{"id":5589,"date":"2022-07-28T18:31:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T17:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rv-7.dk\/?p=5589"},"modified":"2023-03-21T18:38:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T17:38:56","slug":"landing-gear-fairings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rv-7.dk\/?p=5589","title":{"rendered":"Landing gear fairings"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than two months away from the project, I am finally back.
\nI had to go to Dallas, Texas back in may for three weeks, for practical maintenance training on the Phenom 300. Then just after returning, I had to go for maintenance training on Spitfires in the UK, which was AWESOME!!! \ud83d\ude00
\nAfter that we spent 3 weeks of holiday at Sams\u00f8, a lovely island here in Denmark.<\/p>\n

Back in the shop, I have been working on the wheel fairings and leg fairings.
\nI had previously sanded the wheel fairing halves, for a better fit. I marked the fastener locations, and drilled holes for cleco’s.
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I then measured and cut the openings for the main gear leg. I have added a 1 inch spacer on top of the tire, as per the plans.
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To properly align the wheel fairings, I had to level the plane, then hang a plumb bob to mark the center line in both ends of the plane.
\nThen I taped a string between these marks for reference.
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The outboard wheel fairing brackets didn’t sit flush against the wheel fairings, so I had to add some extra fiberglass to these areas.
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After carefully aligning the wheel fairings, I drilled the fastener holes.
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I then removed the landing gear leg and fairing assembles, to trace the wheel dimension to the wheel fairings. I decided for a half inch clearance.
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After trimming…
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I then removed the wheel fairing brackets and prepared them for primer.
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After priming, I riveted on the nutplates.
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For the outboard brackets, I mixed som epoxy with cotton fibres, and glued them in place.
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After the epoxy had cured, I removed the cleco’s, countersunk and riveted them.
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I reinstalled the brackets…
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…and could then continue installing the landing gear leg fairing.
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They are fixed to the legs at the top, using stainless steel clamp. Unfortunately I realized to late, that I had installed them facing forward.
\nThe brake lines on the RV-7 are supposed to run on the forward side of the legs, so I will have to close these holes and reinstall them facing aft.
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Last thing I did, was to add 4 layers of epoxy to the mounting spots inside the wheel fairings. The walls are pretty thin here, and will not support the fairings sufficient.
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