Glue for shock strut fairings.

[rodsmith]

Sometime after Bob changed the 4-place shock strut design to 1 1/8th tubing, I bought the new shock struts from Mark along with plastic streamlined fairings. I glued them onto the struts with 5 min epoxy. The glue has now failed on both of them, and strangely they turn sideways in flight after I align them pre-flight. Wondering what kind of glue to use to get these firmly attached in the proper orientation?

[rkennell]

Sometime after Bob changed the 4-place shock strut design to 1 1/8th tubing, I bought the new shock struts from Mark along with plastic streamlined fairings. I glued them onto the struts with 5 min epoxy. The glue has now failed on both of them, and strangely they turn sideways in flight after I align them pre-flight. Wondering what kind of glue to use to get these firmly attached in the proper orientation?

I haven't tried it but wonder if a person would fill the fairings with an adhesive expanding foam if that would not lock them in place.

[jaredyates]

I have the same problem. Back in October I asked Bob what he uses, and he said spray foam from a can, like Roger said. I have been using lots of that foam for other projects, and have found that the Loctite brand is quite nice. It doesn't yellow and if you get the window variety and use it sparingly, maybe it won't make a huge mess. Where I am, the Home Depot carries it, but Lowes does not.

[AZBearhawk272]

My airfoil fairings were executed by 3D plastic printing
streamlined airfoils that are bonded to the strut tube with silicone RTV. Looks like round spar with ribs…..
similar to BD4 construction. Then an aluminum skin was wrapped around and joined at trailing edge.
So far so good, solid, light and can be un skinned to inspect if needed.

Kevin D
N272DG

[alaskabearhawk]

I didn’t want to create a moisture trap by sealing the ends with something, so I called Mark G and asked him. He said to use Permatex high-temp epoxy. So far it has worked great. http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displa...g=301867&row=7

Yours turns sideways because that’s what a relative wind does. Paddle a canoe on a lake when the wind is blowing. When you stop paddling, the wind will turn you perpendicular to the direction of flow. Same idea.