Brief Description: Align gear fairings with in-flight airflow
The next step is to align the fairings parallel to the aircraft centerline. This requires making sure the tail is level at the cockpit longerons (datum line); dropping a plumb-bob from the fuselage firewall center and the center of the tail; marking centerline points on the floor; then transferring these points from a point on the landing gear fairing to a similar point the same distance from the center of the fuselage near the tail of the airplane. Then you place a string around the fairing and stretch it to the displaced centerline of the airplane marked on a stick screwed to a mounting box on the floor at the displaced centerline below the stabilizer. Finally, you mark the spaces between the notches on the fairing where the hose clamp secures the fairing to the gear leg and secure the fairing in-place. The stretched string wraps around the fairing at an angle, so you have to make sure you replicate that angle at the tail; and you replicate the height above the ground. Finally, you align the fairing using a centering measuring ruler. This aligns the fairing with the airflow when the wheels are in the air. It’s fairly complicated and as usual, the VAN’s instructions were not very good. I am very thankful a friend of mine just finished this process on his RV-8 so I could see how it was done.
