[iamtheari]

I have been flying my RV-14 for about 3 years and I’m finally getting around to doing the landing gear fairings. Mine is a tail dragger, so I’m working in section 46B of the plans. I’ve followed the plans as carefully as always, including my best understanding of the placement of the hinge that holds the gear leg fairing closed. But my end result leaves a bit of a gap in the trailing edge, rather than the hinge “holding the trailing edge closed with a slight amount of pressure” as the plans say on page 46B-12 step 1. For you tricycle RV-14A builders, it’s the same as page 46A-20 step 1.

It’s not a huge gap, but it’s visible. My options seem to be:

1. Build on, accept the gap
2. Figure out a way to fill the gap with epoxy/flox mixture
3. Order new piano hinges and match-drill to my gear leg fairings but with them located slightly more forward to pull the gap closed (about $17 in materials)
4. Order new piano hinges and gear leg fairings and rewind to page 46B-10 (about $350 in materials)

Any thoughts from others who have faced this problem in the past?

 

[D-Dubya]

Well, Option 1 is viable, as that's not a highly visible area and most people won't ever notice it. But it obviously bothers you, or you wouldn't have posted it on here. Option 2 would seal that leg in, which would preclude you from removing the fairing to replace a brake line down the road. So it seems to me like Option 3 would be the easiest, fastest, and least expensive way to go.

 

[Scott Hersha]

Short answer - #3. That gap would bother me too.

 

[wirejock]

Easy fix, no parts to order. Wax the hinge eyes. Wax the hinge pin.
Spread a bead of flox along the offending gap, both surfaces. Slip a piece of waxed 4Mil plastic sheet between the two sides. Assemble. Let it cure. Disassemble. Remove the plastic. Reassemble and sand the exterior to the shape you want. Easy peasy

 

[rvbuilder2002]

From a drag standpoint, the thinner the trailing edge the better.
Aside from that, any of your suggested options are good if they satisfy you ( the thing that matters).
I personally would go with # 3. I would use the removed hinge as a drill guide to drill the new hinge to be positioned just slightly further fwd.

 

[iamtheari]

Larry: Thanks for the tips on option 2. That’s kind of what I was thinking of doing, except I was trying to figure out a way to tape over the hinge instead of using wax. Any tips on a good wax to use here? As far as the layer separating the two halves goes, I wonder if wax paper would do the job.

Scott: Thanks for your input on option 3. That’s kind of what I envisioned, somehow clamping the drilled hinge to the new material with an offset, drilling the same holes, and then putting it into the fairing. My main concern with this option is having to guess how far forward to move the hinge in the fairing. A secondary concern is the risk of introducing twist in the fairing by not getting the two halves perfectly aligned in the clamp-and-drill process.

I’ll spend some more time scratching my head and considering input on the situation. Thanks for all of that so far!

 

[sf3543]

I have been flying my RV-14 for about 3 years and I’m finally getting around to doing the landing gear fairings. Mine is a tail dragger, so I’m working in section 46B of the plans. I’ve followed the plans as carefully as always, including my best understanding of the placement of the hinge that holds the gear leg fairing closed. But my end result leaves a bit of a gap in the trailing edge, rather than the hinge “holding the trailing edge closed with a slight amount of pressure” as the plans say on page 46B-12 step 1. For you tricycle RV-14A builders, it’s the same as page 46A-20 step 1.

It’s not a huge gap, but it’s visible. My options seem to be:

1. Build on, accept the gap
2. Figure out a way to fill the gap with epoxy/flox mixture
3. Order new piano hinges and match-drill to my gear leg fairings but with them located slightly more forward to pull the gap closed (about $17 in materials)
4. Order new piano hinges and gear leg fairings and rewind to page 46B-10 (about $350 in materials)

Any thoughts from others who have faced this problem in the past?

I have solved the gap problem on the RVs I have built by cutting off the trailing edge of the bottom skin of the fairing and glassing in a wedge for the entire length. The trailing edge is always perfect and I have not had any issues with flexing from the landinggear
attached are a couple of pictures I Have on my iPad showing the top and bottom side of the fairing.
all I did was cut behind the the hinge on the bottom skin. Them put the hinge back together with the hinge pin On a table. then I inserted a piece of wood the same thickness as the gear to spread it out about the same as if it was installed. I taped over te hinge with packing tape then used epoxy and flox to fill in the area behind the hinge on to the top skin. After it sets up just sand to shape. I have more detailed pictures of the process if you are interested
good luck

 

[sf3543]

I have been flying my RV-14 for about 3 years and I’m finally getting around to doing the landing gear fairings. Mine is a tail dragger, so I’m working in section 46B of the plans. I’ve followed the plans as carefully as always, including my best understanding of the placement of the hinge that holds the gear leg fairing closed. But my end result leaves a bit of a gap in the trailing edge, rather than the hinge “holding the trailing edge closed with a slight amount of pressure” as the plans say on page 46B-12 step 1. For you tricycle RV-14A builders, it’s the same as page 46A-20 step 1.

It’s not a huge gap, but it’s visible. My options seem to be:

1. Build on, accept the gap
2. Figure out a way to fill the gap with epoxy/flox mixture
3. Order new piano hinges and match-drill to my gear leg fairings but with them located slightly more forward to pull the gap closed (about $17 in materials)
4. Order new piano hinges and gear leg fairings and rewind to page 46B-10 (about $350 in materials)

Any thoughts from others who have faced this problem in the past?

Here are a couple more pictures of what I described when I was building an RV8. In this one I used some modeling clay to straighten the line at the hinge.
Hope this helps or gives you some ideas.

 

[iamtheari]

I finally riveted the hinges to the leg fairings today, sanded the trailing edges even, and put them on the plane. The gaps aren’t that bad. Each leg has a gap about 6” long. The worst one is 5/64” at the widest. The rest is much smaller. I’m going to build on for now and then, next time they’re off the plane, fill them with flox/epoxy. I think Boelube paste on the hinge should keep the epoxy from sticking there.