Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 3 hrs )

Trimmed openings to front and rear halves to "5/8 inch clearance to undeflated tire".  Finished 1" dia holes for access to Standoffs.  Had to tap 3/8-24 threads in alum Gear Legs for Standoff bolts since "tight" and beginning to gall.  Seems OK now...whew.  Almost ready to finish with nutplates on Brackets and for securing front to rear halves.  But 1st need to either follow epoxy flox process per Vans instructions, OR simply add 3-5 layers of fiberglass/epoxy to inside to strengthen per other builders ( such as Carl & Rafael tricycle-gear-legs--fairings ).

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing  ( 1 hr )

Marked, then cut opening at top of  front wheel fairing per Steps 1 & 2 at Sect 46A-12.  Since Nose Gear has a gusset at the transition to vertical, required more trimming than instructions - to allow for full turn left and right ( perhaps this gusset was a later addition to Gear Leg vs original design?). 

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 3 hrs )

Aligned Front Wheel Fairing per Sect 46A-11.  Located 8 holes using spherical magnets matching those already on Bracket on inside.  Marked, then drilled #40 holes, adding cleco each hole.  Measured Standoff location, drilled 1/4" pilot hole each side per 46A-12, Step 5.  Later, will be enlarged to 1" dia to enable tow bar hookup. 

Aligned w/ aircraft centerline (drawn on floor),
and held aft end to specific height.

Spherical magnets aligned w/ same magnets on Bracket inside. 
Used to locate where to drill holes

Drilled 1/4" pilot hole for standoff access. 
Will enlarge to 1" dia to allow tow bar hookup

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairings ( 4 hrs )

Challenging/frustrating day - Sect 46A-10 Step 3 required few iterations to raise Main Wheels (ultimately 2" blocks worked) so Fuselage is level once I raise Nose Wheel.  Nose Wheel is raised so just off ground (0 to 1/16" gap).  Then Steps 4 & 5 aligned Nose Wheel to aircraft centerline.  Plumb bobs are used to determine where line on floor is marked for alignment of Fairing.  Steps 6,7 & 8 are tricky to get 2nd Bracket installed after Rear Fairing is in place (won't go over when both are installed - I tried !).   Needed to disassemble to bend RH bracket to fit.   Iterations chew up time, but at least I'm quicker each repeated assembly.

raised Main Wheels 2" to level Fuselage
with load off Nose Wheel.

Some bending of mounting bracket
needed to fit better.

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 2 hrs )

Primed Standoffs.  Marked centerline per 46A-09, Step 4.  Since Fairings are not translucent (earlier versions were prior to Vans providing now with pinhole filler primer which is opaque), I explored using provided spherical magnets to locate holes in Fairing.  Drilled #40 holes in Brackets per Step 1 at 46A-10, then glued sph magnets temporarily using drop of cyanoacrylate.  Also made spacer block per Step 2, 46A-10.  Experimented with lifting nosewheel to 0 to 1/16" off ground (results in fuselage at 2.8 deg vs level, so need to compensate -raising "tail", or ? )

spherical magnets temporarily glued to facilitate
determining location of holes in Fairing (use sph
magnets on outside)

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 3 hrs )

Completed rounding edges of 2 Standoffs ( Sect 46A-09, Step 5 ).  Continued Front Wheel Fairing by fabricating wood "V" block, Step 4 at 46A-08.   Marked centerline of Aft Fairing, Step 5.  Then marked & drilled 8 screw locations per Steps 1-3, at  46A-09.  Started marking centerline at nose per Step 4 (but quit to go swimming!).

Standoffs.  Ready to prime and paint.

Finding centerline of Aft Fairing (it's not the joint line). 
Used stack of old magazines to hold steady.

Preliminary set up to mark center of nose on Front piece.

 

Finish Kit

Nose Wheel Fairing ( 2 hrs )

Started front Wheel Fairing per Sect 46A-08 Steps 1-3.  Lots of dremel small drum sanding to get good fit front to aft shells.