FX-3 gear covering?

[Andy]

What, if any, is the consensus on covering the gear of an FX-3? I thought uncovered was the way to go as one less bit of fabric to have to patch after I poked a hole in it. Now I'm thinking it's a lot easier to go from covered to uncovered than the other way round.

So, start covered, if poking holes in it is a problem then remove the fabric and paint. What am I missing?

Andy

[kiwibob]

What, if any, is the consensus on covering the gear of an FX-3? I thought uncovered was the way to go as one less bit of fabric to have to patch after I poked a hole in it. Now I'm thinking it's a lot easier to go from covered to uncovered than the other way round.

So, start covered, if poking holes in it is a problem then remove the fabric and paint. What am I missing?

Andy

Hi Andy, Since no one else has responded I'll chip in.

I went with uncovered on mine and I'm very pleased with the result. There are two main benefits and one gotcha as far as I know.

The benefits are there's no fabric to damage as you suggest but the other is that it reveals a useful step for climbing in if you have the big wheels (do have the big wheels). I've had 'no step' put on them to stop the worst excesses and I'm very careful to only use them for balance but they are useful to have available.

The gotcha is that you need the braided brake lines if the legs are uncovered.

Is it actually painted underneath if you have it covered?

Either way it'll be terrific.

[Dan L]

I left my gear legs uncovered. If you're going to be doing any off-airport type landings I think you'll soon find the fabric isn't going to look pretty for long.

I've heard it said there is a speed penalty with uncovered gear and that's no doubt true and more noticeable the faster the airplane is. I have 31" tires and a fixed pitch prop so I don't care. But with a constant speed prop and smaller tires it might be a bigger deal.

[Jon Delamarter]

Is it actually painted underneath if you have it covered?.

All of our landing gear legs are powder coated white before they go to stock.

Cheers,

[lbell]

Hi Andy, Since no one else has responded I'll chip in.

I went with uncovered on mine and I'm very pleased with the result. There are two main benefits and one gotcha as far as I know.

The benefits are there's no fabric to damage as you suggest but the other is that it reveals a useful step for climbing in if you have the big wheels (do have the big wheels). I've had 'no step' put on them to stop the worst excesses and I'm very careful to only use them for balance but they are useful to have available.

The gotcha is that you need the braided brake lines if the legs are uncovered.

Is it actually painted underneath if you have it covered?

Either way it'll be terrific.

for ex build
summit racing has braided line and fittings for about $100