Decided to take a break from the canopy work so I turned to the fiberglass fairinga that cover the square steel landing gear legs. I trimmed the fairings per instructions with a Dremel and diamond cutting wheel (the same one used for the canopy). I then cut a piece of piano hinge to the correct length, marked, and drilled it for -3 rivets. I then clamped the hinge inside the fairing and match drilled a couple of the holes at the ends. I then removed the hinge pin, clamped the hinge in place and matched drilled all the holes both sides. Next step was to countersink the fiberglass for flush rivets (very carefully and just deep enough but not too deep). I then clecoed the hinge pieces and squeezed all the riviets.
I placed the fairings on the gear legs and inserted the pins. I think they are probably too tight and I expect there will be some problems when the gear legs flex. I expect some cracking and/or some pulled rivets in the fiberglass. I should probably order another pair of fairings and redo the task. However, I have decided to build on at this point and redo the fairing later if and when they crack.
