It is an unpleasant day, rainy and cold, so I needed a task that could be accomplished inside with the aircraft in the workshop. I had acquired the blanks for a pair of the old style aluminium Vans gear leg fairings so fitting these seemed like and ideal job. First the fairing were cut to size to fit between the fuselage and the wheel. The fairings are joined at the back by inserting the pin in a length of aluminium hinge. The key to a neat job is to have the hinge positioned so that when the fairing is flexed around the gear leg it pulls the trailing edge of the fairing together precisely. Pieces of scrap steel tube were used to simulate the ends of the gear legs and with the rear edge of the fairings taped together the correct position of the sides of the hinges marked. The hinge pin was then removed. The ends of the hinge were match drilled to the fairing and then a rivet fan spacing tool was used to get an even line of rivets. In theory you are not supposed to drill through the fan to avoid opening up the holes, just use them to mark, but I'm sure I'm not alone in ignoring this advice. Once all the holes were drilled they were dimpled to accept countersunk rivets. With the thin aluminium and the thin hinges this could be done through the two together which ensures a very good fit. Then the rivets were set using the pneumatic squeezer - it is great to have these tools left over from the RV build. The result is a exactly spaced set of perfect rivets - this is one of the most satisfying jobs when it comes out well. The fairings were then wrapped round the gear leg and the natural position of the top of the legs in the fairing established. This was marked and then slots cut in the top of the fairings stop drilled at their bottom ends. Stainless steel jubilee clips were then used through the slots to fasten the fairings to the leg. Before flight they need very accurately aligning fore and aft with weight off the wheels as if misaligned they act as mini rudders and can put the aircraft out of balance.
