SonexBuilders.net

Hi all,

Getting close to final inspection of my Xenos. One of the last items is making the gear leg fairings. I am having trouble bending them to the shape needed. That 0.025" is pretty stiff and they seem too long. I have pushed and pulled to get them to shape, but not even close. I used a brake to get the initial bend, but still can't get them to close to get the hinge pin in. I'm thinking of going to 0.016". Any suggestions?

Dave Dooley
Xenos 0029

Dave, I bent mine by hand. The radius is not critical but making everything even without dents is the hardest part. You may try using a 2X4 to bend it. Bend it first by hand and then simply use the 2X4 to evenly compress it on a flat table like a taco shell. You may be surprised how well it works. Practice on your trashed ones after straightening them out...:)

IMPORTANT...you must have your hinge's perfectly squared with each other or the fairing will be warped.

I would avoid the .016 if you can...

Like Kip, I also bent mine by hand. I cut out the flat blank per the directions, installed the hinges, and then using both hands bent one side over until I could run the hinge pin. After that I flattened them just a little more for the airfoil shape. Assuming the Xenos plans are the same, they will be too long and will have to be trimmed to fit. That's where I'm currently at, as well as figuring out how to secure them. I would also stick with .025 since these will probably get beat up from normal usage.

Thanks Guys,

I guess I need to put on some weight (125 lbs soaking wet). With all my weight on it, can't even get the hinge pin in. You are using 6061-T6, right?

Dave
Xenos 0029

Dave, keep working it. "Smash" it if you have to. It will spring back a bit. Just try to keep the front radius. All hinges will get easier over time... ;)

Xenos29DN wrote:Thanks Guys,

I guess I need to put on some weight (125 lbs soaking wet). With all my weight on it, can't even get the hinge pin in. You are using 6061-T6, right?

Dave
Xenos 0029

Dave,

Yes I ended up using some extra metal out of a large blank that my kit came with. When I inventoried my kit, it basically came with two sheets of 0.025...I made the seat sling out of one and have been using the other for fairings. I'm using 6061-T6, and I weigh close to double what you do which is probably why it was easier. When I put my weight into it, things seem to bend without much difficulty! :mrgreen:

I like Kip's idea of using a 2 X 4...do you have a friend or neighbor that you can have help?

This method seemed to work well for Jeff Shultze's Sonex and he tapered it to boot! Look under Gear Fairing .http://www.sonex604.com/

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'll now go out and order a large pepperoni pizza.

Dave
Xenos 0029

Xenos29DN wrote:Thanks for all the input everyone. I'll now go out and order a large pepperoni pizza.

Dave
Xenos 0029

LOL...how tall are you Dave? 125lb is pretty light for a 21st century human male!

I'm working on my gear leg fairings currently. I could get a good radius bend but I could not get it to break where I wanted it to. I created a template of the fairings by using posterboard and transferred that shape to the aluminum, so it was critical to get the bend in the correct place. Inevitably the bend was not on centerline, and when I folded the edges together one would be higher than the other. You could still join them, but the end result was not a neutral airfoil, and I believe it would have caused random lift vectors on the roll axis. I even tried bending first then applying the template over the bend, which was better but I still couldn't line up the exact centerline. In desperation I created this simple tool using plate steel and aluminum rods. It worked really well!