[Rupester]

I have my leg fairings installed and am happy with their alignment, I.e. Almost no rudder trim at all. (OK, the ball is less than 1/6 ball width out.). I'm not sure how to mark them in some foolproof way to assure they're reinstalled in the same position after removal for maintenance, painting, etc. The intersection fairings allow some twisting "wiggle room", so I can 't rely on them for perfect alignment. Given how sensitive these planes are to leg fairing mis alignment, anybody have a foolproof way to mark them?

 

[bruceh]

I was researching this recently and one idea was to bond some wood (like the gear leg stiffeners in Van's plans but not full length) to the upper ends of the gear legs, then wrap with a bit of fiberglass for strength. Drill a hole through the fairing and through the wood. Then you can use a piece of hinge pin to "stake" them into the correct location.

 

[bullojm1]

I made a pair of brackets per each side:

Then how they are attached to the gear legs:

The gear leg fairings are screws onto the brackets on the trailing edge with a single #6 countersunk screw on a tinneman washer per side.

The hole on the forward side of the gear leg fairing is so I can adjust the hose clamp for alignment.

 

[Rupester]

Mike,
... the brackets themselves are fully rigid enough to prevent movement? ..... like, .063 or such?

 

[bullojm1]

Mike,
... the brackets themselves are fully rigid enough to prevent movement? ..... like, .063 or such?

Terry,

Yup, I flew for about 50 hours with just these brackets holding alignment. They are made out of 0.063" sheet. I also have a simple tab bracket which I permanently attached to the bottom of the gear leg fairing to keep it aligned. Here's a pic of it:

And it simply attaches to the lower gear leg with a hose clamp:

 

[Stewie]

Great idea!

Great idea Mike - I'm going to copy your lower bracket. I've got the top of my fairing done per the plans, but they still misalign themselves after several hours of flight (I have yet to make the upper/lower intersection fairings). Looks like the extra metal tab/clamp at the bottom might add enough extra support to keep things in place.

 

[Eddie P]

Mike B, your fairing work is fantastic. Do you have any pictures of the transition fairings? Do you have problems (and solutions) with the transition fairings (gear leg fairings to fuse fairing) breaking or widening out due to gear flex?

 

[bullojm1]

So far I only have the upper intersection fairings finished. They are attached using a single screw and so far haven't shown any signs of wear or fatigue. Here are a few pictures:

And the single attachment point:

I made these by starting with the RVBits intersection fairings, then heavily modified them. If I would do it all over again, I would of started from scratch. My complete write-up on how I made these start here:

http://www.rvplane.com/?categoryid=10000&dayid=1091

 

[Rupester]

Good stuff here ... thanks!

 

[TX7A]

Question for Mike Bullock

I made a pair of brackets per each side:

Then how they are attached to the gear legs:

The gear leg fairings are screws onto the brackets on the trailing edge with a single #6 countersunk screw on a tinneman washer per side.

The hole on the forward side of the gear leg fairing is so I can adjust the hose clamp for alignment.

Mike:
I guess I'm not seeing this, but why is it necessary to have the second hose clamp on the upper ears of the brackets? It seems like that the one clamp that goes through the slots & around the gear leg would serve to tighten & secure. What am I missing?
I really like your system. Thanks for sharing.

Sam

 

[bullojm1]

Mike:
I guess I'm not seeing this, but why is it necessary to have the second hose clamp on the upper ears of the brackets? It seems like that the one clamp that goes through the slots & around the gear leg would serve to tighten & secure. What am I missing?
I really like your system. Thanks for sharing.

Sam

Sam,

I originally started out with just the top hose clamp. After the first round of brackets developed a crack, I added the second clamp hole to the new set of brackets I made. I suppose you could get by with just a single clamp in the lower position. Give it a try and report back!

 

[TX7A]

Got it. I may just stick with using two clamps but I think I'll use the narrow band style. (5/16")

Thanks, Mike.

Sam

 

[airguy]

I just did my main gear leg fairings last week, and I have the wooden gear leg stiffeners made by WoodmanRog here on the forums. When I riveted the piano hinge into the fiberglass fairings, I measured carefully and set the hinges at a depth that made sure that both individual hinge pieces seat themselves on the OUTSIDE trailing edges of the wood stiffeners, and then the hinge pin pulls them together to a neat trailing edge. This way I can align the wooden stiffeners using the Vans recommended method with an extended centerline and piece of string, fiberglass them into place, and then the fairings will always ride true on those stiffeners.

Or at least, that's the plan - I'll let you know how it works once I'm flying!

 

[curtis]

All I do to make sure that my gear leg fairings go back on the same way each time:
1. Install gear leg fairing with hinge pin installed.
2. Install lower gear leg to wheel pant intersection fairing. (This is the step that put the gear leg fairing back into the correct alignment.)
3. Clamp upper tabs of gear leg fairing with hose clamp, as per plans, taking care not to twist on the fairing.
4. Install upper gear leg to fuselage intersection fairing.

I have used this method since day one and I have never had an issue with how the ball is centered during flight.

 

[WAM120RV]

Necessary?

Guys

Actually the intersection fairings will keep them in alignment positioning them top and bottom.

While brackets are a good idea while setting up the position of the fairings to ensure there is no effect in flight testing and before laying up the intersection fairings, in effect the bracket will become belt and braces when the intersection fairings are done.