Brief Description: Installing the Nose Gear Wheel Pant
The process for installing the Nose Gear Wheel Pant (NGWP) is similar to the Main Gear Wheel Pants, but my forward section of the NGWP did not fit well over the aft section. It was almost like the molds Van’s subcontractor used to form the forward section were for a smaller sized wheel. There were several variations in the thickness and width of the overlap and there was not a lot of material to work with. A fellow hangar-mate who is building a -8A showed me his nose gear pants and those were made the way they should be; fitting well together with little to trim. Anyway, I trimmed off nearly ½ in of material to get both halves to fit together and I literally have to use a rubber mallet to get them to mate. It will be OK once I get the plate nuts and screws installed, but I would have liked a better fit to start with.