adamsrv10

This section is very similar to the main gear fairings in that you find the center point of the aft point of the fairing, extend this centerline to the front of the rear pant, then put the 2 halves together and drill #40 holes along the flange at the specified distances. I used a piece of tape with the distances marked out and taped it along the fairings to mark the drill locations. You then use the same “V” wedge that was used on the main gear to help prop the fairing up so the height of the aft center point is a specific distance above the table. This measurement was then transfered to the front using a laser level and double checking with a square.

It’s then time to start working on fitting the faring to the nosewheel. One thing that I did that wasn’t outlined in the plans was to mark the location of the nose fork on both sides and extend those line rearward.. As you can tell by the tape and multiple lines, this did take a couple of iterations to get right. I ended up using a laser level to mark them after aligning the beam with the forks. A wooden spacer is also taped to the top of the tire.

I then marked the center point between the 2 extended nose fork lines and used that location, along with my laser level to make sure that the fairing was always inline with the tire. I’ve still got the plane up on jacks and there is no weight on the front tire, but it’s on the ground enough to not allow it to swivel.. So this mark shouldn’t change as I proceed.

I reused the “V” wedge that I had made and repurposed it to hold the center point of the fairing at the proper height from the floor. Very similar to the jig I used for the main gear. Later, I will cut the V wedge in half and use it on both the front and aft holes of the fairing.

I then followed the plans to drill a 1.5″ hole into the front fairing and trim the tangent lines to allow clearance for the nose gear leg. Once that was done, I was able to file a little bit more along the edges and get the front re-cleco’ed to the rear.

Then after making sure the front and aft locations of the fairing were at the proper height from the floor, you move on to drilling the screw holes into the fairings for the fairing brackets. These ones seemed to be more of a pain compared to the main gear as I had a hard time getting a light from the inside to cast a shadow that I could see on the opaque fairing.

Once again you repeat the main gear procedures for squirting a flox/cabo mixture around the fairing brackets and screws to build up the area inside. I, once again, drilled small holes around the perimeter of the screw hole and used a syringe to squirt in the mixture. Below is a shot of the fairing bracket screwed into place and the hole drilled for a nose-wheel tug to connect onto the bolt location.

The 2 halves are then joined using screws after final drilling, countersinking, and installing nutplates.

I also decided to use these metal tug guards https://www.flyboyaccessories.com/product-p/73301.htm I recently saw come up for sale. This will help protect the fiberglass fairing and the paint job from getting all dinged up when trying to connect and disconnect a tug/towbar. Might as well install them now while I’m working on these fairings. These were matched drilled to the supplied backing plate. All that’s left now is to countersink, spread some flox/cabo on the backing plate and rivet them in place.

I then set out to get the nosewheel gear fairing going. These are also similar to the main gear leg fairings. A template is used to cut the fore and aft edges and also the U shaped cutout . Here you see me cutting away a slot for a hose clamp by first drilling 2 holes and then removing the material between the holes on the tangent lines.

The fairing was then put into position. Some additional trimming was needed at the interface to the nosewheel fairing, and some more still needs to be done, but this is close enough to start on the hinge along the aft edge.

I’ll need to final trim this after I take the plane off of the jacks, as I’m not able to swivel the nosewheel just yet without worrying about the plane falling off the jacks.