Spats (aircraft)
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To reduce drag and thereby increase speed, aircraft with fixed landing gear often have a hollow streamlined enclosure, like a small pontoon, placed over each wheel. These wheel covers are shaped precisely like a teardrop in plan view, and roughly so from a side view. They are open on the bottom, leaving only a small leeway around the footprint of the tire.
Informally, the British often call these spats. Americans do not use this term, and have used pants in the same sense. The term wheel cover can be confused with a nearly flat metal disk that covers the bolts or other non-aerodynamic components and design features of the wheel itself. The formal term, if it is needed, is fairings.
