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Naked Landing Gear

Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce

BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
I'm tired of patching the fabric on the gear legs after a trip to the river bottoms. Do most people cut off the angle that the fabric goes around at the top of the gear.

Thanks.

Steve Pierce
 
I have never had fabric on the gear legs of a cub! Come on the argument that it streamlines the cub is really a joke!

I want to see the condition of hte gear legs, brake lines, and attach points! Save the fabric for repairing the tears in the belly and stabalizer?

Tim
 
Tim,
Do you remove the angle or just leave it. I flew :lol: it around just now and can't tell a bit of difference.

Thanks.

Steve Pierce
 
I've never noticed anyone cutting off the fabric former. In fact the HD gear replaces it with a 1/2" or 3/4"square tube for strength and the STC for the gross weight increase requires the square tube. I think this is discussed in some other posts also.
 
I ran open gear legs on my bushmaster for a couple of years. I built and installed metal fairings and got about 5mph in speed. Those round tubes are real draggy.
 
I've never noticed a decrease in speed on a open geared 18. No cover means you can inspect the gear and find problems before failure. After the fabric formers on my gear got kicked, bent, cracked, and finally broke, (Atlee gear), they disappeared, lots of Cubs are running around this way. The next time I have the gear off I may weld in the square tube, or not, haven't decided if it's worthwhile yet. I've got Atlees long step clamped onto the right gear, which is stronger than the fabric former, and with the former gone, there is a bigger place for a foot. I may just leave the right gear the way it is with the step, and add the tube on the left if I see that it is flexing more than I want it to.
 
A friend of mine who spotted tuna fish off the east coast with a 90 hp cub flew with out his gear covered then covered it and he said it made 5 mph difference. He was loran equiped with over 10,000 hours in it so I tend to believe him.
 
If you are pussy footing around in tenny runners then the fabric might last for a year or two? Try getting in and out with bunny boots on? Besides that you can sit in the plane, bang your boots against the tube and knock the sand off the boots!

Come now what is 5 miles an hour in a cub, All that means is you can't see quite as much?

I have 6" extended gear on my 12 and the Atlee step works great! The large step works great with a belly tank also, you got to be a midget to use the one molded into the tank?

Tim
 
If you take off too many 5 miles per hours, you might as well walk!

I took my gear covers off and I perceived it as being slower, but I also put on a new prop (which was supposed to actually make the plane go faster, as I am a pussy-footed-tenny-runner-pilot), which had an effect also.

It looks cooler...

sj
 
If you take off too many 5 miles per hours, you might as well walk!

I took my gear covers off and I perceived it as being slower, but I also put on a new prop (which was supposed to actually make the plane go faster, as I am a pussy-footed-tenny-runner-pilot), which had an effect also.

It looks cooler...

sj
 
I guy I used to fly with put 6 in gear and 29 in gar-areo tires on his PA18 and it killed his speed alot. We used to cruise same speed for rpm and now it takes him another 125 rpm to go the same speed.
 
Once flew 2 Super Cubs in formation for about 200 miles. Same engines, same props. One was stock, had 8" tires,covered gear and a spinner. The other had no spinner, uncovered extended gear, and 29"tires. Ran exactly the same RPM, and exactly the same airspeed the entire way. Now maybe the tachs could have been a little off, but they both cruised comfortably at the same speed.
 
So go fast, some go slow, some are heavy, some are not?

It appears that the rigging is probably the biggest difference in speed between identically outfitted cubs. My buddy flys a stock cub, with a 160 conversion, gear on the legs, 29" tires, and 82-41 prop and there isn't another cub I have seen that can keep up with him--

I just enjoy the ride in my 12 with all the junk hanging on it at best 90mph at 2500rpm.
 
My -18 has the HD gear legs uncovered, and frankly I'm not sure I could figure out how to get in it if I couldn't step on the crosstube.

(I have added the Atlee safety cables since this photo -- maybe covering the legs would make up the drag from the weeds I gather on those.)

justhome.jpg
 
CubCouper? good looking cub! Say how do you post the picture as part of your message??? That would be handy for posting some of the mods and details on this forum?

Thanks,

Tim
 
Naked Gear

A few years ago the FAA hired a test pilot to fly a PA-18 with different size tires as well as covered and uncover gear legs. They were trying to see if the big bush tires or uncovered gear legs were causing turbulence on the tail section leading to a "moose stall". When I talked to the test pilot, he said the tires didn't make that much difference in air flow over the tail and the gear being covered or uncovered made on difference in handeling or speed. They found that anything inside and behind the 7 foot arc of a Borer prop made no defference in the speed of the aircraft. Covered or uncovered gear legs, covered or uncovered hydrasorbs, made no difference. The Borer prop is what holds the speed back. Now if you have one of those little short pussy...uh.. foot props, these things being covered might just make you go faster. You'll need some good polish so it will look nice too. Crash
 
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