Lift Strut Fairing

[jiott]

Yes Floog all is well. Finished my annual a week ago and had one good 3 hour test flight. I thought about going out yesterday, but too many black snow clouds drifting around.

I always hope to see you chime in on these build questions. You did such a beautiful job on your SS7 I think your opinions carry a lot of weight.

[Floog]

Thanks for the kudos, Jim. Just flew across the Cascades for the NW Trade show in Puyallup tomorrow and Sunday. Should be a fun experience!

[N213RV]

This is a very timely discussion for me. Last night I hysol'ed my first fairing on. I scuffed the strut with 100 grit sand paper and cleaned the inside of the fairing and strut with acetone. I installed the fairing dry, then used a 1.5" piece of wood to hold the fairing back end open at the base of the strut. I used Floog's approach and stitch glued the fairing top and bottom about every 12-18". I just slid the piece of wood up to the next area and used a small metal dental spatula to push in the hysol. I then zippered the back end closed and aligned the fairing. Seemed to work well for the first fairing. I hope to do the remaining 3 today.

More to come.....

[efwd]

What exactly does "stitch" mean when applying Hysol? Intermittent application vs a continuous run?
Eddie

[N213RV]

What exactly does "stitch" mean when applying Hysol? Intermittent application vs a continuous run?
Eddie

Yes, I glued about a 3" section every 12" or so.

[Dorsal]

FWIW, I "temporarily" installed the factory faring with no adhesive of any kind. That was 500 flight hours ago and they still work great. I got part way though making carbon fiber ones then got busy with other "life" things (still hope to finish them some day).

[jrevens]

Hey Finn,
It's great to hear that you're still 'kickin'! Those fairings are heavy... carbon fiber or something like what Highwing did would be really great. I think I'll stick with the factory plastic ones or I'll never finish this thing!