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Main gear upper intersection fairing

Fairings-etc.com:

https://fairings-etc.com/

These fairings have been around for 20 years and fit very well - better than the Vans supplied ones in my opinion. Steve Barnes bought the company (and molds) from Bob S(????), and has been supplying them for a few years. He’s a great guy to work with. They claim that their upper gear intersection fairings will align the gear leg fairings with no jigging required. I’ve taken them at their word for four airplanes now, and have had very good results with them. That would be my recommendation.
 
Fairings-Etc Advertiser on VAF

I have the fairings you need for your 8 and can ship this week. See our selection at <www.fairings-etc.com> I ship quite a few to AU.

Steve Barnes Fairings-Etc.
 
I used RV8 leg fairings from Vans, but the upper and lower intersection fairings came from RVbits. I'm not sure if an RV8 upper fairing will fit a 12.
 
I too used fairings from RV-bits in South Africa. They worked out quite nicely ... although I did use a heat gun to tweak them a little bit for a better fit. I'm guessing the original molds were made prior to the doubler straps Van's added to the center section area of the fuselage many years ago. Actually, the fit was probably acceptable to begin with ... but a little tweaking with a heat gun made the fit even better. Screws/ nutplates attach the fairings to the wheel pants and the aft edge of the fairings is held tight with one small screw and nut.

Below is a link to my blog post with quite a few photos covering the instillation process used to install the fairings on the RV-12. Unfortunately, I just realized I never got any closeups of the final outcome after the airplane was painted ... but the fairings fit well and look great!

http://www.dogaviation.com/2019/05/off-reservation-installing-gear-leg.html
 
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I understand the wheel pants on an RV-12 add 4-5 kts, and the faster RV's see a bigger speed increase. The leg fairings would reduce drag a bit and might add a knot or so, but I think it would be hard to measure with any confidence without a lot of careful testing.
 
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