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Wheel pant fiberglass

Blain

Blain

Well Known Member
Spent the weekend wrestling with Vans wheel pants. What I don't understand is why 2 different resins seemed to be used. The aft section is a rigid 'glass while the forward section is soft, pliable and a bear to work with. I'm not sure if they are epoxy or polyester.
Anyone know what is used?
 
I just did the exact same thing today! I believe both halves are epoxy since I can usually smell the polyester quickly when grinding on it. I didn't really have any problems, but it does take a full day of crawling around to get them in place!

Untitled by akarmy, on Flickr
 
Told you we have parallel builds going on!

What would be the reason for a pliable forward section? Like working with a rubber egg.

I raised the aft about 3/4" higher then Vans suggests. Still looks like it will drag on a hangar door track. Or simply dropping into a tiedown on the ramp. I'm considering going back and raising the whole pant by an inch.
 
Interesting on the height. I used 1" above the tire and it looks like I have a good 3-4" above the tail of the pant when sitting 3 point. Maybe my tires are taller to start with? I'm using some Desser re-treads as I plan to use them long term and wanted to fit the pants to them from the start.

I'm hoping to do weight and balance tomorrow! Fingers crossed for a good weight! :)
 
I mounted mine about 3/4" higher, mostly to permit using the 380/150-5 tires.
Side benefit is better clearance for chocks and uneven stuff.
 
Don't recall any of Vans parts being soft and pliable. Is the resin fully cured?

Assuming it is cured, but just very thin, well, it's glass....you can add as many plies to the inside as you wish. I recall the nose cones needing shim plies under the screw locations anyway.

BTW, because of the 8's unique gear legs, it is possible to do all the wheelpant work on the bench:

23j4ui0.jpg
 
I just installed mine and test flew them unpainted one time with no issues regarding control in flight. I think they are reasonably straight. I used Vans measurements to set up and down and left and right. The trailing edge is well clear of the floor in the 3 point attitude. It is some artistic challenge to find the center line of the units.

I then made the leg-pant fairing with West stuff over Crayola clay. They turned out OK with a good fit but are not exactly alike, but it would take a good photo memory to tell the difference. At present the parts are at my handy auto paint shop being painted.

The front half of the pants seem more pliable because the are thinner. The tire opening had to be enlarged a lot, it is a good idea not to keep that opening too tight in the event of a flat tire and also out of a consideration for brake cooling.

The pants sure do keep grass and dirt off the wing and flaps but I found the inside of the units were packed with dead grass, like a mouse nest. Don't know for sure how that will be dealt with over the long haul. I suppose if it dries out thoroughly it might just fall out in flight. Maybe it was a mouse nest. :) I don't think so, I have a 66" black snake hanging out, I measured his recent skin change last evening.
 
DanH said:
Don't recall any of Vans parts being soft and pliable. Is the resin fully cured?

Assuming it is cured, but just very thin, well, it's glass....you can add as many plies to the inside as you wish. I recall the nose cones needing shim plies under the screw locations anyway.

BTW, because of the 8's unique gear legs, it is possible to do all the wheelpant work on the bench:

23j4ui0.jpg
Click to expand...

Both forward sections feel the same. They don't even cut like the aft section. High speed cutoff wheel more or less just burns through. The only area that I think it will matter is where the screws attatch the sections together. The countersink won't leave much to grip. And adding material there will require matching the aft portion. Tinnermans might be necessary.

Andy- we need pictures of the scale readings!
 
Wheel Pants

I'm also currently fitting the wheel pants. My wheel pants are made from Epoxide resin - the forward part is the same then the rear part. They are both solid - definetely not pliable or rubbery. They also don't have a gel coat, which is great, because that way the holes in the brackets are easy to see through the wheel Pants.
 
thilokind said:
I'm also currently fitting the wheel pants. My wheel pants are made from Epoxide resin - the forward part is the same then the rear part. They are both solid - definetely not pliable or rubbery. They also don't have a gel coat, which is great, because that way the holes in the brackets are easy to see through the wheel Pants.
Click to expand...

How old is your kit? My finish kit is only about 5 months old. Wondering if this is a recent change.
 
