46A - Leg & Wheel Fairings (main and nose wheel fairings, intersection fairings, leg fairings)

Since I was still waiting for the nose gear, I begrudgingly trudged through 12 of the 13 fiberglass pieces that comprise the leg and wheel fairings.  Lots of progress on most of these parts ... and a very dusty workshop from sanding and sanding and sanding fiberglass.  Be resigned to have dust everywhere for a while. Specifically, I completed the following during the past ~12 days:

- finished fitting right gear fairings to each other; #40 match-drilled; cutout gear leg clearance hole; ensured all could be installed on right wheel/gear; floxed all 4 brackets to gear fairings and loosely attached with screws (did this process off the plane, since there was no way to verify proper seating of bracket if on plane)

- cleaned up floxed brackets; drilled, countersunk and riveted nutplated to aft fairings; drilled #27 and countersunk holes in forward fairings; both main wheel fairings are ready to mount onto plane

trimmed nose fairing halves; marked and drilled holes #40 into nose fairings; fabricated “v block”

- leveled nose wheel fairing and marked;  fabricated spacer and deburred bracket and located nutplates on bracket; lots of contemplation about this fairing

- checked main gear fairings for twist; secured trailing edges; modified hinge halves; drilled, clecoed and deburred hinges into one of the main gear fairings

- countersunk and riveted hinges to first main gear fairing; bent hinge pin and drilled hole for safety wire; completed all tasks for the 2nd main gear fairing

- worked on all 4 intersection fairings for the main gear (lots of sanding)

- attached main gear fairings with screws (they fit!); attached leg fairings and intersection fairings (on/off to prepare for drilling); drilled right intersection fairings

- drilled left intersection fairings; sanded all 4 intersection fairings (80grit); floxed two upper intersection fairings and installed loosely with #6 screws; received and opened crate with nose gear leg

- floxed and clecoed lower intersection fairings to main wheel fairings

The four main gear fairing halves, at some intermediate stage of completion:

After floxing the brackets in place (front half):

Floxed bracket spots:

Countersunk fairings for screws: 

Nose wheel fairing, after initial sanding and fitting:

Wedge constructed to hold nose wheel fairing:

Measuring center point on nose wheel fairing:

Another view, with front half removed:

Drilled 8 holes to attach nose wheel fairing halves:

Enlarged nose wheel fairing tire opening (initial cut; will be fine-tuned later):

Measuring center point of forward half of nose wheel fairing:

Deburred and marked hole locations for nose wheel fairing brackets:

Main gear leg fairing, about to drill hinge:

Drilled and clecoed hinge half:

Both sides drilled and secured with hinge pin:

Fully countersunk and riveted main gear leg fairing:

Both, completed:

Initial trimming of intersection fairings:

Temporary installation of wheel fairings, leg fairings, and intersection fairings -- those look kind of cool!

Another view, with my mug in pic.  Note the engine hoist that was used to lift the fuselage off the ground.  It is important to unweight the main gear, since it would likely be difficult to install/flox the intersection fairings properly, in relation to the leg fairings, when the gear are deformed due to being weighed down by the fuselage (and engine, if installed):

Taped end of intersection fairing, to provide gap (for movement during flight/taxi/takeoff/landing):

Lower intersection fairing, drilled #40 and clecoed:

Upper intersection fairing, drilled, screwed, and floxed:  

Lower intersection fairing, floxed: