RV-9 wing dimensions ?

[KeithO]

Gentlemen, I am looking to pick up a partial kit in AZ in a week from now. Trying to finalize the transportation arrangements.

Not too much in the kit has been built and the kit never included a finishing kit. The largest items that I see are the 2 wing skeletons. 133" long is what I know. Could someone tell me the chord dimension and the max rib height at the root and near the wingtip ? I'm trying to determine if I can hang the wings by the spar so that the trailing edge goes between the front seats of the van. This will give the right length capability (up to 152" long to the rear doors).

I know that the inside height floor to roof is 52". Is that enough height for the wings hanging by the spar using ratchet straps ?

Thanks for the help..

[N40ES]

I loaded the wings of an RV9A completely inside of a RAM VAN but it was a "High Top" and long wheel base. I could stand up in that Van, I don't think 52 inch will cut it.

[KeithO]

Seller said the chord was 40" with an additional 4" aileron attachment. So 44" and the van is 52" high so sounds like it will work. Ribs 8" max x2 = 16" so part of the wings will fit between the seats.

I will thread the ratchet straps through beforehand because it will be pretty cramped by the time the wings are loaded.

There will be an update once I load up in AZ to see how I made out....

[KeithO]

It all fitted in a Chevrolet Express type cargo van. The wings were strapped together back to back then hung from the roof support beams. The Horizontal stabilizer was the second longest part and was also hung from the roof support beams. The crate holding all the steel powder coated parts was slid in as far forward as possible and as many small boxes of bagged parts put into that crate.

The fuselage and wing flat sheet parts were laid on the rubber floor mat. Then parts that had any sort of formed edge were put on top of that. Then a layer of foam padding, then rolled parts like the front wing skins and a group of flat parts that had been coiled by Vans went on the very top.

There was no finishing kit, thus no canopy, canopy frame, wheels brakes tires etc. I used a lot of ratchet straps to hang the wing skeletons and stabilize it so it didnt move from the regular driving forces. It wasnt very convenient, it was hard to see over the wing spar to see the passenger side rear view mirror. Driving home from Arizona, we stopped in at Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Mt Rushmore, Badlands since by that point we were already 2000+ miles from home.

From Phoenix we drove about 2800 miles to get back to Michigan via South Dakota. We were able to check off several boxes on my wifes bucket list. It also gave her more insight into my plan of establishing a home base out west. I had never been to Arizona before and found Flagstaff to be pretty interesting. The extra elevation over the southern part of the state would make the summers a lot more tolerable, maybe its difficult to find affordable real estate in that area ??

For anyone else thinking about it, the van definitely worked for the RV9 kit. The wider chord dimension on the other RV's mat require a high roof van or more than the 52" available in a regular van.