caplock

30 years ago I used automotive door edging for fairing material on a Smiths Mini Plane, Worked OK but it was VERY HEAVY. I've tried the balsa layup method w/ limited success. I'm just getting back into the hobby & have another Mini nearly completed. Is there any new materials or tricks for fairing wire gear & struts?

PS Yes the old Mini is still in-tact--- I'll fly it this summer

Roger

iron eagel

How about foam and epoxy?

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

For struts I use K&S streamline aluminum tubing.

Solder some non insulated electrical ring terminals to some 3/32" or 1/8" 2" long piano wire.

JB Weld one of the ring terminal wires into ONE end of the tubing.

When dry, cut that tube to length for the front strut and JB Weld a ring terminal wire in the other end. JB Weld another ring terminal wire in another piece of tubing.

When dry, bolt/fasten the front strut in position.

Bolt/fasten the one end of the rear strut in position, cross it over the front strut and mark the angle you need.

Remove the rear strut and cut the angle. You want the angle so that after it is cut it partly overlaps the rear of the front strut.

Bolt/fasten the rear strut in position, put the angle in position and secure the UNDERSIDE of the joint with a piece of masking tape to keep it from slipping. Apply JB Weld to the top side of the joint.

When dry, remove the strut assembly (be careful as the joint will be weak ), remove the masking tape and fill the rear side of the joint with JB Weld. When dry, finishing filling the front side with JB Weld.

After everything has dried, file/sand the joint to fair everything in.

The struts will be light weight and strong.

Tips -
Use the regular JB Weld, not the Quick JB Weld - the regular JB Weld is 3 - 4 times stronger than the quick.
Put a piece of wax paper under the joint when doing the initial application of JB Weld. This is "just in case" some drips down - better on the wax paper than the plane.

I use this method all the time and have had no problems.

Hope this helps.

Straight and Level

I have made a similar installation but the 2 ft strut was a structural member from wing to fuselage on a Curtis Robin. To increase rigidity I used a steel rod inside aluminium tube. Found later that vibration of steel rod caused radio interference. Eventually dismantaled and insulated rod and Aluminium tube.

caplock

Campy
I was unaware of anyone making a streamline tubing. Thank you for taking time to respond & a wonderful layout on how to use it. Had a feeling that 30yrs might have brought on a few new materials & tricks. I'll get some tubing ordered straight away(closest hobby shop is 80mi away), 3/16" sounds about right for a plane this size.
So--- got any ideas on what to do with the wire LG?

Roger

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

For landing gear fairings/struts I do it the "old fashioned" way.

I decide how thick the fairing is going to be. Subtract the thickness of the wire and divied the balance by 2. (If I wanted my fairing to be 1/2" thick and I was using 5/32" wire the outer "Skins" of the fairings would be 3/16" thick and I would sand a piece of3/16" balsa to 5/32". I then mark the outline of of the wire on one of the "skins" and cut filler pieces from from the 5/32" piece of balsa and glue the filler pieces in position on ONE OF THE SKINS. After checking the fit of the skin and filler pieces against the wire I use a couple of small drops of wood glue near the edges to hold everything together. Sand to shape, then cut the glue joint and glue the fairings in place. If it is a single wire gear, I will wire wrap and solder a small L shaped piece of music wire to the gear to prevent the fairing from turning/shifting in the event of a rough landing. )

I haven't been able to come up with an easier method YET

PointMagu

My Feedback: (11)

Here's how I do profile fairings:

PM