Main Gear Fairing Repair

[DodsonD]

I did not build my RV-8, but I am very comfortable with fiberglass work.

I damaged a main gear fairing in a ground loop the other day. The damage isn't that bad so I began to identify and round up the materials for a repair.

First question... they appear to be polyester, not epoxy according to the build manual. Can anyone confirm that please?

Second question... my fairing has a fiberglass bulkhead installed. It was bonded, not laminated to the shell. That feature does not appear on the drawing (45). It this an omission from the drawing, an aftermarket part, a builder modification? This is kind of important in that the bulkhead bonding was broken and it took very little effort to pop it out in one piece. Maybe the builder just put it there to keep junk out of the aft volume of the fairing. It did this well by the way, the back of the fairing was clear of debris. The area in front of the bulkhead contained plenty of the flotsam from my embarrassing divot.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Ralph Inkster]

I remember a bulkhead in the wheel pants I’ve installed, remember drilling drain hole in the bottoms.
I’d suggest you glue it back in, who knows how much dirt could collect in there over time, & how much added weight that might add.

 

[DodsonD]

I did intend to put it back in, I was more curious as to why is was missing from the drawing... a builder mod or I have an old drawing.

Thanks for the info. My Glasair fairing has a laminated in place bulkhead... more structural than the one in the RV fairing. And drain holes!

 

[Desert Rat]

I have a friend who had an rv6 where that bulkhead had been added by the builder. On my 7 it was already installed from vans. I don’t recall if it’s shown in the plans now or not.
As far as your other question. Vans has gone through several iterations of wheel pants over the years, all of them with the same part number. There are also aftermarket options. They re most likely polyester, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Use a good epoxy to do your repairs since it will stick to either base material.

 

[eaglen92ce]

Start by sanding into the fairing to start your repair. If it is polyester resins you will be able to smell that familiar "bondo" like smell of the esters. You probably already know this but you can repair polyester resin parts with epoxy. You cannot go the other way though. My RV6 pants which are Sam James versions have a bulkhead behind the wheel opening. I recommend that you keep the bulkhead for structure and keeping the back of the pant from filling up with dirt and mud. I would bond the bulkhead in with flox and then use fiberglass strips to tie the bulkhead to the wheel paint shell.

Just my thoughts... Good luck with the repair.

Bill

 

[DodsonD]

Start by sanding into the fairing to start your repair. If it is polyester resins you will be able to smell that familiar "bondo" like smell of the esters. You probably already know this but you can repair polyester resin parts with epoxy. You cannot go the other way though. My RV6 pants which are Sam James versions have a bulkhead behind the wheel opening. I recommend that you keep the bulkhead for structure and keeping the back of the pant from filling up with dirt and mud. I would bond the bulkhead in with flox and then use fiberglass strips to tie the bulkhead to the wheel paint shell.

Just my thoughts... Good luck with the repair.

Bill

Thanks all... no surprise about the variations that may be out there.

Got some West System epoxy coming. Just finished cleaning up the inside bits and prepping a reasonable scarf. I'll laminate the repair and re-install the bulkhead. Then it over to the outside for cosmetic finish work.