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Tri-gear wheel fairing

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frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 11:30 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

Hi all,



While working today on the nose wheel fairing, I noticed that the top of

the front halve is highly asymmetrical.

Now, having gone through all sorts of puzzles with it, it looks like it

is not my fault.



The starboard side next to the hole of the wheel shaft is noticably

lower than the port side. If I wouldn ignore the scribings on the top,

and redrill the hole on the top centered around the highest point, the

hole would be no longer in the middle, offset to the port side. If I

flex the front halve so that it appears to be right, the bottom is

slanted and doesn't align with the wheel hole on the rear halve anymore.

It drives me nuts.



As these fairings are coming from a mold, I suspect that all the nose

wheel fairings are asymmetrical. if this is true, other builders should

have experienced the same.

Has anyone found an easy fix for this?



Or, do I just have a bad individual fairing? In that case I would be

better off to swap it.



Can anyone show me a picture of their nose wheel fairing, taken right

from the centerline?

-- 

Frans Veldman

s(at)vestuti.orangehome.c
Guest

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:08 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

Hi Frans,

Mine was exactly as you describe, i just did my best with it.

its difficult to notice when its all together and painted,

i'll see if i can get a picture uploaded,



Steve.

Visit -  www.EuropaOwners.org

budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]-->  Frans,

 Yes it is wonky, and it is not your fault.  I've done probably 5 sets  and helped three or four customer and they are all the same.  Bad plug  made from someone elses' bad mould?  (It appears subcontractors copy  parts from other manufacturers and pass them off.  My assumption is based  on the fact that one time I purchased a similar nose pant from another  manufacturer that was exactly the same as the original moulder who used to make  them for Europa.  Somebody copied somebody.)

  

 I have made a plug and mould for my custom fairings because I felt  filling was too cumbersome.  Really it is more expensive, and time  consuming for me to make the mould from my plug.  But that is my  problem.  Getting a plug perfect is a pain isn't it.

  

 What I normally do is put the two halves together and heat to get the shape  close.  I then cut the pant just above the curve on the left side  bottom if the bottom looks too stupidly sloped.  Cut about two to four  inches back on the bottom side.  You need to reinforce that area  anyway.  Spring it to where you want it.  Usually lean it to the side  about 1/4 inch.  I use heat to shape and then super glue and a couple  of sticks to hold the shape I want, then add back three layers on the  inside.  Fill the outside gap and cover with a single layer.  Put the  two haves together, sand and fill.

  

 I promise to send my squared up pant to Roger to fix the factory  subcontractors mould.  That is when I get it straight.  I'm on version  two.

  

 Bud Yerly

 ---

frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:02 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

ALAN YERLY wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   Frans, Yes it is wonky, and it is not your fault.  I've done probably

 5 sets and helped three or four customer and they are all the same.


	


Thanks very much for your confirmation. Now that I know that the

fairings are not going to be right if I follow the manual, I started to

experiment a little.



By coincidence, I found the secret!



Actually, it is very simple to get these things straight. The ONLY thing

you need to do, is to leave a gap on the bottom of the port flange. This

will make the fairing straight, viewed from all angles! No heating

necessary, no cutting needed at the bottom, no filling at the top, nothing.



The only thing you will have to do is to extend the port flange a little

bit to attach the bottom anchor nut, and use some expancel to fill the gap.



It seems that the only error the factory made was to cut the port side

of the front half at the wrong angle.



About the pictures:

Keep in mind that this is preliminary fitting. Even the anchor nuts are

not attached, the bolts are just inserted through the holes to keep

everything temporary in place. (Should have used cleco's for this, but I

already drilled the holes before I discovered that these fairings are

wonky).



The white shaft you see is my 2 inch nose wheel shaft extension, to

allow for a larger prop. The metal ring you see just above the wheel

spat is the fork, and is very usefull to provide a straight reference.



Then, for the folks curious about my nose wheel shaft extension, cowling

mod, and prop, a picture of the entire nose section. Again, this is far

from finished, but gives an idea how it will look like when all is finished.



-- 

Frans Veldman

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fklein(at)orcasonline.com
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 10:43 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

On May 15, 2009, at 9:58 AM, Frans Veldman wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   It seems that the only error the factory made was to cut the port side

 of the front half at the wrong angle.



 About the pictures:

 Keep in mind that this is preliminary fitting. Even the anchor nuts  

 are

 not attached, the bolts are just inserted through the holes to keep

 everything temporary in place. (Should have used cleco's for this,  

 but I

 already drilled the holes before I discovered that these fairings are

 wonky).



 The white shaft you see is my 2 inch nose wheel shaft extension, to

 allow for a larger prop.


	


Frans,



Nice crisp and clear explanation of a simple solution to the nose gear  

fairing.



