy pre-made gear leg fairings ("cuffs") or make them your self, does not matter. Personally "custom fit" (make yourself) cuffs are a minor pain to make, but in my opinion it's no big deal. Some like the pre-made ones and some don't, finding they don't fit as well as they like.
Here are the pre-fab guys:
http://aerosu.com/index.htm
http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin...38-558&browse=airframe&product=inter-fairings
http://www.fairings-etc.com/
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