'Lest you guys think I'm smoking something here is a picture of me pushing in on the forward section. That is about a 1/2" indentation.


Working on the lower intersection fairings. I'm tempted to leave them in 1 piece and screw them to the pants. Similar to how the uppers work. I've only seen 1 ship done this way. Anyone with any experience with this idea?
 
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So that front glass is not right. Mine is just as solid as the rear part. I think you got a bum part for sure.

As to the bolt on fairings, I was thinking about doing the same thing. Here's the ones I did on my RV9A and they worked just fine that way.

2003-10-19_17-04-24.jpg

2003-10-19_17-04-33.jpg

2003-10-19_17-04-41.jpg

2003-10-19_17-04-49.jpg


I used 3 #6 screws to hold them on.
 
I used RV-bits gear intersection fairings from South Africa. They are a bit larger than the home made ones depicted above, but they fit right on.
The upper intersect fairings were especially great considering the complex shape. My only problem was that I had a small pucker in my left wing root fairing, which holds out the RV-bits upper intersect fairing. When I get that laying flush, all will be well.
Andy, that's a nice join at the back.
 
Has anyone suffered damage to the pants either by hard landings, or too tall wheel chocks and linemen?
Mine seem to have a hard life, and I am patching them with glass and re-spot painting too often. Maybe a fresh set is in order... but wondering if making them less tall would be a solution.
 
flightlogic said:
Has anyone suffered damage to the pants either by hard landings, or too tall wheel chocks and linemen?
Mine seem to have a hard life, and I am patching them with glass and re-spot painting too often. Maybe a fresh set is in order... but wondering if making them less tall would be a solution.
Click to expand...

The question is "has anybody who uses their airplane a lot NOT had to do numerous repairs?" :rolleyes:

I usually repair a couple of wheel pants a year at our house (three RV's). The major causes are wheel-to-pant gaps that are too tight, pants too low that scrape on something, or flat tires. You can patch a lot of times before it is worth starting over (if you haven't done pants before).

One tip - consider making the bottom half of your pants a color that is available in a spray can. Makes repair/repaint much easier!
 
Ironflight said:
The question is "has anybody who uses their airplane a lot NOT had to do numerous repairs?" :rolleyes:

I usually repair a couple of wheel pants a year at our house (three RV's). The major causes are wheel-to-pant gaps that are too tight, pants too low that scrape on something, or flat tires. You can patch a lot of times before it is worth starting over (if you haven't done pants before).

One tip - consider making the bottom half of your pants a color that is available in a spray can. Makes repair/repaint much easier!
Click to expand...

Paul, excuse me if you answered this before but what clearance are you using between tire and pant?
 
Wheel Pant

Hi Blain,

I ordered the wheel pants around a year ago. I just checked - I can't dent the forward part of the wheel pants. My guess is, that there is something wrong with your front wheel pants (i.e not properly cured) - you might want to contact Vans.

Thilo
 
Received answer from Sterling Langrell. Thinks it is a manufacturing defect. Sending another set out. Score 1 for Vans customer service.
 
I used the same "rule of thumb" giving a final edge distance of 3/4" which seemed like a lot, but then it's nicer to have the space when things get jammed up in there over time.
 
Thanks Paul.... good tips.
Have gone to flat white, primer in rattle can. Gets used often it seems.
 
New pants!

Just received replacements. WAY more rigid. Now I can open the clearance up to "1 Thumb" per Paul's suggestion:D
 
Gaps

Definitely err on the side of more space than too little. Several years ago, I put new tires on. Same size but from a different company. Put them on and didn't think to check if the gap changed. It did. Landed in a cross wind. Touched down fine but the plane bounced a foot or so and crabbed into the wind about 20 degrees and touched down. When tying down I noticed a minor crack. Upon further inspection the rear lower area behind the tire was pulled under. This was on the right pant, down wind side. I discover my gap had closed about 3/8." Very easy repair but a lesson learned.

I haven't been able to find it, but probably 10 years ago there was a video out of an RV landing. It was in very slow motion and showed the displacement of the tires at touchdown. I was surprised at how much the tire compressed. Now throw in low air pressure, crosswind touchdowns and you've got repairs to do:eek:

3/4" on the sides, minimum 1" front and back.
 
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