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Date:  6-3-2010
Number of Hours:  5.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Strut Fairing 1

I wanted to make a fairing for the upper strut; I already have the lower strut fairing sold by Bob Barrows. I have some left over strut material on account of a crack developing in one of my struts and I decided to employ it in the making of the fairings. I drilled a couple of holes corresponding to the wing strut fitting, and upsized the fitting bolts one size, using 2 each additional washers on the bolt and nut end. I then bent some .016 2024-T3 aluminum around the oversized bolts, creating an airfoil shap. I used countersunk 3/32 pop rivets to attach the aluminum to the strut, and underlength countersunk -4 rivets to squeeze the trailing edge together. Nonhardening clay was used to taper the aluminum airfoil shape to the strut. Electrician's tape was used to provide a nonstick surface, and some wood was pressed into the ends of the mold to keep the aluminum in a uniform shape, almost like a strut, using a glue gun to keep the wood from moving.

Three layers of fiberglass cloth were epoxied; after it hardened it was trimmed to fit on the aircraft strut-wing juncture.
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Attaching .016 aluminum to mold.

Attaching .016 aluminum to mold.

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Mold ready to fiberglass.

Mold ready to fiberglass.

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Initial fit of fairing.

Initial fit of fairing.

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