Fitting wings in a one-car garage

I don't have a hangar anywhere and I'm trying to delay having a hangar somewhere as long as possible because the moment I get one and I move the project (a) work on the project will slow to a crawl since now I can run out to the garage and work during commercials and (b) money will start flying out of my wallet and I'm a guy who goes to work for a living.

But I also know that in about 7 pages from where I am in the fuselage instructions now, it tells me it's time to fit the wings.

It's a two-car garage in your basic suburban non-executive neighborhood (that is, garage with attached home).

Wondering if anyone has fitted the wings in a two-car garage and how you did it?

Winter is coming and leaving doors open is not practical for a number of reasons: (a) it's cold and (b) there's $4,000 worth of tools sitting in the garage.

Can you do it one wing at a time, take it off, and then do the other wing?

If so, any tips?

Bob,
First, thanks again for having the RV BBQ
at OSH. I had a great time.

About mounting wings.
I am building my 7A in a one car garage,
so I couldn't fit the wings at home and do it inside.
I 'borrowed' an empty 2-1/2 car detached garage
about 5 miles away for two months last summer.
While there, I mounted the wings, ailerons and flaps.
This included the wing root fairings and tank supports.
I had all the controls installed, so I also adjusted the
aileron deflection, finished the aileron control stops
and checked the flap movement limits.
The wing tips were also mounted at this time.
The biggest headache is moving the fuselage twice.
I used a big inclosed U-Haul truck.
The wings were then hauled to my hangar for fuel tank pressure
testing. The Fuselage is now back at the one-car garage getting
the firewall forward done. Someday it will be back together again.
Tom Webster

fitting wings

Hi Bob,

I echo Tom's comments about the BBQ.

The wing fitting sounds like a much bigger deal than it is. You really can't do one wing at a time because you have to set the lead/lag.

My suggestion is get to it soon before your weather turns. Check the forcast enough to pick a good day and move the project outside for the day. You can easily do the wing fitting, lead/lag and incidence in a few hours. We did two sevens in 5 hours. The "A" was tougher because of the gear weldments.

Obviously you want to do all you can while the wings are on. If all goes well fit the wing fairings, (about and hour), do the fuel lines, the front bracket and if you have time and the fuselage has the flap stuff done, fit the flaps. That's really all you need to do when both wings are on. Actually all of the above can be done one wing at a time after initial fit.

When we were done with the wing fit, we kind of looked at each other and said, "Is that it?" When you get closer I'll pass on a couple of things we learned that really helped.

Darwin N. Barrie
P19
Baffling

Really? Wow. That's encouraging. It sounded like something that would take a week or so. It just seemed the instructions had a lot of stuff to do .

And for the long winter...

Here's what we did after setting the incidence (in 5 hours): We left the plane against the garage door (for months) and did everything we could on the right wing (wiring, ailerons, flaps etc) then turned the plane around and did the other wing. Good luck, Rosie

I have built three planes in my 1 1/2 car garage and the wings go on, less the fiberglass parts and the engine and prop are on also. I am building a V-9A right now and it is going to be a tight squeeze if they fit. I have built two dollys to go under each of the main wheels. Each dolly has four castors on it. Each is 14 "square. This makes moving the plane around a real easy task.

Norman RV-6, Rv-7, F1 Rocket working on a RV-9A

Or just wait until you're near the end and the plane has to be at the airport anyway. I haven't mounted my wings yet, and it hasn't held me up.

Dave

Davepar said:

Or just wait until you're near the end and the plane has to be at the airport anyway. I haven't mounted my wings yet, and it hasn't held me up.

Dave

Click to expand...

I promise, you need to do as much as possible while at your home shop. Even if you *think* mounting the wings in the driveway will be inefficient, it'll be twice as bad at the airport. Why? Convenience. Unless you move every tool from your shop to the airport, you'll find that the one tool you really, really need is at the house. Also, the cold beverages are at the house, as is the first aid kit, the potty, and the computer where you can ask for advice...

You need TWO RV's....

...the one you're building (with three wheels), and the one that you can air condition, sleep in, and use the potty (with 4 wheels)!

When I move the -8 to the hangar this weekend, I'm taking our camper out, parking it in front of the hangar doors, and I'll use that for convenience (and yes, it has a nice fridge!) and a cool place to review drawings.

You're right about tools though. It'll probably take more trips to get my tools out than to get the airframe pieces there.

Paul Dye

Bob,
I installed the left wing, then slid the wing and fuselague up to the forward wall of the garage and then installed the right wing. The door closed with about 6 inches to spare! They won't fit with the wing tips on in a normal 2 car garage.

Good luck

one wing at a time

Setting the wings was a chore in my two car garage. I didn't follow much of the prescribed method (plumb bobs to the floor, etc.)

Here's what I did. It may sound crazy but my wings are "super straight".

1. put on one wing.

2. stretch a string from the tip, between the leading edge and main wing skin, to the opposite side of the fuselage. The skin should naturally hold the string in place rather nicely. There is a rivet line on the wing spar that lines up with a rivet line on the bottom of the fuselage when the wings sweep is 0 degrees. Use the string line to make sure the rivet lines are straight.

3. here's the catch. you must clamp an ~8" long piec of angle or something to the wing tip to make the string line not rub on the bottom of the fuselage (remember the dihedral of the wing!).

What about parallax you say? Use the shiny aluminum wing skin as a mirror, and when the reflection of the string and the string itself are aligned, you are looking at it from the correct direction (think of an analog multi-meter).

If you see how this method works, its cave man simple (even though the directions may not seem like it!) It requires no math, no tape measure, only a string and your 20/20 vision.

My wings have no sweep at all ~.001 degrees or so I think. But even a sweep of say an inch at the tips might not affect flying quality to any noticeable amount.

However, setting the incidence is very critical. Pay more attention here than anywhere. Build a spacer like vans suggests, but build only one and use only it.

For incidence, the actual angle is not very critical... having both wings at the same angle is.

I calculated the effect of differential (left wing to right wing) incidence angle on roll for the RV-7(A). I don't remember it, but could find the data if anyone is interested.

A few degrees of differential incidence could cause the aircraft to be uncontrollable. That is, the ailerons wouldn't be effective enough to overcome the roll moment the wings are creating. Lets also not forget the yaw moment created with differential Drag that is also created!

What a mess, no one seems to ever discuss this topic that much, hundreds are flying, so it must not be that big of a deal?

Jonathan