What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Help -Grove landing gear on RV8

gear1

Well Known Member
A question for those who have gone before:

Will the standard Van's gear leg fairings fit over the non-airfoil Grove aluminum gear legs? I am replacing the standard van's steel gear legs with the Grove non-airfoil gear legs, and hope not to have to recreate the gear leg and intersection fairing. Any help and/or photos that y'all could provide would be most appreciated. Any advice on installing the Grove gear legs would be appreciated.:confused:
 
I don't think the normal RV-8 fairings will fit.
In order to fit around the Grove non-airfoil legs I think you have to get the fairings for the round gear aircraft Van's aircraft (RV-7, RV-9).
Hopefully somebody will know for certain.
 
Gear Leg Fairings

A question for those who have gone before:

Will the standard Van's gear leg fairings fit over the non-airfoil Grove aluminum gear legs? I am replacing the standard van's steel gear legs with the Grove non-airfoil gear legs, and hope not to have to recreate the gear leg and intersection fairing. Any help and/or photos that y'all could provide would be most appreciated. Any advice on installing the Grove gear legs would be appreciated.:confused:

I use the non-airfoil grove gear (which I love), and I'm quite certain the stock fairings won't fit because the grove gear is much thicker at the fuselage end of the legs. I purchased a pair of F1 Rocket leg fairings which I had to modify because they're actually too thick. I modified them by slitting down the leading edge, removing ~ 1/16" of material from each half, then reglassing them back together with the trailing edge squeezed together a little bit. Sounds like a pain, but I was able to modify both fairings in about 2 hours of work time over 2 evenings. Of course you will have to create new intersection fairings which IS a little bit of a pain.

I think the end results are worth the effort, however. I think the finished shape is a bit better on "my" fairings than the airfoil gear, end it is also several pounds lighter (4+), all up, than the airfoil gear..

Skylor
 
Grove Gear Fairings

I just finished this step.

I stressed over this exact same issue for a year and a half, knew it was coming??..

No ones fairings will fit unfortunately.

With this being the last hurdle before paint, I just stepped up and DID IT.
Laid up the gear fairings and both upper and lower intersection fairings.

Im Very happy with the results mostly because they fit "MY" airplane.

Its not that big of a deal once you force yourself to get started.

I have photos but they are not hosted to post here at this time.

J.
 
Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your kind replies! I have a better idea of what I am up against now.

For those who have converted from the Van's steel legs to the Grove gear, are there any mechanical issues that I need to be aware of? Thanks!

And, Scoot, when is the next Midwest FFI Clinic? :D
 
Back
Top