Photos of our A320 fairing project as it happened…
The A320 fairing houses a piston that operates the wing flaps on the aircraft. It’s that very distinctive bit sticking out under the wing.
It looks like a boat, everyone told us that it would make a good boat. We wern’t too sure but we thought we’d test the theory. We carried out a few modifications and tested the water.
This is what the wing does when the plane is landing. Lowering the flaps increases the surface area of the wing giving more lift and a slower stall speed.
First we needed a way to transport the boat to the water.
With the help of blacksmith Chris Dwyer we created an incredible three wheeler from some old bikes. The fairing makes for a handy sidecar.
Once complete we set off to the slipway on the Thames, armed with an airline tray table for a paddle.
She was fairly tough to pedal. The driveshaft made from an old log may have contributed to the problem.
We proudly took her down to the water.
Handling of the craft proved tricky but charlie soon mastered control, after a few gentle shoves.
She was fast!
..Though did have some stability issues.
Eventually Charlie mastered control of the craft. We proved it did make a boat, just not a very good one. On conclusion we decided that the perfect craft would be made from using two fairings for a fast one man catamaran.
