The stock Van’s fairing fit like crap. It needed to be excessively pulled into place and even once screwed into place, had large gaps everywhere. We decided to make our own.
We started by laying out the basic shape we wanted, then taping up gaps and laying laid foam over that. This only took an hour of time, but it required over 3 days because the foam took 24 hours per layer to dry. We needed 3 layers before we were confident we could carve it down into shape. It shaped down very quickly with some 36 and 60 grit paper.
With this method, filling holes and sanding any finer than 60 grit is a waste of time. You’re just looking for the shape to be correct. Look up Stu’s Aircraft Factory on youtube if you want more details. I watched his video before doing this and then dove right in. Once the foam is in shape, lay down a layer of aluminum tape and then put a coat of release agent down.
I cut out all my shapes for the cloth and then wet them out between 2 pieces of plastic. Each side got 4 layers of 8.8 oz bi-directional cloth. I didn’t worry about weave orientation because this is a non-structural piece. With the weather in the 60-70’s, to takes a full day for each clothe layup or filler layer to fully cure. After it cured, we didn’t an initial trim and sanded it until it matched the curves we marked out before we started.
I did the same procedure with layers of filler and sanding as I did with the tail surfaces. Once it was ready, I drilled the screw holes, installed nut plates and put down a layer of primer. Once again, I’m not worried about getting this 100% ready for paint. This looks close enough for me to give to the painter and have him do the detail work prior to paint.
Paul
(Total Build Time: 866.1 hours)