Gear leg fairings/fillets

[jetblackaircraft]

Does anyone know of any companies that make better gear leg fillets? The ones supplied with the Van's kits leave a bit to be desired. They require a lot of finish work and are kind of heavy as far as composite parts go....

[Transporter]

See http://www.fairings-etc.com/

Mike

[TSwezey]

Originally Posted by Transporter

See http://www.fairings-etc.com/

Mike

Their's are a 100 times better than Vans! I don't know why Van's even bothers sending the junk they send when it comes to fairings!

[rv4dude]

http://www.fairings-etc.com/

Real nice fellow and good products!

[N941WR]

Which RV do you have?

No one makes them for the RV-9. RV-9A yes, but not the -9.

I've tried to make the -7s work but they didn't some out so go good and need to be remade.

[N916K]

Originally Posted by N941WR

Which RV do you have?

No one makes them for the RV-9. RV-9A yes, but not the -9.

I've tried to make the -7s work but they didn't some out so go good and need to be remade.

I used the RV-7 top ones. Had to cut off the part that touches the gear leg fairing and add some fiberglass. In the end it was easier that starting from scratch.

The lowers on mine are attached to the wheel pants. You can make those without any tooling.

Cam

[jetblackaircraft]

Thanks! What about different wing tips? Any options there?

Not for my airplane, just seeing if there's a market for this stuff. Trying to expand my product line.

Currently I'm making carbon fiber UAV (unmanned air vehicle) parts and would like to get into the homebuilt fullsize market.

Here's a couple of pics of a wing I've made for a UAV:





The 28" long 12" chord wing section weighs only 12oz and when placed between two saw horses 24" apart it will hold over 50lbs in the center.

So, using the same process and materials (possibly fiberglass instead of carbon fiber) I would like to look into making some fairings for Van's aircraft. Possibly even some wingtips if there are not many options there.

I know Van's airplanes have incredibly short takeoff and landing anyway, but some modified wing tip shapes might help shorten takeoff and increase cruise speed.

I'd be curious to know what you guys think.

Mike

[macrafic]

Aero-Strategies Unlimited (http://www.aerosu.com/part3.htm). I bought a rotating fuselage stand from a guy who had finished his RV. He had originally bought fairings-etc fairings and, while finding them MUCH better than Vans', was still not satisfied. Ordered some from Aero-Strategies, and liked them even better. I haven't reached that far yet, so am simply relaying one man's opinion. Like everything else on our planes, its nice to have options!

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by macrafic

Aero-Strategies Unlimited (http://www.aerosu.com/part3.htm). I bought a rotating fuselage stand from a guy who had finished his RV. He had originally bought fairings-etc fairings and, while finding them MUCH better than Vans', was still not satisfied. Ordered some from Aero-Strategies, and liked them even better. I haven't reached that far yet, so am simply relaying one man's opinion. Like everything else on our planes, its nice to have options!

From looking at the Aero-Straegies web site, the product looks just fine......

However, the products from Fairings-etc are of very high quality, and by no means cheap! I just can't grasp the "still not satisfied" statement, and then ordering the products stated above, as a replacement. I just don't see anything better about them.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[Bob Axsom]

I know this is disgusting to hear but why subject yourself to these "products". These little fairings are very easy to make with modeling clay from Hobby Lobby and fiberglass. The finished product is a perfect fit. Making molds for big things like wingtips is more work but man they comeout good! The experience is priceless.

Bob Axsom