Today I received my Main Landing Gear Fairings from Steve at Eureka CNC. Although I got a delivery confirmation from FedEX an hour before I got home, the box was nowhere to be found. Apparently FedEx delivered them to the wrong house, requiring me to go on a 45-minute goose chase for my box. My neighbors let me know that was a common occurrence so I eventually found them at the house at the end of the street!
These gear fairings are often called “Wortmann” gear fairings, and as I’m sure most of you know they solve a big drag problem on the Long-EZ by streamlining the main gear in two ways: First, it takes the oval shape of the main gear and converts it into an airfoil shape, which is exponentially more aerodynamic than virtually any other shape. Second, it twists the gear’s angle of incidence so that it meets the oncoming air straight on and fixes the stock gear’s offset profile (read “dirty”) which creates a lot of drag.
After the delivery drama was over I opened the box to find some very precisely (of course!) hot-wired gear fairings!
I can’t wait to get these babies glassed onto the main gear. Thanks Steve!