1969 Cherokee PA-28-140B Wheel Fairings

RonP

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jan 6, 2019
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Recently had the left wheel fairing drag the bottom rear after a landing. The mounting bracket was torn in a jagged break halfway up its length allowing the wheel fairing to pivot back dragging on the ground. It was the last landing of my BFR and neither I or the CFI felt anything unusual until we stopped at the tie down and saw it rotated back and the rear bottom was ground off. First question is was my case unusual or do the brackets fatigue over time. Next problem is finding one since there seem to be very scarce. Was also told to find a bracket from a later model since they are thicker. Any advice as to a cause and solution to resolving this?
 
Correction, it was my right bracket.
 
Wheel spats can and will hit the tarmac. That's just part of the deal. Its not really fatigue, just the fact that you are hitting a hard object at 60+mph.

There is a reason so very few planes have spats. You just discovered why.

You really don't want a thicker bracket, you want the spat to fail first, not damage the gear leg.
 
Normal wear and tear.
However, it should have been found at the last 100hr/annual inspection.
Installation was probably sketchy from the beginning to allow the fatigue and crack to begin in the first place.

and btw; they aren’t BFR’s anymore. It’s just a “flight review”.

btw: rh fairing bracket on eBay, $116.75, ships free.
 
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Data point for you: my '74 140 had cracks in both the left and right brackets. My IA took them to a local guy that to weld them (the local guy specializes in welding aluminum).
 
I checked the one listed on eBay from seller airplanepartsandservices and at the top of the page it states “this item is out of stock”. I will contact them to check the status. I don’t know how the wheel fairing can hit the ground unless the tire itself compresses during during touchdown which is hazard to the airplanes health.

It broke on a night flight and have not been able to see it in daylight. Can the bracket be removed without jacking the airplane up and removing the wheel?

Thanks for the replies.
 
Any advice as to a cause and solution to resolving this?
Cause could have been any one of a dozen issues. As to solutions you have several depending on which direction your mechanic prefers. But one option you have if you want to continue to fly while you work out the solution is to remove the wheel fairings and update the records. This is the path I usually recommended as it provided the time to figure out if repair or replacement (to include used parts) was the better route.
 
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