Fairing

The wing root of a simple aircraft, an American Aviation AA-1 Yankee, showing a wing root fairing

An aircraft wheel fairing, commonly called a wheel pant or, by some manufacturers, a speed fairing.

A fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag. These structures are generally light-weight shapes and covers for gaps and spaces between parts of a vehicle, aircraft or rocket to reduce form drag and interference drag, and to improve appearance. On aircraft, fairings are commonly found on:

wing tips, which may have a complex shape to reduce vortex generation and so also drag, especially at low speed
wing roots, to reduce interference drag
tail cones, to reduce the form drag of the fuselage
fin and rudder tips, to reduce turbulence at the tip
elevator and horizontal stabilizer tips
strut-to-wing and strut-to-fuselage junctions
fixed landing gear junctions
wheels on fixed gear aircraft — often called "wheel pants"
engine cowlings, to reduce parasitic drag and cooling drag.

The fairings on satellite launch vehicles are expensive, high tech designs that protect the satellite from aerodynamic forces while maintaining a cleanroom environment. The fairing separation mechanisms for rocket launchers are difficult to design and test and represent a significant cause of launch failures.

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