Wheel pants on grass

[Tim Wescott]

So, I'm thinking of making wheel pants for a couple of profile stunters, to dress them up a bit.  To date I've been too dang lazy for wheel pants -- so I don't have much mileage with 'em.

I mostly fly off of grass, except when I make it to a contest.  I've heard bad things about wheel pants and grass -- how true are the stories?  Should I just go ahead and make 'em, and plan on cleaning them out occasionally?  Should I make 'em removable, to put them onto the planes when I'm flying off of pavement (and plan on dinging them up occasionally, to match the planes)?  Is there something that can be done to make them stand up to grass better?

[Larry Cunningham]

It depends on your grass.. If it's cut nice and short, no problems. I had wheelpants on virtually all my models, flying off grass here in Las Cruces and it never was a problem. Also, you can position the wheelpant for more clearance pretty easily. It almost always makes good sense nowadays to build with a removable gear, which means it's pretty easy to keep all your options open, including taller gear to accommodate longer props, etc.

As for cleaning out the wheelpants, I don't see that being much of a problem, but our experiences in the southwest are with little or no dew. Again, however, if you make your wheelpants where they can be serviced (e.g. changing a wheel out) your options are completely open.

Personal preference here.

L.

"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." -Johnny Carson

[PerttiMe]

What about fairings that don't really enclose the wheel? I think they can looks pretty neat, but might not suit everybody and all airplanes.

[Tim Wescott]

What about fairings that don't really enclose the wheel? I think they can looks pretty neat, but might not suit everybody and all airplanes.

That's high on my list of options, although the ones in that picture look a bit too trendy for boring old me, or at least for the planes that I'm working on.