I had to repair my nose gear wheel pants (again) and took the opportunity to rebuild them a little to accommodate a set of Tug Guards. My nose gear strut was loose in it's engine mount socket which put the axle where tow bars attach off-level by about a centimeter. Wasn't an issue with the Bogert but the closing mechanism on my Best Tug is very precise, so lining it up became problematic with the closure mechanism ultimately crunching the fiberglass around the hole on the closure side. I repaired the nose gear strut looseness, but I was putting off the fiberglass repair until I got marshaled into a small ditch at a grass field which now mandated attention. I had a pair of Flyboys Tug Guards but never put them on because they needed a smaller opening in the fiberglass than what the OB created. I opted to start over, glass over the tow bar holes and re-cut new holes for the Tug Guards. Those guards are very well-machined, although kind of expensive. I'm pleased with the appearance, however, and so far they work really well in protecting the surrounding paint and fiberglass. A lot of people get the version for countersunk rivets I'm told, but I'm just not that ambitious and wanted something easy to drill out when I have to repair the wheel pants again so I just pulled them.
