Fairing for Aerotrike Spirit II

[Ou Man]

Good day the forum,
Am playing with the idea of fixing a fairing to my trike. I feel more comfortable with the "closed-in " feeling of a fairing. Don't realy know why!!
Questions: Where do I find one that will fit the Aerotrike?
Is it worth my while ...what will I gain/lose appart from being enclosed.?

[Petrodactyl]

Fairings on a trike make a big difference to your flying comfort, giving less fatigue on long legs, reduce the number of things you need to strap to yourself- (you can put them down), and make your trike look cool.

The general wisdom about fairings is that they are more of a handful in cross-winds, which makes sense, because you are effectively increasing the side area of the cart (though not the frontal area much, unless you fit a really big windscreen.) It is harder to keep them headed into the wind on cross wind landings. Higher speed trikes, which are usually faired, are fitted with strakes on the rear wheel spats to keep the cart tracking into the airflow, which helps. I don't think that the tiny ones on the Spirit II rear wheels do much at all, beyond aesthetics.

I have also flown a Cobra with a fairing that wanted to roll onto its back after a certain airspeed was exceeded. The wing was completely checked and overhauled by Jenya, and the only explanation that we could ultimately come up with was that the fairing was somehow generating lateral lift causing the roll - not nice at low level!.

I have a Spirit II as well, and have toyed with the idea of fitting a fairing, possibly building it myself. I haven't got as far as finding out if an approved one is available from Rainbow, but I suspect not. Just remember that there is a heap of paperwork that will have to be completed, the fitment will have to be approved by an AP, and (perhaps others can help me here), I think that you will have to fly 40 hours of proving time before you receive full approval from RAASA.

I have ended up deciding that much of the appeal of trike flying is about being as close to the elements as possible, and about having unrestricted downward visibility. You can smell the thermals, and can feel the wind direction on your face. I will graduate onto fixed wing eventually, but will always fly trikes to have access to this.