PA12 strut fairings
- Thread starter twoton
- Start date
windy
SPONSOR
Utah
I ditched the strut & gear/fuselage fairings when I got new wings & landing gear. No fairings allows easier inspection & preflight of the attach hardware. If I'd have kept the old style PA-12 wings, I'd have kept the strut fairings, since the old PA-12 struts attached inside of the wings, so there's nothing to see on preflight anyway. If your landing gear is covered, it might make sense to use fairings, for smoother air flow & the cosmetics.
When I covered the wings, I put the teardrop rings in the fabric, but the old fairings don't fit anymore, since the Dakota Cub PA-12 wings have the attach points outside of the wing.
windy
When I covered the wings, I put the teardrop rings in the fabric, but the old fairings don't fit anymore, since the Dakota Cub PA-12 wings have the attach points outside of the wing.
windy
windy
SPONSOR
Utah
My top cruise speed dropped from about 107 mph to about 98 mph. Changes that contributed to the speed decrease:
3" extended supercub-style landing gear (vs covered PA-12 stramlined gear),
bigger main tires (31" bushies vs 8.50x6)
bigger tailwheel (baby bushwheel vs Scott 3200)
No more strut or fuselage fairings
I changed from PA-12 jury struts to PA-18 style jury struts, but this probably didn't do much to the speed
i think the gear & tires were the biggest speed suckers. putting the fairings back on would help, but maybe not noticibly. they'd look nice, though.
windy
3" extended supercub-style landing gear (vs covered PA-12 stramlined gear),
bigger main tires (31" bushies vs 8.50x6)
bigger tailwheel (baby bushwheel vs Scott 3200)
No more strut or fuselage fairings
I changed from PA-12 jury struts to PA-18 style jury struts, but this probably didn't do much to the speed
i think the gear & tires were the biggest speed suckers. putting the fairings back on would help, but maybe not noticibly. they'd look nice, though.
windy
windy
SPONSOR
Utah
I got waaaay bigger tires! No one looks at the plane anymore, only the tires!
I've been SURE that I would win the 31" bushwheels at the supercub fly-in at JC for 5 years now, I KNEW it right down to my bones! Well, the forces of the universe and the raffle ticket picking of the JC assistants did not align, once again, this year. In July, I was up to Smiley Creek in Idaho and got the wild hair to take the short hop over to Joseph, OR and get Flip all bushed out.
windy
I've been SURE that I would win the 31" bushwheels at the supercub fly-in at JC for 5 years now, I KNEW it right down to my bones! Well, the forces of the universe and the raffle ticket picking of the JC assistants did not align, once again, this year. In July, I was up to Smiley Creek in Idaho and got the wild hair to take the short hop over to Joseph, OR and get Flip all bushed out.
windy
windy
SPONSOR
Utah
I didn't have a landing gear collapse. I stomped on the brakes too hard & flipped ass over teakettle onto its back. Needed a fat-ass passenger to keep the tail down or spongier brakes.
As it turns out, the dirtbag mechanics that did the annual right before the flip put some bondo over a corrosion hole on one of the gear tubes, without telling me, so a gear collapse might have been in my future if i had waited long enough.
windy
As it turns out, the dirtbag mechanics that did the annual right before the flip put some bondo over a corrosion hole on one of the gear tubes, without telling me, so a gear collapse might have been in my future if i had waited long enough.
windy
Longwinglover
Registered User
Charlotte, NC
Sooo... If your PA12 came from Piper with landing gear and wing strut fairings, Piper must have ment for them to be there - even if only for decoration... Do you submit a 337 when you take them off? 
John Scott
John Scott
Longwinglover
Registered User
Charlotte, NC
The Type Certificate doesn't mention seats, instruments or radios either, but you need a 337 to remove or replace them. The technicality is that to meet the type design (how it was produced by Piper) you have to have the fairings installed. To remove them you need some kind of approval. I am NOT saying that it is bad, dangerous or unsafe to remove them, just asking what is the basis for the approval.
John Scott
John Scott