And your prop looks great...[at first glance, I thought I saw some de- 

icing boots on its leading edge...   ].



May I ask what your prop diameter is?



Fred

-- 

This message has been scanned for viruses and

dangerous content by MailScanner, and is

believed to be clean.

budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 12:05 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]-->  Looks great, I never thought of that Frans, looks fast and easy.

  

 Good job,

 Bud

 [quote]   ---

frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 12:44 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

Fred Klein wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   May I ask what your prop diameter is?


	


1720mm (that is 67.5").



I have choosen this prop for optimum cruise performance. Large diameter

= high efficiency. 2 blades versus 3 blades = slightly smaller take off

performance, but above 70 knots much more efficient.

And, last but not least, the inner section has very much twist. Again,

during the early stage of the take off this inner section probably

stalls, but at higher speeds it produces lots of thrust. The inboard

section of conventional props most likely produces no thrust a cruise

speeds, or even negative thrust.



Of course, all of this is so far still theoretical. Once I'm finally

flying, I will collect some performance data.



-- 

Frans Veldman

frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 12:54 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

ALAN YERLY wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   Looks great, I never thought of that Frans, looks fast and easy.


	


I didn't think of that as well. I was just wondering whether I could

force the front half somewhat in the correct direction. To do this, I

attached the starboard side of the front half fairing to the rear half

of the fairing, to be able to bend the port side, and then discovered

that I could get the correct shape, without any bending, but at the cost

of creating a gap at the port seal. If you try to close this gap, the

fairing twists and takes its odd shape again. Leave it alone, and all is

right.

I love to think out solutions, but this one is really a coincidence, not

the result of thinking.



Next time you prepare a speed kit, try it, and let me know if it works

out the same for you.



I think it is a shame that it isn't covered in the manual. These parts

are not really a bargain, I somehow expected that the manual is adjusted

to the experiences of builders (and preferably, not only the manual but

the parts as well).



-- 

Frans Veldman

craigb(at)onthenet.com.au
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 3:54 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

Fred and Frans, may I humbly refer you to the following link with regard to

prop choice etc

After going through this article I am opting for a smaller 4 blade prop,

probably around 60 inches.



http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/articles/2009-02_elippse.asp



--

fklein(at)orcasonline.com
Guest

Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

On May 15, 2009, at 4:54 PM, craig bastin wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 >



 Fred and Frans, may I humbly refer you to the following link with  

 regard to

 prop choice etc

 After going through this article I am opting for a smaller 4 blade  

 prop,

 probably around 60 inches.



 http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/articles/2009-02_elippse.asp


	


Hi Craig...humility helps when one suggests something other than a CS  

prop for our beloved Europas...I too have been intrigued by the  

Ellipse props and talked them up a bit a couple of years ago after  

learning of Paul Lupps' interest in designing something for the  

Europa. Glenn Crowder may chime in here as he's said he's ordered a  

Lipps prop for his monowheel. Since Paul's interest is in prop design  

(rather than marketing ir making props), an RV guy named Jim Smith has  

volunteered to handle purchasing paperwork. Jim's email is: elippsefppropsales(at)gmail.com

frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 12:23 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

craig bastin wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Fred and Frans, may I humbly refer you to the following link with regard to

 prop choice etc

 After going through this article I am opting for a smaller 4 blade prop,

 probably around 60 inches.


	


I know the article. I would love to have such a prop, but as clearly

explained, it only works well if it is carefully designed for a specific

engine-airplane combination. I will certainly keep an eye on it, and

maybe even volunteer to experiment with it once I'm flying.



I don't see the logic of going to a smaller 4 blade prop though. It is

true that with the eliptical design you can have more blades without

drag penalty, but again, this only applies to this eliptical design.

According to the article, most props have considerable drag at the tips,

and with each additional blade, you are increasing this drag. You are

effectively increasing the tip area, the place where the bigges losses

occur due to the spill over from high-pressure to low-pressure area.

Consider this: What would happen if you would cut the wings of your

Europa in half, and put another halved wing on top of your plane? (I

believed it is alled a bi-plane?). You would have the same wing area,

that's right. But you would get more losses, because you doubled the

rather lossy tip area. It is better to have two longer wings than to

have four shorter ones.



Look at Paul's props: He can afford to have multiple blades, because his

tips are so narrow. Four of these would still create less drag than two

of the conventional blade tips. For his props only, having more blades

is beneficial.



With conventional props, it is better to focus on overal blade efficiency.



According to the article, a very important gain comes from the high

twist near the root, converting this area into something usefull.

