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Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.Will the RV-7 ones come close?

Emery

Active Member
Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.Will the RV-7 ones come close?

Hello, I just checked the Vans aircraft store for fairings. they do not sell them for the -9. I've heard that "fairings etc" has very good ones, but of course at a premium.

Has anyone ever tried the vans supplied fairings that are available for the -7 on the -9? I would consider reasonable alterations to get them to fit.

I have a classified add here to see what options there are, Thanks Emery
 
The gearlegs for the -9 exit at a different angle than the -7. This is because the -9 stands taller than the -7 to get that wonderful wing to stall in the three point attitude.

Despite what one of the fiberglass vendors state on their website, the intersection fairings are not interchangeable.

I initially tried using -7 fairings, gave up, and made my own upper and lower fairings.

Good luck!
 
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Intersection fairings

I bought a set for my 9 taildragger from Fairings Ect several months ago. They claim that the 6-7-9 are the same and that the 9A has different uppers due to the gear angle. Steve did add that if the 9 is different it?s so slight that it won?t matter. I haven?t installed yet but trial fitted the uppers and they fit the fuselage nicely and look like they will work fine with the leg fairings.

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
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Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.Will the RV-7 ones come close?

Thanks Bill for your response with regard to your negative experience. I gather that the intersection fairings for the -7 that you tried were "Vans" brand.

Would you say that based on the experience that you had, that both the upper and lower were problematic, or was one a better fit than the other? Thanks Emery
 
Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.Will the RV-7 ones come close?

Thanks Don, I'm getting reports that the Van's supplied fairings do not interchange very well if at all. still unclear if that is the case with lowers or just the uppers.

The information that you have supplied about the "Fairings etc" brand that you have purchased and the interchangability between the -6,-7,-9, possibly indicates a shape that trims out better? They seem to be quite popular, so perhaps others will chime in with their experience across the different tailwheel models.
 
Thanks Bill for your response with regard to your negative experience. I gather that the intersection fairings for the -7 that you tried were "Vans" brand.

Would you say that based on the experience that you had, that both the upper and lower were problematic, or was one a better fit than the other? Thanks Emery

I tried both Van's and Fairings Etc. and neither worked worth a darn.

Yes, both the uppers and lowers were "problematic".

You will have to make your own, if you want them to fit.

I molded my lowers into the wheel pants so the front half comes off with the front part of the wheel pants and the rear section is affixed to the rear portion of the wheel pants.

This has been discussed at length here on the forum by me and others.
 
I bought a set for my 9 taildragger from Fairings Ect several months ago. They claim that the 6-7-9 are the same and that the 9A has different uppers due to the gear angle. Steve did add that if the 9 is different it?s so slight that I won?t matter. I haven?t installed yet but trial fitted the uppers and they fit the fuselage nicely and look like they will work fine with the leg fairings.

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer

Don,

Unfortunately, that is not exactly true. The fairings for the -7 don't work worth a darn. I've complained to Fairings Etc. about it in the past and they continue to sell them to unsuspecting -9 builders.

I would be more than willing to offer up my plane to let them pull their own molds but I suspect there aren't enough -9 builders to make it worth their time.

Good luck with yours!
 
I don't use upper fairings. Just used a piece of the (cutoff) leg fairings that butts up against the fuselage. Slides over the main leg fairing in a telescoping manner. Held in place on the main fairing with a couple screws and nutplates. Cleaner and simpler than standard intersection fairings. If you don't have enough of the leg fairing material, would be simple to make from a piece of 0.025 Al sheet or similar.
 
Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.

Thanks Greg. I'm getting some good ideas here of what to do and what not to do. I like the simplicity of your upper fairing. This is the variety in information that I am looking for.

On another matter, I am a bit intrigued with RV-9B? How big are your tires?

Also your part time location of Atlin BC is familiar. My wife and I are traveling to Little Atlin Lake this afternoon to check on a relatives cabin.
 
I'm with Bill on this one, I bought the Fairings Etc upper fairings for my 9A, and they have been a crappy fit since day one. I've cut and hacked on them a bit to make "semi-sorta acceptable", but it ain't right.
 
Thanks Greg. I'm getting some good ideas here of what to do and what not to do. I like the simplicity of your upper fairing. This is the variety in information that I am looking for.

On another matter, I am a bit intrigued with RV-9B? How big are your tires?

Also your part time location of Atlin BC is familiar. My wife and I are traveling to Little Atlin Lake this afternoon to check on a relatives cabin.

Greg is a great guy and has a lot of good info on his -9B. (I've never heard it called that before!)

I'm sure Greg will chime in here but he ordered custom gear legs with longer axles so he can run larger wheels and tires.

If you are going to operate off of semi-rough fields, you at a minimum need to install a Doug Bell Tailwheel fork. Better (?) is the Condor Pneumatic Tailwheel Fork and tire. The only reason for the question mark is that I haven't flown with them but hear good things about the combination AND I always seem to get a flat tailwheel at the worst possible time when I fly aircraft with pneumatic tailwheels. That said, I'm running their Lightweight tailwheel made by Dayton and a Bell Tailfork and while they work great and I'm very happy with them, on really soft surfaces they act like a bit of a pizza cutter.

Either way, you need to replace the Van's tailwheel fork as it can work like a tail hook, should you ever drop it in a hole or off the edge of a paved ramp.
 
Gear leg"intersection"fairings upper or lower for RV-9.

Thanks Greg N. That is good information on the "fairings etc." poor fit (on the RV-9).

Last night I watched a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgMvfysThlQ&t=1s&app=desktop.

Using white spray foam instead of modeling clay, the person made it look pretty doable, making an intersection fairing on an RV-8. Well worth watching if you get a chance.

I think that I am leaning in the direction of building my own.
 
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