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Thread: Strut speed fairings.

  1. #1
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    Default Strut speed fairings.

    Anyone have any photos of the finishing up your speed fairings. In particular, using the aluminum cuffs that come with the kit. I saw what Tom Waid did, aka TropicalTuba, and like it. May go that way. But before I decide, I want to see what others have done. Looking through the Build photos, Tom is the only one I have seen that has documented his so well. Thanks very much gentlemen.
    Stan Inzer
    912 ULS
    Dynon Skyview 10"
    N599KF

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Av8r3400's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    I didn't care for the look of the aluminum sheet wrapped on the bottom of the struts, so I made a small triangle block of wood for in between the struts, sanded it smooth and fabric covered the area. You are putting fabric over the farings anyway, so why not the bottom as well. This allows you to make it look much more finished, IMO.

    SLSA.jpg
    This is a Kitfox SLSA taken at Airventure. It was the inspiration for mine. I will try and snap a photo or two next time I'm at the airport.
    Av8r3400
    Kitfox Model IV
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  3. #3
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    I did not fabric cover my fairings. I thought most people did not. Am I wrong?

    I mitred the fairings together at the bottom as best I could, then used Hysol to glue them solidly together and to the steel strut tubes. Then used Superfill to fai it all in. After painting they looked like Av8r3400's.
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Thank you for your input. I played with the aluminum wraps Saturday and didn't like what I was seeing. Av8r3400, I look forward to seeing your photos when you get a chance. I really like the SLSA look. I am with jiott on fabric covering the fairings. I wasn't planning on that. Jim McBean, do you fabric wrap the SLSA's? What are the pros and cons of fabric wrapping?
    Stan Inzer
    912 ULS
    Dynon Skyview 10"
    N599KF

  5. #5
    Senior Member HighWing's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    My fairings look a lot like Larry's and Jim's but more complicated so I will skip that.Lift Strut Fairing 7.jpg

    Pros: It will help mask the stripes down the extruded fairings. In the old days, guys looked at the stripes and figured they were intentional like the dimples on a golf ball for drag reduction. But if you compare the location of the stripes with the ridges to help center the fairing on the lift strut, it becomes obvious that they are simply areas of shrinkage during the cooling of the PVC after extruding. When I used the factory fairings on my first IV, I just sanded them smooth and did a little micro to get them nice.

    Cons: Heavy. The fairings already add about 13 lbs to the empty weight of the airplane then with fabric, and what it takes to finish fabric, another couple of pounds added to that.

    Rethinking skipping the complicated mentioned earlier, I put some clear packing tape on the rough cut miter area of the fairings and layed down a couple of layers of fiberglass cloth (clear packing tape makes a very nice separating medium to prevent the glass from sticking).Lift Strut Fairing 8 Fiberglass.jpg
    I used the micro to finish the surface of the glass and then using a technique similar to Larry's glued in and faired the surfaces of the joint patch.
    Lowell Fitt
    Goodyear, AZ


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  6. #6
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    You can get all the fairing stripes off, except for one, by a lot of sanding. I used a power sander. I was afraid to sand off the last and deepest shrinkage stripe because the material would end up being quite thin. Fairing in the "V" with Superfill was quite easy. It is great stuff if you haven't used it; lightweight, very easy to sand, sticks good to most any surface (if prepped good and scuffed up), easily fairs to a feather edge.

    Regarding fabric wrapping the struts, I see no point in it unless you want the surface texture of fabric; it will add several pounds of unneeded weight. I am pretty sure the factory SLSA's don't fabric the struts.
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    I sanded all of the stripes off of the fairings using 220 grit on an ocillating sander. Took awhile, but I am very happy with the results. Definitely not using the fabric. I probably already have enough weight as it is. I am going for your look Av8r3400. I will try to post some pictures as I go.
    Stan Inzer
    912 ULS
    Dynon Skyview 10"
    N599KF

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    I made a channel out of the aluminum wrap material. That was riveted to the trailing edge. I've heard some builders fill the trailing edge gap with Hysol or some sort of filler. That's a lot of filler and weight. I smoothed it all with Superfil.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #9
    Senior Member Geowitz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    Friendly reminder!!! The way you fair the end can affect whether or how far you can fold your wings!!

  10. #10
    Senior Member jiott's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strut speed fairings.

    My method of filling the trailing edge where a lot of the fairing is cut back to allow wing folding, was to use some of that lightweight foam that comes with the kit to 90% fill that gap, then finish the filling and smoothing with the SuperFill. Many ways to skin the cat, but I think most of these alternate methods come out looking much better than the aluminum cuff supplied in the kit.
    Jim Ott
    Portland, OR
    Kitfox SS7 flying
    Rotax 912ULS

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