Repairing Fiberglass Wheel Pants, Part II

G.R. Patterson III wrote:
: Jay Honeck wrote:
:
: Incidentally, this is our first experience flying the 235 without wheel
: pants. We trued out at about 135 knots on the way to Wisconsin yesterday,
: in absolutely calm air. Since we normally true out around 142, the fancy
: pants apparently net us 5 to 7 knots.

: Anyone know how much improvement the stock pants yield?

George, on my 180 I was hoping for a 1 to 2 knot improvement by going from
naked wheels to the stock wheel pants. I got nothing. Zero speed increase.
But, the wheel pants nicely match the paint scheme, and they do keep the sun
off of the tires, so there is some value to them.
If I could get 5 to 7 knots out of the wheel pants that Jay has, I would
strongly consider them - sounds like I could.
--
Aaron Coolidge (N9376J)

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

Incidentally, this is our first experience flying the 235 without wheel
pants. We trued out at about 135 knots on the way to Wisconsin yesterday,
in absolutely calm air. Since we normally true out around 142, the fancy
pants apparently net us 5 to 7 knots.


Anyone know how much improvement the stock pants yield?

Don't know about Jay's, but some of the Piper POHs have a note on the
performance charts about how to adjust the speeds if the stock fairings are removed.

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 14:15:27 GMT, "G.R. Patterson III"
wrote:



Jay Honeck wrote:

Incidentally, this is our first experience flying the 235 without wheel
pants. We trued out at about 135 knots on the way to Wisconsin yesterday,
in absolutely calm air. Since we normally true out around 142, the fancy
pants apparently net us 5 to 7 knots.

Anyone know how much improvement the stock pants yield?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

I've flown my 235 without pants for an extended period of time. When
I put them back on I got about a 2-3 mph increase (about 2kts). So it
sounds like the fancy pants add about 5 more to cruise.

HTH.
z

Anyone know how much improvement the stock pants yield?

I know on our Warrior, the stock wheel pants made a very small, almost
indiscernible difference.

BTW: I got the "new" wheel pants back from the shop yesterday, and
reinstalled them -- wow, what a difference.

All of the self-locking fasteners actually work. The bolt attachments to the
landing gear now have self-locking nuts, with cotter pins. Everything is
tight, clean, and functional.

We had a long discussion about the potential need for allowing "flex" in the
wheel pants, which, it turned out, is something my A&P knows something
about. It seems he has made (from scratch) quite a few wheel pants, for
various aircraft, over the last 35 years, and his findings are that the most
rigid, strongest possible mounting brackets make the best, longest lasting
wheel pant system.

To illustrate this, he showed me a plane on the ramp, with "normal" stock
wheel pants. We found that there is absolutely no wheel pant movement when
wiggled.

Later, I found an Archer with the modern-day Piper equivalent of my "fancy
pants," and they, too, are mounted as stoutly as a bridge truss. There is
absolutely no movement at all when you try to shake them. (Yes, the owner
was there!)

My A&P's opinion is that the old cam-lock connectors, when new, were also as
tight as a drum. The "flex" we noticed was simply the result of wear and
tear -- it was not by design.

The only downside of the new system: It takes FOREVER to install the danged
things. (Which, of course, was the idea behind the quick-release cam-lock
connectors in the first place...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On my citabria, the only improvement, and it's a good one, is they keep
the mud from flying up on to the bottom of the wing and fuseloge. I
didn't put them back on this year because it's impossible to check the
tire pressure with them on.

Dave

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

Incidentally, this is our first experience flying the 235 without wheel
pants. We trued out at about 135 knots on the way to Wisconsin yesterday,
in absolutely calm air. Since we normally true out around 142, the fancy
pants apparently net us 5 to 7 knots.


Anyone know how much improvement the stock pants yield?

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

On my citabria, the only improvement, and it's a good one, is they keep
the mud from flying up on to the bottom of the wing and fuseloge. I
didn't put them back on this year because it's impossible to check the
tire pressure with them on.

Not THAT is a serious design flaw!

Our Fancy Pants have little doors that open (secured with a phillips
screw) to allow access to the tire filler valve. Considering that
tubed tires routinely lose 25% of their pressure every few weeks, I
can't understand why anyone would manufacture a wheel pant without
such a door.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"