An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street adj ...

.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. These structures are covers for gaps and spaces between parts of an

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

to reduce form drag and interference drag, and to improve appearance.Bingelis, Tony: ''The Sportplane Builder'', pages 261-265. Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation, 1979. Quik gt450 ultralight g-gttp arp

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Types

On aircraft, fairings are commonly found on: ; Belly fairing : Also called a "ventral fairing", it is located on the underside of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

between the main

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

s. It can also cover additional cargo storage or fuel tanks. ; Cockpit fairing : Also called a "cockpit pod", it protects the crew on ultralight trikes. Commonly made from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

, it may also incorporate a windshield.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page C-17. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ; Elevator and horizontal stabilizer tips : Elevator and stabilizer tips fairings smooth out airflow at the tips. ; Fin and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

tip fairings: Fin and rudder tip fairings reduce drag at low angles of attack, but also reduce the stall angle, so the fairing of control surface tips depends on the application.Molland, Anthony F. and Turnock, Stephen R.:"Marine Rudders and Control Surfaces: Principles, Data, Design and Applications" 1st Edition, section 5.3.2.11. Butterworth-Heineman, 2007. ; Fillets: Fillets smooth the airflow at the junction between two components like the fuselage and wing. ; Fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Marti ...

junctions : Landing gear fairings reduce drag at these junctions. ; Flap track fairings : Fairings are needed to enclose the flap operating mechanism when the flap is up. They open up as the flap comes down and may also pivot to allow the necessary sideways movement of the extending mechanism which occurs on swept-wing installations. ; Spinner : To protect and streamline the propeller hub.Bingelis, Tony: ''Bingelis on Engines'', pages 196-210. Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation, 1995. Bingelis, Tony: ''Firewall Forward'', pages 269-273. Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation, 1992. ; Strut-to-wing and strut-to-fuselage junctions : Strut end fairings reduce drag at these junctions. ; Tail cones : Tail cones streamline the rear extremity of a fuselage by eliminating any base area which is the source of base drag. ;

Wing root The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage,Peppler, I.L.: ''From The Ground Up'', page 9. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, Ottawa Ontario, Twenty Seventh Revised Edition, 19 ...

: Wing roots are often faired to reduce interference drag between the wing and the fuselage. On top and below the wing it consists of small rounded edge to reduce the surface and such friction drag. At the leading and trailing edge it consists of much larger taper and smooths out the pressure differences: High pressure at the leading and trailing edge, low pressure on top of the wing and around the fuselage. 003 2015 04 23 Luftfahrzeuge

; Wing tips : Wing tips are often formed as complex shapes to reduce vortex generation and so also drag, especially at low speed. ; Wheels on fixed gear aircraft : Wheel fairings are often called "wheel pants", "speed fairings" in North America or "wheel spats" or "trousers", in the United Kingdom, the latter enclosing both the wheel and landing gear leg. These fairings are a trade-off in advantages, as they increase the frontal and surface area, but also provide a smooth surface, a faired nose and tail for laminar flow, in an attempt to reduce the turbulence created by the round wheel and its associated gear legs and brakes. They also have the important function of preventing mud and stones from being thrown upwards against the wings or fuselage, or into the propeller on a pusher craft.Bingelis, Tony: ''Sportplane Construction Techniques'', pages 125-130. Experimental Aircraft Association Aviation Foundation, 1986. Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 377. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997.

References

{{Aircraft components Aircraft components

Types

See also

References