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Richard Pike
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 1671
Location: Blountville, Tennessee
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 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: Strut Fairings |
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| Dennis Thate wrote: | | Was the benefit worth the effort & cost ? |
On the flight right after installing them, I immediately noticed that the airplane wanted to fly much more nose up so that I had to add nose down trim to make it fly normally. Apparently it diminished the gear leg drag enough to change the way the airplane flew. Now did I notice it going any faster? No. But by modifying a bunch of little things here and there, did I notice that at a given speed, I could use less RPM? Yes. Lots of little things do add up, either in the plus or minus column, depending on what they are.
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_________________
Richard Pike
Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops)
Kingsport, TN 3TN0
Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. |
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Dennis.Kirby(at)kirtland.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:59 am Post subject: Strut Fairings |
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<< I used a insulating product in a can called Tough Stuff. Applied it to the front and back of the gear legs and used a knife to cut it into the basic stream line shape when dry. Rick Neilsen >>
Kolb Friends –
This is exactly how I secured the fairings on my gear legs. That expanding foam does a good job of holding things in place. For the first few months, the fairings stayed tight. Eventually they loosened up, to where they rotate around the gear leg a little bit, but it does not degrade their effectiveness any. Now, the fairings automatically align themselves with the free stream during flight,
Incidentally – Here is why it’s worth the bother to apply fairings to your gear legs, even if they’re short. I learned this in Aero-101: Adding an aerodynamic fairing to a round tube results in ONE-SEVENTH the drag!
I also used Tough Stuff to fill in the gap between the bottom of the nose fairing and the floor of the cabin interior. My feet used to freeze in winter, due to the air sucking in from that area. No more.
Dennis Kirby
Mark-3, 912ul, “Magic Bike” in
Sandia Park, NM
[quote][b]
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flyingfischead
Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: Strut Fairings |
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Hello guys,
I'm new to the site and to the world of Kolbs. I recently purchased a late 80's early 90's firestar (logs not to good) and I am planning a restoration over this winter. I've been planning my attack so I have been reviewing the great info on the site. I was reading the strut fairings discussion and the differant ways to put fairings on the gear legs. Just to throw in my 2 cents worth, when I was flying Hang Gliders in the 80's someone made and sold fairings for the control down tubes on the glider. They where foam covered with dacron material and velcro'd on to the tubes. I don't know who made them or if they are still available but it might be worth doing some searching. The guys I knew that used them said they made a lot of difference plus added cushion on their shoulders when launching. Just a thought.
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flyingfischead
Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Strut Fairings |
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Check out this webpage if you want to make your own fairings out of foam. http://chrusion.com/BJ7/Streamline/fairings.html
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