[deltamike197]

I've been flying my -6A with with the nose gear leg faring attached per plans (hose clamp at the bottom enclosing the fiberglass and hinge pin). I have not yet installed the upper transition fairing at the underside of the cowling and that may be part of the problem (will install during annual over the next few weeks). The problem has been that if I lower the nose wheel a bit too quickly (ie. not softly enough), the leg fairing pops out of the hose clamp and rattles around annoyingly (no damage except paint scratches on top of nose wheel fairing). I'm using a hose clamp appx 5/16 inches wide, its' not stainless steel so I don't torque down on it really hard or the threads will strip. Do I need a wider clamp, tougher steel or ??? Or... will installing the upper transition fairing hold everything in place so this won't happen again?

One more thing...I bought a nose leg to cowl transition from Fairings-Etc. It's a beautiful part that fits perfectly but getting it over the leg fairing before sliding it up and fastening it to the cowl is difficult. Once the airplane is painted I'm thinking that taking this part on and off without scratching the leg fairing is going to be nearly impossible. I thought about splitting it down the middle once the fitting is completed but don't like the idea much. Flexing the part to install it is difficult do to the thick layers of fiber glass so I'm concerned about cracking the fiberglass and the paint later. Any ideas?

 

[robertahegy]

I never had any problems with paint cracking just flexing the fairing to remove it. You kinda need to pull one side up and the other down while you pull the ends outward. This seems to flex it nicely.

Make sure you have enough clearance around the upper fairing and the gear leg fairing to allow some flex and make sure the leg fairing isn't too high causing it to hit up in the cowling. I used to wrap some duct tape around the gear leg to add some padding and "grip" to the worm clamp. Just a 1/4" piece around the leg once will do.

Roberta

 

[gasman]

the leg fairing pops out of the hose clamp and rattles around annoyingly (no damage except paint scratches on top of nose wheel fairing). I'm using a hose clamp appx 5/16 inches wide, its' not stainless steel so I don't torque down on it really hard or the threads will strip. Any ideas?

Replace the hose clamp with a quality one so you can tighten it down. Then follow Roberta's thoughts.

 

[kbelue]

My fairing came out a lot until I riveted the fairing to the clamp. Never popped out again.

 

[woodmanrog]

I found the hose clamps always seemed to get loose so I took white electrical tape and wrapped a few layers. Ended the problem and looks much better.