[Ron B.]

My friend has just finished his RV-14 (tailwheel) and is wandering if for break in purposes he should leave his wheel pants off? Problem I see with that is he will be flying off my strip and I graveled it because it was too soft in all the wet we get here. I have seeded the gravel but the grass has not fully covered over. I fly my 14A with no issue thus far but have wheel pants.
How much damage would one expect flying a taildragger off a gravel surface without wheel pants?
Thanks Ron

 

[kiwipete]

Ron

For the 6 or so rv’s I’ve test flown they have all had the pants on.
My take on it is that running at 75% Yes I’ll go faster but that = more cooling and on a new engine the more cooling the better.
Having the pants on will certainly reduce the chance of throwing stones onto the tail.

Regards

Peter