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Another way to do wheel pants

rvator9a

Well Known Member
I am a poor fabricator and finisher of fiberglass and have been puttering with finishing the wheel pants on my 9a for about 4yrs off and on. I have redone lower intersection fairings twice due to lack of talent. I am wondering if anyone has tried to fasten the front and rear halves together instead of having them split. Then to make an access panel on the inside of the wheel pant that would allow the pant to come up and off the gear leg over the caliper and bracket. I know i would need to work out access to the bolt on the wheel nut.

The advantages are that I would be able to hide almost all of the seams and screws inside the pant and leg.

The disadvantage is I would be using my limited talent to try something not commonly done. Does anyone have any input or experience trying this?
 
That is close to the way wheelpants are designed on the Rutan designs. My Long-EZ wheelpants were one piece with the inside circular part hard mounted to the gear leg via a bracket and a single bolt on the outside of the pant into the end of the axle
 
Wheel Pants

Jim Rust did it that way on his Wittman Tailwind.Feature article years ago in Kitplanes with lots of pictures.
 
Thats the general idea although I would try for less of a gap between the seam. Has anyone tried it on an RV?
 
I have a 1996 RV-4 with the original style (non-pressure recovery) wheel pants. That's exactly how mine are done.
 
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