M

mikeangiulo

Active Member
I'm about to place an order from fairings-etc for a set of intersection and wheel fairings for the Grove gear on an RV8.

I notice that they also sell an empennage fairing kit. Is that because I'm likely to not want the factory fairing? Can someone comment on the quality of a recently produced Van's empennage fairing vs. the aftermarket one? I'm building a 'ten foot airplane' so if the difference is a "Grand Champion/Lindy Award" level of tolerance then I'm not worried about it.

Thanks,
-Mike Angiulo
 
I don't know about the 8. But my Van's 7 emp fairing fit great right out of the box.
 
I had the opposite experience that Kevin had. The emp fairing for my 6A from Vans would have needed quite a bit of tweaking to get it close to fitting properly, whereas the one I got from Fairings-Etc fit like a glove.

Regards,
 
Like Jeff, the empennage fairing included with my -6A kit (vintage 2000) needed some work to get it to fit right. We must remember that before matched hole technology, not all empennages were attached and rigged in exactly the same way. There is a lot of leeway there. One builder might have a reasonably good fit right out of the box and the next builder suffer a perfectly awful fit because among other things, even the slightest deviation from the plans in attaching the tail group can throw off a fairings' fit dramatically.

That was then and this is now. I suspect that given the matched hole quality inherent in today's kits, tail groups in general are going to installed in a more consistent manner from airplane to airplane.

To save some significant bucks, it is possible to forgo buying an after market empennage fairing until you see for yourself exactly how the kit supplied fairing is going to fit. If you can't live with it, you can always return it later and take the 10% restocking hit.

BTW, Bob's intersection fairings for the Grove Gear airfoil are excellent. He puts out a great product and is a super guy to deal with.
 
Go For it

Fairings etc. tail fairing is great:D Mine fit perfect right out of the box.
Just a note though, if you have the grove airfoil gear I would not bother with the wheelpant fairings. They are very easy to lay up on your own.
 
My Van's fairing fit pretty well. After the experience gained from fitting and finishing the canopy skirt and cowling, the minor things I had to do to the Empennage were a piece of cake!

Paul
 
Fairings

I used Fairings-Etc's fairing and it fit perfect. Bob also has some really nice wing root fairings that are for one of the other RV's, but with a little work, they will fit the 8. Much nicer then Van's.
 
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