Seaplanes North extended gear

[Snowbirdxx]

Flew the Seaplanes gear first time in the Dolomites.
Switched the regular gear to the extended from seaplanes north. Bungees 3x 1280HDAV each side and Suer SGS. Riveted a small aluminum stripe to the forward bulkhead of the bungee compartment to be able to add this seal:

Flexibles Kantenschutzdichtprofil aus Elastomer H = 21.5 mm B = 11.0 mm KB = 1.0 - 3.0 mm VE = 25 m

• aus Elastomer • H = 21,5 mm • B = 11 mm • KB = 1 - 3 mm ✓ Sicher ✓ Schnell ✓ Günstig ✓ im HUG-Online-Shop zu Großhandelspreisen ✓ Versand aus Deutschland ✓ Online-Shop für Industrie, Handwerk, Kommunen und Privat ✓

www.hug-technik.com

The round part is super soft and exits the fuselage by about 9mm ( 1/3 rd inch). It is compressed flat by the geardoors. Zero CO during taxi and flying.
The gearlegs got a nice streamlined removable fiberglass cover. I ll take pic this week and will post them here.

The step got an elastomeric element tied to its end where it touches the fuselage structure. It now stands out a bit more, clearing my belly pod and making rear entry easier.

Cruise flight was heavy weight and I could not see a speed penalty in cruise. ( Like the 10 KTs seed penalty posted here before fron I guess the unfaired gear. In the descend the plane is now 4 KTS faster.
On the rough terrains of the Dolomites the gear makes the airplane super soft and stable. I do not regret that change at all.

Landings were super soft and taxi was awesome.

 

[belloypilot]

Are the fairings supplied by Seaplanes North or ones you made?

 

[johnaz]

Seaplanes has no STC for fairings.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

self made fairings, I wonder how they pass the CO test without.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

Another 2 crossings of the Alps both ways, due to clear WX up to 16.000 ft, the new landing gear with fairings showed a speed increase or a reduction of fuelflow.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

Wether you have big tires or a extennded gear, the forward visibility sucks. On normal airport ops its not a problem, in the boonies it may be one. I got this small camera and stuck it between the rib fairing in the windshield.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...t_main.23.18a25c5fbWvrQs&gatewayAdapt=glo2deu

it connects in the P2P mode direct to your phone. The phone sticks by velcro on the panel. The cam is powered by a small powerbank which is velcrous just below the cam on the black A-frame. No permanent installation.

Visibility is very good. you can easly see, what will ruin your day in a couple of seconds.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

John, do you have the wording of Seaplanes North STC?

 

[johnaz]

Do not.

 

[Snowbirdxx]

Ok I looked at the STC. It allows the exchange of the gear struts. Nothing about not having the fairings fitted or not. The fact that SNorth is not supplying fairings has nothing to do with this STC..

 

[Snowbirdxx]

hERE ARE SOME PICS of the Seaplane North Gerar with fairings. The leftovers of the leading edge were used to make the struts / fuselage portion a bit less dragy.