And that is precisely what my Woodcomp prop does: it has a very large

twist near the root, to allow the root portion of the prop to contribute

to the overall thrust. By minimizing the amount of blades, you minimize

the losses near the tips of the blades. Remember, the losses are highest

at the tips because of the higher speed in that area.



Also, compare this particular Woodcomp prop to the Ellipse prop. The

only thing missing here is the tip, which is way to wide. The root

portion has great similarities. The Woodcomp prop may be quite an

affordable compromise.



If you can somehow lay your hands on a (affordable) 4 blade, elliptical

prop, well, I would beg you to order one for me too.



-- 

Frans Veldman

budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 6:23 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]-->  Frans,

 Most of the time in a situation like yours, I add glass to the front cover  gap, tape it in place on the rear pant where it looks good and fits without  flexing (with release tape of course) and allow to cure to fill the  gaps.  Then sand and fill.

  

 Having made my own entire speed kit, I disagree with your point on being a  bargain.  Although the nose gear pant is wonky, the gear leg covers are  finiky, try making them from scratch or even buying from a third party.  It  takes me a half day per 5 day week to mold my pants, and wing covers.  Gear  legs and covers take another two days.  Yes they are very nice, but then I  have to make the metal parts, get the fasteners and hardware together  etc.  It still takes 40 hours to do a nice job of alignment, fillets  and transitions that allow full gear leg movement without cracking.  I have  about 60 hours into my set and I will not make another.  I'll buy  them.  The mods to make them fit nicely is far easier.  Try doing an  RV speed kit sometime....Talk about frustrating.  

  

 It is always about life being too short and time is money isn't it.   

  

 Bud

 [quote]   ---

frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.
Guest

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 11:23 am Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

ALAN YERLY wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   Having made my own entire speed kit, I disagree with your point on

 being a bargain.  Although the nose gear pant is wonky, the gear leg

 covers are finiky, try making them from scratch or even buying from a


	


I think you missed my point. Let me clarify it with a sketch:



Customer: I'm not happy with the TV-set I bought last week.



Seller: Why is that?



C: It doesn't show the color red. It is bad to view movies like this. I

want to swap it for another set.



S: That won't help you.



C: Why not?



S: All these TV-sets have the same problem.



C: But I paid good money for it!



S: Well, actually it is a bargain!



C: A bargain?



S: Yes. I once constructed my own TV-set. Do you know how much work that

is? First of all, you have to make a Printed Circuit Board. You have to

mess with nasty chemicals to etch the traces. It will take quite some

samples and time before you got that right. Then you have to....



C: I don't want to know. I guess you just found out about the problem?



S: No, we have had this problem from the beginning. A couple of years

now actually.



C: A couple of years! Why didn't you fix it?



S: Well, people keep buying these flawed units anyway. Besides, all

electronic devices, like TV-sets, need to be tested for spurious

emissions. We got our FCC certificate, and if we change the TV-set, we

have to go through the testing procedure again.



C: Changing it? It is just fixing it! And besides, what does the color

red have to do with spurious emissions?



S: Well, you know it, I know it, but so are the rules. And we just hate

to have to go through the testing phase again.



C: But what should I do?



S: Well, you can try tapping it on the left side of the panel. That

usually helps.



C: So you know a fix for it?



S: Yes, we use this fix ourselves. We can't show it to potential

customers the way it is.



C: If you know a fix, why don't you put it in the manual? Just a slight

hint that it could be possible that the color red doesn't show, and that

tapping the panel will cure it?



S: Well, it takes time to revise the manual. We don't type that fast.

Furthermore, it would reveal potential customers that our product is

flawed. And besides, it would be cheating. This is part of the challenge

of using our TV-set. We consider that as a plus. And, last but not

least, we love to see on the internet forums how peope struggle with it,

and come up with solutions.



C: So, actually I should be happy?



S: Yes, you should be very happy. It is a bargain, and it is a challenge

for you, to keep you busy. Just watching TV isn't fun if you haven't

gone through all this.



-- 

Frans Veldman

budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:14 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" /><![endif]-->  Well put friend.

 Bud

 [quote]   ---

paul.the.aviator(at)gmail
Guest

Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 3:44 pm Post subject: Tri-gear wheel fairing

Frans,



This is hilarious, (especially since it isn't happening to me).... Please don't ever change my friend and keep up the postings.



Cheers,  Paul



do not archive



 On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Frans Veldman <frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.nl (frans(at)paardnatuurlijk.nl)> wrote:

[quote]  

 

I think you missed my point. Let me clarify it with a sketch:

 

 Customer: I'm not happy with the TV-set I bought last week.

 

 Seller: Why is that?

 

 C: It doesn't show the color red. It is bad to view movies like this. I

 want to swap it for another set.

 

 S: That won't help you.

 

 C: Why not?

 

..........[b]

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