RV-10 Wheel Pant Fairing Spacer
The other day I was hanging around www.vansairforce.net in the forums and I saw an interesting modification to the spacer holding the fiberglass wheel fairing on the outboard side of the main wheels. The original spacer, which is made from a threaded hexagonal extrusion has had a small number of attachment bolt failures thus far due to vibration. A couple of fellows from Texas have come up with a replacement that looks much stronger. Their names are Russ Davies and Dr. Linnard Griffin.
The picture below shows the old spacer sitting above the new beefier one. They both attach to the wheel nut in the same way but the greater amount of surface area that the new design places against the nut reduces the amount of stress on the bolt.
Here is a photo of the new spacer mounted on the airplane. The slots that are cut in the center of the spacer are there so a wrench can hold the unit while the bolt going into it from inside the nut is torqued.
All in all, I think that this is a great fix for the problem. It adds a little weight close to the CG which might be a problem for people who want the leanest machine possible but I would sacrifice a few ounces in exchange for the piece of mind knowing that my wheel fairings are secure and not prone to failure due to vibration.
Dave