There are
plenty more miles an hour waiting out there for those willing to smooth
the upper leading edge to obtain Laminar Flow. The Piper wings employ
a Laminar Flow section, but the construction techniques fall far short
of the requirements. For instance, there can be no exposed rivets or screws,
and there can be no skin overlaps if Laminar Flow is to be achieved.
We supply the parts which cover over and around six hundred rivets and
screws, which on their own will give between 3 and 4 mph, ( 8 mph on Lance
or Seneca) and a dial gauge to check the rest of the critical area and
smooth it as indicated, using body filler. The process is like filling
a scratch on a car door...Painstaking!
But the results make it well worth the effort: How much you gain is impossible
to predict, because it depends on how out-of-shape your wing was to begin
with, and how good it becomes when you have finished the job. I have had
results vary from zero to 20 knots gain ! Laminar Flow is not unpredictable
but it is demanding.
The cost of the Leading Edge Fairings is around $832 for the PA28's and
$1560 for the Lances and Senecas, which have 4 internal wing tanks.
