Front Wheel Fairing

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n12365

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Display name:
Ryan

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n12365 said:
I am trying to figure out if I should attempt to repair a damaged front wheel fairing on my C172 or just buy a new one. I attached two pictures that show the damage and there are some more pictures located at https://plus.google.com/photos/106801677358961140117/albums/5693861426687492881?authkey=CPGi69vvn8ugYQ

What do you guys think? Is it worth trying trying to repair?

Ryan
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I've yet to find a resin that will bond to the material the fairings is made from. most patches I see are coming loose as they age.

we see these pants on e-bay from time to time, check with your local rental agencies they often remove them and sell the ones they have removed.
 
I suppose I should ask, Glass or plastic in light of Tom's comment, I have had good luck with the glass ones.
 
I have never repaired an airplane fairing but i've done plenty of work on boats.. if its fiberglass, fix it.

It looks fiberglass to me, in pic 1 I think I can see some weave on the inside of the fairing.
 
Tom-D said:
If he patches the pant on the inside it won't fit the strut, If he patches it on the outside it'll look like crap.
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That is why a patch won't work. To correctly make the repair, it needs to be built up from new. While finish is important (and not just for asthetics), most important is to ensure strength and durability within the constraints of the tolerances of fit.

The repair at the strut attachment requires professional level workmanship. I'd start by making a kevlar plug with a nonferrous metal core. Bond that with ester resin and, working from the inside of the fairing, mechanical fasteners tapped into the bottom of the plug. It would survive a nuclear blast.

Actually, it might be much easier to make both strut attachments as one piece. Then work it to the original tolerances to fit the strut.
 
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The new wheelpant will fail, too. That problem in the pictures is caused by nosewheel shimmy. The shimmy dampener can only control shimmy as long as the nosegear scissors are really tight and the dampener mount isn't all loose. Cessna published a Service Letter in about 1984 recommending that the nose wheel/tire assembly be dynamically balanced (as opposed to simple static balance) as the best remedy for shimmy, and in the years since I saw that I have done dynamic balancing on nosewheels and found that to be absolutely true. The rest of the linkage lasts a lot longer, too, and the instruments don't get the daylights rattled out of them.

Aircraft tires are notoriously badly balanced for their size. When I learned to fly in the '70s the school's 172 would shimmy so badly you couldn't read the instruments. Things haven't improved much.

See this:
http://www.sacskyranch.com/cessfrm1.htm

Edit: this second link removed because of CPA password requirements. Just Google Cessna Nosewheel Shimmy SE84-21.

But Cessna dealers don't have balancers. Gotta do it yourself.

Dan
 
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Dan Thomas said:
The new wheelpant will fail, too. That problem in the pictures is caused by nosewheel shimmy.Dan
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that damage is typical of the shimming nose wheel, but when did it occur? is it still shimming? the major cause of wheel shimming is a loose axel, that starts it and wears every thing in on the strut. but that gets cured at the next annual/tire change, and the rest of the wear doesn't get repaired. so the nose gear still shimmies.
 
The "Cessna dealers don't have the gear" is the key here. I don't know of a single local shop that does.

Annoying that they don't invest in the gear for such a wildly common problem. They could easily recoup the expense by charging a reasonable fee for it.

CPA's advice was to find a motorcycle shop that deals with racing go-karts and have them do it, never mentioning the word "airplane" or they'll probably run screaming away in fear of the liability involved.
 
seb034.pdf


Cessna SEB-03-4.
An aluminum bracket to repair/strengthen the fairing attach point.
SK207-21
 
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Dan Thomas said:
The new wheelpant will fail, too. That problem in the pictures is caused by nosewheel shimmy.
Click to expand...

The damage was noticed after a hard landing with an underinflated tire, so I don't think it was caused by nosewheel shimmy.
 
n12365 said:
It is fiberglass.
Click to expand...
It may be fiber glass reinforced but the resins won't bond to the new repair, try it, the new repair will fail in time.
 
Tom-D said:
that damage is typical of the shimming nose wheel, but when did it occur? is it still shimming? the major cause of wheel shimming is a loose axel, that starts it and wears every thing in on the strut. but that gets cured at the next annual/tire change, and the rest of the wear doesn't get repaired. so the nose gear still shimmies.
Click to expand...

I have never found a loose axle, but lots of shimmy trouble that was instantly cured with a dynamic balance. Cessna is right on this one.

Dan
 
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