flying with wheelpant brackets but no wheelpants

[alpinelakespilot2000]

I plan to fly my first 20 hours or so without wheel pants. Do I need to take the wheel pant brackets off too? After Mike Seager and I had a flat tire at Astoria we flew back to Vernonia with one wheel pant off (but left the bracket on), so I know it's not an issue short term, just wondered about doing it for 20-ish hours. What did you do during your Phase 1 if you flew without wheel pants?

[Mike S]

I flew without the pants, but the brackets were in place----probably 15 hours.

Not a problem for me.

[rv6rick]

You can fly with the wheel pant brackets and no wheel pants till the cows come home. If you frequent grass strips you'll snag some of the tall grass but that's about it.

Good Luck with your Phase 1 testing!

Originally Posted by alpinelakespilot2000

I plan to fly my first 20 hours or so without wheel pants. Do I need to take the wheel pant brackets off too? After Mike Seager and I had a flat tire at Astoria we flew back to Vernonia with one wheel pant off (but left the bracket on), so I know it's not an issue short term, just wondered about doing it for 20-ish hours. What did you do during your Phase 1 if you flew without wheel pants?

[Jim Kiloh]

I flew for sixty something hours without wheel pants, no damage at all just a lot of drag.

[flyboy1963]

Lots of guys fly all winter without pants...... but what I noticed was on rollout, there was a loud buzzing vibration from the bracket, which stopped if I touched the brakes.
I tried putting a little load on them by wiring them to the leg, but even that didn't really seem to help.

[mikerkba]

I flew my first year, 130 hours +/-, with the bare brackets. Didn't do the gear fairings the wheel pants until the first condition inspection.

No issues inflight until I popped what I hope was a feral cat at an airport north of Detroit as I rotated for takeoff at dusk. At the time, I saw enough of a flash of black running left to right just barely in front of the wing. I thought it was a skunk. I felt and heard a good thud, but since the plane was flying fine, I figured I'd continue home with my passenger. (Figured sit was a tire strike not a prop strike.) Better to be back with my tools, parts, known A&P, and car in Virginia than to be stuck hours away with nothing. Landed uneventfully, tire inflated and brakes in fine order. The bracket was bent back just over 90 degrees though.

Called the airport the next day and they had found nothing. My veterinarian friend examined the hair stuck in the now bent bracket and rendered a field opinion that it was a cat.

[nedrose]

I flew without wheel pants and had on of the brackets crack. I made a plate I could screw on the inboard side to give them support and keep from vibrating.

ned rose
42TD

[Walt]

I run safety wire from the gear leg to the fore and aft ends of the bracket to help prevent them from flapping in the breeze.

[cajunwings]

Sort of a related question. How much space should there be between the pant bracket and the brake disc? I'm helping a friend with a RV6A and this a/c has about a 1/8" gap at the most. Seems closer than anything i've seen before.

Don B KARA