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Tip: Rolling fuselage cart

Lars

Well Known Member
Sponsor
About four years ago (!) when I started working on my quickbuild fuselage, I realized it would be nice to be able to roll it around, since the hangar I share was getting increasingly crowded. So I took a cue from the rolling wing stand I had received from a generous local builder and built a stand on wheels. This served me well for the four years I had it. My RV-7 is on the gear now so I passed this stand on to someone else, but before I did so I took a few pictures and measurements, and drew up some plans.

This can easily be adjusted to fit varying height or width preferences. I'm 6 feet tall and found that the height was good for doing most jobs without having to stoop (I have a bad back) or stretch too much. It was strong enough to support me when I crawled in to the fuselage to work on interior stuff, and as can be seen from one of the photos below, it worked well for fitting the wings the first time.

This stand obviously fit my -7 fuselage, so it should work fine for a -9 and probably a -6, and possibly a -8. Not sure about the others. Clearance for the main gear mounts on nosewheel models could likely be dealt with by narrowing the front, if in fact it's in the way (not sure, since I've never looked closely at the gear leg installation on those models).

Hopefully this helps a few people in the same situation. For those who are interested, I saved the plans in pdf format and I'd be happy to send them via email.

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This is way cool. Did you drill/mount the wings to the fuse using this stand? If so, how was it for leveling etc. to align the wings for drilling?

Thanks for sharing this.

-John
 
This is way cool. Did you drill/mount the wings to the fuse using this stand? If so, how was it for leveling etc. to align the wings for drilling?

Thanks for sharing this.

-John

Yes, I did do the wing install/alignment/drill while on the cart. It was a stable platform. I used pieces of aluminum sheet as shims to level the fuselage. I've had plenty of frustrating experiences in the build process but installing the wings, then aligning and drilling them went smoothly. But it helps when your hangar partner is a professional surveyor :D
 
If you could email me the plans that would be great,
Flyguytki at gmail dot com

thanks alot
-david
 
Cool!

I'll take an e-mail set of plans, too. This will be a great help.

Thanks!

Sean Blair
RV-7A
COS
 
That looks pretty nice Lars - much better than the one I built out of completely recycled material laying about the shop!

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=56664

Paul

Yes, but at least you were wearing a NASA tee shirt! As it turned out, I had most of the materials. I am incapable of buying only one 2x4 even when I only need one; so I had accumulated a pile. Wheels came out of a gigantic box of used casters from long-forgotten projects at work (old university farm shop). The drywall screws and the urethane glue were my sop to consumerism. But even the blue foam was scrounged; we had it in the hangar left over from my partner's (still ongoing) BD-4 cowling project.
 
Neat cart.....

...I would suggest taking your wings off and storing them until you finish up virtually everything else. They get in the way and you risk dropping something on them as you dig around your fuselage....
The wings can be the last thing you install.
 
...I would suggest taking your wings off and storing them until you finish up virtually everything else. They get in the way and you risk dropping something on them as you dig around your fuselage....
The wings can be the last thing you install.

Thanks, good point. They went on and back off again- I agree, a couple of days with them installed convinced me quickly. Have been in storage for way too derned long, in fact. A commentary on my slow progress...

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Another request

Hi Lars,

Please include me in your growing mailing list:
danielmouly at yahoo dot com

Thanks a lot, I'm just about to start the fuselage so perfect timing for your post.
 
Me too, Plz

Lars,

I loved reading about your roll-round stand/cart for the building of the fuselage...

I'd Love to build one too, since I have two months + delay in getting my fuselage from VAN, RV7, I can build one of these carts.

If you'd be so kind and email me a copy of your plans, I'd really appreciate it.... send to: [email protected]

Best,
Walker
In Louisiana :)
 
plans sent

Hello all...

Those of you who have requested plans so far should check your email. Just sent off a batch.

I was going to caution those builders not in the US about the antiquated units in which the plans are drawn, but then I realized that if you are building an RV, you have already learned to live with them :D
 
Thank you

Hello all...
I was going to caution those builders not in the US about the antiquated units in which the plans are drawn, but then I realized that if you are building an RV, you have already learned to live with them :D

Hi Lars,

You're right, this conversion software is always open somewhere on my desktop. VERY useful. Even more when converting combined units, like pounds per square inch to mbar, or in-ft to Nm :eek:
 
Here is my version

Lars was kind enough to send me the plans. I spent just under $13 on 2x4 lumber and scrounged the rest from my scrap pile. Still need to put down some carpet on the main cross member for the fuselage.

I made a few minor changes and left off the diagonal brace for the vertical tail supports (just didn't have enough wood left). It seems pretty sturdy the way it is.

A couple of photos:

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Now I just need to get those last few rivets bucked before I can roll the canoe.
 
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IMPORTANT DESIGN MOD

OK folks,
First of all, thanks to Lars for the help with this fuselage stand. I have had my quick build fuselage on it for a couple months now. But after my incident, and seeing some others modify the design, I hope to avert what could be a real problem for someone! To put it simply, the angled vertical brace(S) are critical!
Unless you are using some VERY stout hardware (like bolts) to attach the vertical portions to the bottom beam, a small amount of forward/aft sway can cause this stand to collapse. The first time I sat in the fuselage while on this stand, that's what happened at the front end due to my using inadequate screws. Fortunately, I didn't have any damage. I have since added an angled brace at the forward end like the one at the aft end (and longer screws), and it seems to be much sturdier now.
Be careful!
 
