It was time to install the super-duper, aerodynamically efficient, pressure recovery wheel pants on the RV-4.
So many terms – pants, skirts, fairings… It seems everyone refers to the things that cover the wheels/tires/brakes on a fixed gear aircraft slightly differently. They all make sense to me so I’ll just intermix them.
You may remember this post in which I talked about installing larger tires. This mandated new wheel pants. Of course, new pants were “necessary” regardless as my RV-4 had the original wheel fairings which were not very efficient. When I say efficient, I mean slicing smoothly thru the air and causing minimal drag. The original pants were draggy. Drag just slows an airplane down or requires more power/fuel to be used to maintain a certain speed. Drag is bad.
The wheel skirt/pant/fairing kit from Vans Aircraft arrives looking like all the work has been done. HA!! Not the case!
The fiberglass fairings themselves are very nice and have a nice gelcoat finish on them. I’ve heard that in the past they were not nearly as nice.
That said, it is quite a lot of work to get the skirts fit and mounted – to say nothing of actually finishing them – as in painting.
I probably should have setup a time lapse recording of the process as it is rather comical. Basically, hours and hours of put the pants on, take the pants off, fit, trim, put the pants on, take the pants off, fit, trim ,put the pants on, take the pants off, fit, trim, and so on…
SEXY!!
Assuming you’ve taken your time and not cut too much, the results are mighty rewarding! At least visually.
Imagine them painted a nice light grey to match the rest of the airplane – SHARP!!
I think I spent about 40 hours getting mine installed. Of course, I am slow.
Actually, the work is not done. A fiberglass wheel skirt to gear leg fairing must also be constructed. This smooths the airflow at that intersection – further reducing drag. That is not a small job so I’m saving it for another time.
Once that is done, I’m hoping I’ll run into a painter that takes pity on me and offers to paint the fairings!! 🙂
I test flew the new skirts and they seem to be working. It’s very hard to get an actual measure of the difference in terms of speed. There was a very noticeable difference in the approach to landing though. The airplane did not descend as quickly as it normally does. This means there is less drag and that is a great thing!!
After about 12 hours of flying, the wheel pants are still hanging on and doing their job.
I am feeling very envious of your flying life. That is one sexy looking airplane now. So I guess spoiler/speed brakes are next to allow short field landings. Having a hanger to work in is priceless. Years ago I was laying on the grass near the woods changing brake pads on my PA-28, when a giant white kitty ( about the size of a St Benard) walked under my wing and looked at me for a while, before walking on to get a drink of water from the lake. That was a near-death experience I could have avoided with a hanger, Priceless for sure.
Happy and safe flying Sir.
WOW! That big kitty encounter is definitely one for the books!!
Thanks Tom! She is coming along. Always lots to do, of course. Yeah, as much as I hate paying for it, a hangar is “essential” – especially given all the work I do.
G’day JD.
Thank’s for the informative post.
I also own and fly the best kit built plane in existence.
My toy was built last century and still going well for a thirty year old, I’d also like to change tires and wheel fairings.
Along with a glass panel, P mags, exhaust and the list goes on, but our exchange rate and freight costs put a stop to that.
I’d like to get to Oshkosh one year and pig out on the wish list.
Good flying mate, and a big thanks to all the blokes that came over to help with the bush fires here.