First owner made part!!!!!

[Richard Boyer]

Ok, this is mickey mouse for a lot of you guys.......

I purchased my T back in August of 01. A friend of mine went with me up to montana to inspect it, get it ready and then fly it back to Texas. He had actual Tcraft time and so did the test flights. Well, as fate would have it, the fairing between the fuselage and the gear on the left side decided to become a permanent part of the montana landscape. They missed the metal frame part with the screws and had it screwed into the fabric only. (sheesh)

As this was primarily aesthetic, it was put on the back burner to some of the more immediate repairs (engine oil leak/gush, wing tank leak). Acutally, fixing the wing tank taught me a valuable painting experience. For this yellow paint, you first have to put down a coat of white, else your color comes out a bit green.

Anyways, I cut this part out, primed it, painted it. repainted it. mek'ed it. primed it again, painted it again. crap. painted it again. finally just said the heck with it and put it on. (oh, it took three orders from spruce and wag aero before I got the rubber trim size right!

Overall, not bad! Really makes it look a lot better!

Richard Boyer
N95791
Georgetown, TX
07TS

[ROllerton]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Very nice!

[Robert Lees]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Jolly good, Richard. I need one L&R. How did you trim the edges? My originals only have a bit of rubber riveted to the front part that curves under the belly.
Rob

[Richard Boyer]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

I cut a bit larger with regular snips and then filed to fit..... It has one fold and two bends also....

One thing I noticed was that the one on the right side was pretty thick, and as a result has a crack that looks like it was stopped with a weld.(?)

I decided that since it wasn't a structural part to go with .02 thick aluminum. It is much more flexable that what is currently on there. The hardest part was figuring out how to get that rubber on. You have to pull it tight to get around some of those curves. I ended up using model airplane glue (CA)on the back side. I have been checking it very carefully before and after each flight to make sure it stays where it is supposed to!

Richard Boyer
N95791
Georgetown, TX
07TS

[Howard Wilson]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Still trying to figure out how to transfer hole position in frame to fairings. Lipstick? Particularly that most fwd screw going into bottom of fuse.

[Richard Boyer]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

The three in the side of the fuse were easy. I just placed the part about where I wanted it and slid it straight down until I could see the holes that were already in the fuse. I made a mark there. I centered my punch in the bend area where the aluminum was doubled in line with that mark. Drill.

For the tab, I just folded it under and drilled up with the longest bit I could find! It attaches into metal on my T in that area. A simple metal screw holds that in place.

Richard Boyer
N95791
Georgetown, TX

[Mark Julicher]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Richard,
Nicely Done! Looks great.
I never could find exactly what to replace the rubber part on the front edge and I never figured out the CA glue idea. So now I have a new trick to use.

I used a piece of split rubber and, after drilling a number of small holes, I laced the split rubber edging onto the sheet metal sort of like an old cockpit coaming.

[crispy critter]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Richard,
Are your steps polished,chromed,or ????.I like the polished look on the steps but how do you keep them from rusting unless you have them plated with something?
Also,nice job on the fairing.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Anyone found a source for the rubber edge material for less than ASS wants? They were asking $1.51 a foot back in my 2000/2001 price list. I need to do both sides of the wing to fuselage fairing and that's enough money to fly for a LOOOOONG time! I really need to replace ALL of the rubber channel and would probably buy a roll if I could find it.
Hank J

[lktiller]

Re: First owner made part!!!!!

Hank, the rubber strip on my fairing is just long enough to cover the area that rubs the windshield. About three feet per side.