I did add the aft diagonal brace, and that has certainly stiffened the cart up.
I was hesitant to get up and sit inside the fuselage before that brace was added since it did sway quite a bit. I will definitely be adding another brace at the front end. I used some pretty heavy duty deck screws to hold all of the parts together.
 
I used expanding foam and wrapped the tail portion with saran wrap and then a top layer of duct tape to make a mold, filled it with foam, letting it cure then I'll saw out the shape I need for the tail to lay in

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Does Lars Pederson's Fuse Cart support an engine?

I am about to spend the rest of the day building a fuse cart to Lars' design and I wonder has anybody mounted their engine while the fuse was on the cart?

I have just finished up my main gear fairings but I can't afford the space that they take up. So I want to complete FWF with the main gear off and the fuse on a cart. I don't foresee any difficulty getting the gear back on when it comes time to move to the airport.

The photos of Lars' cart show the forward frame under the spar carry through with the forward cabin cantilevered forward from there. I am concerned about the strain on the fuse structure after the engine is hung as well as issues of balance. It would be like a tri-gear set up but with no nose wheel.

The options are 1: make the cart longer and place the forward frame under the firewall, possibly even under the engine mount, or 2: extend the cart and add an extra frame under the firewall. This would share the load between the spar and firewall and would also help greatly with balance issues.

Has anybody using a cart similar to this one been down this road before? What would you recommend?
 
I am about to spend the rest of the day building a fuse cart to Lars' design and I wonder has anybody mounted their engine while the fuse was on the cart?

I have just finished up my main gear fairings but I can't afford the space that they take up. So I want to complete FWF with the main gear off and the fuse on a cart. I don't foresee any difficulty getting the gear back on when it comes time to move to the airport.

The photos of Lars' cart show the forward frame under the spar carry through with the forward cabin cantilevered forward from there. I am concerned about the strain on the fuse structure after the engine is hung as well as issues of balance. It would be like a tri-gear set up but with no nose wheel.

The options are 1: make the cart longer and place the forward frame under the firewall, possibly even under the engine mount, or 2: extend the cart and add an extra frame under the firewall. This would share the load between the spar and firewall and would also help greatly with balance issues.

Has anybody using a cart similar to this one been down this road before? What would you recommend?

Having built one of these... you will have to add a significant amount amount of weight to the aft fuselage, and/or strap the aft fuselage to the stand with weight on the stand, to counterbalance the engine. And the cart as I designed it isn't up to the task of supporting the fuselage with engine installed in any case. Of course you could modify it to do so. Verify that the wheels you use are up to the task.

The fuselage can carry the load, if supported under the spar. The longerons plus side skins carry the load aft to the spar. Keep in mind that the engine is cantilevered off the fuselage in flight. In thinking about it I would prefer to see the aft top skins all riveted in place first, but that's just a hunch- I haven't remotely attempted to analyze the structure.
 
RV9A Too?

Great Stand Lars...should do a 9A too...not sure of length diff.
Perfect for receiving a QB Fuselage.
Can I still get an email of the plans?

Thanks
 
Great Stand Lars...should do a 9A too...not sure of length diff.
Perfect for receiving a QB Fuselage.
Can I still get an email of the plans?

Thanks

Sure. Sent you a private message (see notification at upper right corner of this page).
 
Built as designed - for the moment

Hi Lars,

Thanks for your reply. I built it precisely to your plans as the engine is not hung yet. However, I have decided that I will go for my second option of adding an extra frame forward under the engine mount, but not until the mount finally goes on in preparation for hanging the engine.

As you say, the tail will need to be strapped down but not as much as if I left your cart as originally designed. The third frame will be under the point from which taildraggers are designed to be supported and the balance should be better because the frame will not be raked aft like the main gear legs. I will make this new frame from heavier timbers . I have high-spec castors that will easily take the weight and the aft top skins are already in place.

One thing to consider in designing this third frame is that I need to run the exhaust tail pipes through there, so the upper cross beam will need to be lower by about 6 inches

As a data point, building the original design took just over 4 hours from beginning to end for this very amateur carpenter, and that was without bothering to get my chop saw out of the attic.

This may be an 'all metal' plane but it is amazing how much timber is involved in getting it built. Fortunately, I was able to re-cycle parts of my wing cart and various Vans packing crates. Only the central spine is new as the wing cart was shorter. Even the deck screws were re-used.

I will post again in a few months when I complete the modifications to the cart.
 
Hi Lars,

Could I get a copy of your PDF? Just sent you a PM with my email addy.

Thanks!

Dave
 
A small addition...

I just finished a fuselage cart built from Lars's plans and I'm very happy with the result. My garage is small, so having the fuse on rollers really helps me make the most of my workspace.

My garage floor isn't remotely level or flat. So being the OCD engineer that I am, I wanted an easy way to level the fuse laterally and fore-aft for drilling the rear deck and (eventually) mounting/rigging the wings. So I came up with some poor-man's jackscrews out of fir 2"x4"s and heavy 1/2" bolts -

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...and bolted one on each corner -

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All that's required is to adjust the bottom nut up and down, then tighten the top bolt to secure everything. They may be overkill, but they work great and made leveling the fuse a snap.

Dave
 
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