Finish Kit

Front Wheel and Leg Fairing ( 4 hrs )

Completed Mach C'sinking 6-32 screws attaching forward to aft shell Steps 9 & 10 at Sect 46A-14.  Lifted engine/airframe again to confirm clearance for full steering angles left and right.  Aligned and trimmed Nose Gear Leg Fairing per steps 1-4, Sect 46A-15.  Transferred bracket locations to fiberglass (much harder with later version painted fairings that are not translucent).   Cut .063 Piano Hinges to 28" length and marked rivet locations.  Sanded excess resin inside Fairing so hinges fit flush per Steps 1-3, 46A-16.

filler piece at top, and screws countersunk flush

tah - dah !  

trimming after cleco-ing along T.E. flange

bracket locations transferred, rivet locations marked on hinge

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 2 hrs )

Per 46A-14, Steps 1-7 -  final drilled #27 holes in forward shell attach holes.  Riveted 8 nutplates onto aft shell.   Fit piece of fiberglass scrap to top center of aft shell.  Bonded on with epoxy instead of two rivets per Vans instructions.

"scrap" piece from forward shell bonded to
complete the opening for the Gear Leg. 
(white paper was the template created)

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 3 hrs )

Riveted 8 nutplates onto two Brackets per Sect 46A-13.  Machine C'sunk fiberglass per 46A-14 for 8-32 screws.  Re-assembled onto Nose Wheel -  fits good, and looks great.  Next:  nutplates added to attach front section to rear Fairing.

 

 

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 1 hr )

I got to take a 30 min flight this am on B -17.  Awesome !  Moved to various stations for great photos, but they wouldn't let me fly it.  Mind blowing how brave our young men in WWII were.  If you get opportunity, just do it!       Back to shop, I re-drilled the Bracket holes through reinforcing fiberglass, then enlarged to final #19 size.   Re-primed Brackets since they'd gotten scruffy.  Ready to add nutplates.

a great view....in peacetime

lower ball turrent

Finish Kit

Front Wheel Fairing ( 2 hrs )

Decided to use process similar to earlier RV models to reinforce Fairing at Brackets (vs Vans method for RV14a using epoxy flox glob).  So, epoxied 3 layers of 9 oz. fiberglass cloth to contact zones for Mounting Brackets.   One large piece between top to bottom area, then  multiple strips immediately under contact area.  Applied peel ply layer and  "squeegeed" smooth, checking to insure no air bubbles.

Also did final pass trimming wheel opening

1 of 2 sides.  I marked hole center-lines
on outside so I can re-drill once cured.

removed peel ply.

lightweight reinforcement, but
also more depth for C'sink screw heads

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.

Finish Kit

Main Wheel Fairings completed ( 3 hrs )

Completed nutplates on both Main Wheel Fairings, and Machine C'sunk for all (18) 6-32 and (16) 8-32 screws per Sect 46A-07 Steps 9-11.   Finished cutting  to size two Standoffs for nose gear #U-1024 per 46A-09 (final smoothing and rounding edges remain).

 

Finish Kit

Wheel Fairing flox ( 2 hrs )

Removed Fairings after flox cured.  Relieved they came off relatively easy, except one of four hung up due to excess flox rolling over edge.  All 8 surfaces turned out OK, which is relief since essentially positioned blindly.   Ground off excess with dremel.  Started nutplates per Sect 46A-07 Steps 5-9.

RH with Aft Fairing installed.  Can see white
flox where Bracket interfaces with Fairing

Example result epoxy/flox mix on Fwd Fairing.  Smooth area is Bracket contact area.  Green is Turtle wax used as mold release.

First nutplate added between Aft and Fwd Fairing shells. 
Shows Aft contact area on left, and Fwd contact area on right. 

RH inner Bracket

RH outer Bracket

Finish Kit

Wheel Fairings mounted ( 7 hrs )

Completed 46A-03 for LH Fairing, so proceeded cutting Gear Leg openings per 46A-04.  Mounted LH and RH Fairings to Wheel/Leg assemblies.  Only small tweaks needed at Gear Legs to insure 1/16" clearance.  Marked 5/8" clearance around tire at bottom (this is challenging while laying on floor !).  Trimmed off and reattached to confirm good, uniform clearance to tire to complete 46A-06.  Final drilled #19 holes in Fairing aligned with Brackets/nutplates.  Removed Fairings ...again.  Mixed epoxy/flox mix, applied 1/16' - 1/8" thick layer on inside where Brackets contact Fairings per Steps 1-5 at Sect  46A-07.  Re-mounted Fairings to "mold" flox mix to internal contour vs flat Brackets.  This was very messy and difficult since hard to align and start screws with flox in the way.  Persistence paid off.  After cures, sure hope they all come off ! (tape layer, Boelube on threads, and Turtle Wax should work)

Completed LH drilling and cleco'ing

tweaked clearance at Gear Leg and brake line

Super pleased with fit and alignment

floor level showing tire clearance prior
marking/trimming for 5/8" clearance all around

final trim to 5/8".  (block used to mark & check when installed)

Finish Kit and Avionics

Wheel Fairings & delivery of Instrument Panel ( 3 hrs )

Cont'd assembly of Wheel Fairings per Sect 46A-03 Steps 1-5 for RH side.  Will repeat for LH side before continuing with remaining steps.   Received from Stein Air the crate with all instrumentation and Panel.  Really well packed.  Looks great !  Yay....Christmas in July!

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top is laser etched with my Panel design