Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

[mhorowit]

is the long screw that's part of a wall anchor!! $.37. - Mike

[flyguy]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Both of mine were short ones with "extensions" brazed on them, if you can believe that, when I bought the plane. Needless to say they both broke. La Grange said they didn't have a source yet, a while back. Acted a bit like they had never heard of such an item. Was kinda scary talking to them about that part.
I have a pkg of bolts that are shorter, but look like the same thing. Think the pkg says stove bolt. Just brought an anchor in from garage. Yep. Looks like a number 8, I think. That is going to be a pretty long anchor bolt, though. Have to check it out.
Darryl

[Robert Lees]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

What's your question, Mike?

[flyguy]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

OK, MIKE!!
Quick trip to the hardware store. 1/8 by 4 toggle bolt. $0.43. Throw away the toggle
Went in like it was made for it. And the one I picked out was a universal head so a phillips fits it and doesn't slip out every other rotation. SLICK!
Thank you Mike.
Works fine lasts a long time.
Darryl

[mhorowit]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Careful. I'm not sure that's a PMA'd part! - Mike

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Ah what a treat to see you all learning.... carry on "grasshoppers". Take yourself back to 1936-40 and think what YOU would use building an airplane.
Hardware items , auto parts, all purchased by the factory, inspected and given a Taylorcraft part #......

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Hey guys, I went to the local Home Desperate and got a 1/8 threaded rod, cut it to length, and jammed nutted a pair of nylocs on each of the two "bolts" that I got from the threaded rod with enough rod left over to make several "spares". I'd sure like to be able to use a graded bolt though.

[flyguy]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Sabrina,
We could manufacture a mil-spec bolt for all the Taylorcrafts around. Proper shank, heat-treated, anodize. Good business opportunity. They would only be about $100 each to cover the small lot design and manufacturing cost.
Darryl
P.S. I can assure you from experience that if it breaks or falls out that the sheet metal screws will hold the fairing on.

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Cool, I'd hate to have to worry about having a piece of thin metal snagging on the tail surfaces, or tearing the empenage fabric while departing the aircraft.

[VictorBravo]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

I'd pay $$$$ for a set of contoured fiberglass fairings that actually fit the airplane, and didn't leak water or air, and weren't a pain in the arse at every turn!

(at the bottom of this long rant is a solution you should be aware of)

Last month I tried an experiment, which ALMOST worked I used iron-on fabric model airplane covering to replace the metal fairing. It WOULD have saved about five pounds, sealed perfectly, matched the airplane color, and never come loose. The only problem was that it was impossible to get it to make the 3 dimensional curve around the windshield corner and lay down on the wing.fuselage surface. I have been fooling with this type of material for about 30 years now, and I was sure I could get it to work. But it didn't, so I had to put the metal piece back on.

However, it became apparent that the best solution would be a small fiberglass piece like a cuff on the front portion, and the iron-on fabric on the rear portion. This would still save at least three to four pounds and seal better. 6 sheet metal screws could hold the fiberglass piece with perfect safety. Either iron-on material or even proper airplane fabric would work well for the rear section. The iron-on stuff is neat since you could take it off at annual inspection time if your IA wanted to.

Although none of this is legal without some paperwork, the original, legal, official factory approved fairing is in my opinion a safety hazard. On the four T-crafts I have owned I have never seen one of them that really fit properly and would keep water out. The do weigh enough that if one came off it would possibly damage the aircraft. I am sure that on somebody's Grand Champion restoration airplane there are fairings that fit right. But on the airplanes I have seen and touched, those fairings are never really quite right. Blobs of silicone, off-kilter sheet metal screws, duct tape, etc etc. seem more common.

One thing I will share with the group is the quick and easy solution to at least seal up the gap and eliminate the water and air leaks. There is a 3M surgical tape that outperforms any other for taping up the gaps. We used it to great advantage in sailplane racing, and it has found its way onto all of my powerplanes as well. 3M "Blenderm" is an occlusive plastic tape sold for medical use. Comes in 1 and 2 inch widths. It is not cheap. It is the same as their over the counter first aid tape, but it does not have the millions of holes perforated. The big deal about this tape is that it stretches and forms around compound curves, sticks like crazy, but can be removed without peeling paint.

I clean the surface of the fairing strip and surrounding fabric with alcohol, making sure the rubber channel strips are in place to protect the fabric from the metal. I use this tape halfway on the fairing and halfway on the fabric, all the way around the fairing onto the wing, then all the way around the fuselage/fairing joint. The fuselage will probably take several smaller pieces because of the strange shapes and changes in contour. The tape goes from the fairing onto the fuselage, even under the upper door frame, around all the difficult parts where the fairing and windshield meet, etc. A box of 12 rolls of 1" wide x 15 feet tape cost me about $20 on ebay. I used about 6-8 rolls to seal up my T-craft, which includes covering the gap between the stabilizer and fuselage, covering the gap between that metal strip on the boot cowl and the windshield, and the top of the windshield. The tape can also be used to seal the elevator and rudder gaps against water, however you must be careful to apply the tape so that it does not restrict control movement.

Again, there is no paperwork and no approval on this, although it may not specifically require one. I believe Part 43 allows the owner to apply decorative pinstriping cosmetic tape Legal or otherwise, what it does do is STOP water from getting into your steel structure, your control surface hinges, your cockpit, etc. The benefits to keeping your 60 year old steel structure dry far outweight the problems.

Bill

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Hey Bill, and others,
I HAVE a fiberglass piece that covers the leading edge of my left wing. I don't know who made it, but I imagine I could make a mold, then a reverse mold for the other wing, and the pieces could be formed. All I know is that the left wing does not leak AT ALL.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

The first Model A's used doped on fabric to fair the part between the wing & fuselage.... so we see history does repeat....

[jdoran]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

To further complicate the discussion, my F-19 has aluminum "fairings" that go between the wing and fusealage, then is covered up by the aluminum strap that is attached by a toggle bolt (throw away the toggle)

I have never figured out what the purpose of the wedge shaped aluminum spacer is, but I'm not real smart.

Anyone know ??

John
Annapolis Md.

[Robert Lees]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

It's to tidy up the trailing edge of the wing. Improves airflow.

Try putting the wing band (strap) on without the wedge...all will become obvious!

[Len Petterson]

Re: Hey! the long screw that hold the wing fairing on.....

Can we find what screw in a Electric motorshop possibly with a better quality.
There are long screws holding electric motors together.
and dont forget to use a bit of Neversize on it so it don't rust in for god.
Len