Balancing ES nose gear fairing

Submitted by Anonymous on

Forums: 

From: Buz McAbery <buz [at] metalgoodsmfg.com>
Sender: <marv [at] lancaironline.net>
Subject: Balancing ES nose gear fairing
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 15:02:27 -0400
To: <lml [at] lancaironline.net>

Hey ES folks,



Do you have any thoughts on the need to balance the nose gear fairing?  I am in the middle of repacking the wheel bearings and thought I'd check the nose fairing balance.  It is significantly out of balance to the rear, meaning it drops a full 90 degrees when a rod is placed through the side screws holes/phenolic blocks and then lifted.  Make sense?



I've been flying the ES for 6 years with no shimmy, so should I leave it alone?



Thanks,



Buz McAbery

N82BM

Tulsa, OK



Sent from my iPad

Balancing ES nose gear fairing

Submitted by Anonymous on

From: Bill Bradburry <bbradburry [at] verizon.net>
Sender: <marv [at] lancaironline.net>
Subject: RE: [LML] Balancing ES nose gear fairing
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 16:27:56 -0400
To: <lml [at] lancaironline.net>
Message Header


Undecoded Message

Buz,



If you should decide to balance the nose gear wheel pant, (I assume that is

what you are discussing when you say fairing), it should be balanced around

the center of rotation.  This is not necessarily where the bolts on the side

hold it in place.

However, if you have been flying it for 6 years with no shimmy, what could

possibly be wrong with it???  Fix only what is broken!



Do you have any pictures of your install?  Maybe some of with shimmy could

copy it!   :>)



B2



-----Original Message-----

From: Lancair Mailing List [lml [at] lancaironline.net (mailto:)

] On Behalf Of Buz

McAbery

Sent: Monday, June 02, 2014 2:02 PM

To: Lancair Mailing List

Subject: [LML] Balancing ES nose gear fairing



Hey ES folks,



Do you have any thoughts on the need to balance the nose gear fairing?  I am

in the middle of repacking the wheel bearings and thought I'd check the nose

fairing balance.  It is significantly out of balance to the rear, meaning it

drops a full 90 degrees when a rod is placed through the side screws

holes/phenolic blocks and then lifted.  Make sense?



I've been flying the ES for 6 years with no shimmy, so should I leave it

alone?



Thanks,



Buz McAbery

N82BM

Tulsa, OK



Sent from my iPad

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Balancing ES nose gear fairing

Submitted by Anonymous on

From: Gary Casey <casey.gary [at] yahoo.com>
Sender: <marv [at] lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: Balancing ES nose gear fairing
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 07:47:10 -0400
To: <lml [at] lancaironline.net>
Message Header


Undecoded Message
 Buz,
First, you've already awakened the shimmy devil by posting this email.  I "improved" the balance of mine merely by cutting off the aft 4 inches - the aft end is stuffed with fiberglas when built and is heavier than necessary.  But actually, as someone said, you could balance it at the center of rotation, but I seriously doubt that it will do much good.  The wheel and tire are both well aft of the center of rotation (the axis of the strut) and they are much heavier than the pant.  If you have no trace of shimmy, I would recommend
leaving things alone.  Maybe the shimmy devil will go back to sleep.
Gary Casey

Hey ES folks,

Do you have any thoughts on the need to balance the nose gear fairing?  I am=
in the middle of repacking the wheel bearings and thought I'd check the nos=
e fairing balance.  It is significantly out of balance to the rear, meaning i=
t drops a full 90 degrees when a rod is placed through the side screws holes=
/phenolic blocks and then lifted.  Make sense?

I've been flying the ES for 6 years with no shimmy, so should I leave it alo=
ne?

Thanks,

Buz McAbery
N82BM
Tulsa, OK

Balancing ES nose gear fairing

Submitted by Anonymous on

From: pete [at] leapfrogventures.com <pete [at] leapfrogventures.com>
Sender: <marv [at] lancaironline.net>
Subject: RE: Balancing ES nose gear fairing
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 12:51:33 -0400
To: <lml [at] lancaironline.net>
Message Header


Undecoded Message

I tried balancing it with no effect.  It took quite a bit of weight, which the ES definitely doesn't need on its nose.  In theory, the goal should be to minimize the total rotational mass around the front axle, which means don't add any more weight than is necessary.  Since the axle is canted rearward, balancing the fairing around the strut really isn't accomplishing much relative to the effective center point, which is rather complicated as the center of mass really doesn't rotate around a point but rather follows a curved path around the wheel contact point.



The net net is I suggest you leave well enough alone.



Pete





-----Original Message-----

From: Buz McAbery [buz [at] metalgoodsmfg.com (mailto:)

]

Sent: Monday, June 02, 2014 12:02 PM

Subject: Balancing ES nose gear fairing



Hey ES folks,



Do you have any thoughts on the need to balance the nose gear fairing?  I am in the middle of repacking the wheel bearings and thought I'd check the nose fairing balance.  It is significantly out of balance to the rear, meaning it drops a full 90 degrees when a rod is placed through the side screws holes/phenolic blocks and then lifted.  Make sense?



I've been flying the ES for 6 years with no shimmy, so should I leave it alone?



Thanks,



Buz McAbery

N82BM

Tulsa, OK



Sent from my iPad