Praise the Creative, be critical of radical airframe ideas
tinman said:
I am facing this situation currently. I am very tempted to glass the trailing edges together since it is unlikely that I will need to access the gear leg again. If I did need to access the leg, I would have to split the seam and repair the paint...Am I missing something here?
That is a very acceptable method. It saves cost and weight. It's used by the Harmon Rocket builders and Team Rocket (F1).
Hey it does not hurt to ask. There are no stupid ideas. That is the point of the community, to vent ideas. However I have to call it as I see it, and just giving my opinion.
I have learned a lot and stole my share of good ideas from others on this and other online RV list's. There are better ways sometime, no doubt. Yes we should try to make it better, but after 30 years of RV's, most, not all, of the alternate "airframe" ideas amd ways of doing things have been explored. I would recommend being very conservative with the basic airframe changes. Unless you are an engineer or get Van's Aircraft concurrence, I'd proceed with extreme caution. Again, rule #1, follow the plans, it will save you from yourself. Trust me.
Fairings have KILLED! Got your attention? Well its true a tail intersection fairing came loose and the part that hangs down behind the torque tube and caused a jam. In another case, which also cause an elevator jam, the fixed leading edge horizontal stab tip faring jammed with the elevator faring due to gaps being too small. FOLLOW THE PLANS!
A good sources of "alternate ways" can be found in old RVators (the commercial compilation "X years of the RVator" is pretty good) and other sites, the biggest being Matronics.
Again for all the "yea go your own way" guys, trust me. I was an out of box thinker, once; did it anyway but the plan's way. Time and time again I made more work, and even when the results where good, I still often wished I had just stuck to the plans. Trust me.
Save your creative genius for the instrument panel layout, fancy paint job, fuzzy dice and alligator seat covers.
Cheers all you "true men of genius".
(one of my favorite commercials) I ain't hating the creative folks, but I have to call poo-poo on an idea as I see it. Velcro should not be used for any AIRFRAME structure, including secondary structure like fairings. PS the single hose clamp and glass tab will nor keep the fairing in place at 200 mph if the trailing edge comes unzipped in my opinion. I think the transition "cuffs" top and bottom may retain it? Who knows but I don't want to find out.