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RV-6a wing removal in a field

AvocadoBlue

I'm New Here
I bent up my RV6a yesterday while landing at a remote airport. Thankfully no injuries. Nose gear damage and prop strike.

I was not the builder. I need to remove the wings for transport back to my home field. From what I understand, the main gear needs support to get the wings out.

Any suggestions for doing this in a remote grassy field with a folded nose gear?

I've read about making a false spar but I'm not clear how that would work.

The stress from the incident along with the wing removal is a bit overwhelming. I started on the smaller spar bolts and as others have noted, it's not easy.

Eric
 
recovery

Oh boy that's a tricky one. I know of an RV-6 that had a similar mishap (prop strike in a field) but the main gear was intact to support the fuselage during transport.
If a false spar is not made and fitted correctly then it can chew up the spar attach bulkhead bolt holes, which will make things worse.
Can you push the plane to a hard stand area to work on it?
I would plan on lifting the weight off the main gear e.g. via a winch on the engine mount at the firewall (and not the engine lifting lug) before trying to remove the wings.
The fuselage is lighter and easier to handle and support without the engine attached, so consider removing the engine in the field, since it will need to be bulk stripped anyway due to the prop strike.
Was it insured? The insurance may cover recovery by a specialist aircraft recovery service.

Pic attached of my RV-6A in the shop, supported by a false spar during construction.
 

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Thank you for the quick reply.

If the engine is removed can the plane be supported by the engine mount and tail tie down to remove the wings?
 
You are in for a big project, as there about 80 bolts that need to come out and possibly a good bit of wiring that will need to be tagged and cut. You need to support the fuse, but not via the gear legs, as their mounts are tied to the spar and most of those are coming out too. You will also need helpers to hold and move the wings around as you remove the last couple bolts. In my experience you need 3 people. Two to work the wings with you inside the fuse getting the last two bolts out. It can be done with two, but the guy outside needs to be sharp and on his game. Once the bolts are free, you jump outside and help the second guy extract the wing.

When I installed wings, I just jacked up the fuse and set it on a saw horse directly under the spar.

The wood spacer you reference is to create a faux spar at the end in order to have something to hold the compression of the bolts you put back in holding the gear mounts once the wing is gone; It is the wing spar that normally does this. For this purpose, you could use a variety of different spacer material and probably don't need all the bolt if you are gentle with the plane.

Good luck.

Larry
 
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Thank you for the quick reply.

If the engine is removed can the plane be supported by the engine mount and tail tie down to remove the wings?

I have lifted the plane many times via both the engine and the engine mount without the engine attached. Lift via the mount and put a saw horse under the rear fuse area. Only a few pounds back there and anyone can lift it up onto the saw horse.
 
I appreciate all the information!

Are there any pointers on removing the O320 engine? Anything to watch out for or order of steps?
 
I appreciate all the information!

Are there any pointers on removing the O320 engine? Anything to watch out for or order of steps?

The short comment below are from having my RV6 O-320 (conical mount) engine off a couple of times and from having put the wings ON my RV6A back when dinosaurs roamed (still not flying :( :( ).


Re; Engine:
Take plenty pictures BEFOREHAND.
Use MANY bags for nuts and bolts and LABEL them.
Have a helper or two
Be careful with the hoist.
Find several car tires to rest it on.

Re: Wings
Should be easier with engine and prop off
As mentioned, a strong sawhorse (or two) under spar (with padding)
Something to hold up the tail
Of the 76 (I think) bolts, remove the smaller ones first.
You will probably need to “drive” the bolts out ***CAREFULLY*** as they are close tolerance.
You will need SEVERAL helpers unless you have multiple sawhorses because the plane will need to be balanced when you take one wing off.

The wing WILL need a “rocking and pulling motion” to remove.
 
If you wish - PM me with your ph#. I could talk you thru my experiences field disassembling a 6A & a 9A in the field for salvage & rebuild.
Way too much info to type with 2 fingers…
 
Probably not helpful, but have you considered trying to find someone to move the aircraft intact, either via a helicopter or a flatbed driver that's used to moving wide loads? An RV-6A at an angle will probably be manageable as a wide load...

Sorry to hear about the mishap. :(
 
Where about is the plane? Im in Lansing area and may be able to head over if not too far. PM me with your info so I can give you a call.
 
Eric,

When you begin loosening and removing the close tolerance bolts where the steel plates are, remove a couple bolts then install a undersize hardware store bolt in place of a close tolerance bolt. This is to hold the layers of the wing spar together while you are driving out the close tolerance bolts. If the nuts are all loosened and you allow the layers of the spar to separate a bit, it causes the close tolerance bolts to lock up when you are trying to drive the bolts out.

I used drive punches in some places, Claw hammer and a small Wrecking/Crow bar to pull some of the small bolts out like nails. Some you can get the flat end of the bar under a bolt head and pry them out. Use protection to not bugger up the plane.

Take your time and be careful not to cause any damage to the holes.

Removing the engine first so you don’t have that weight to deal with would be good.

The bottom of the plane (RV6)under the wing spar is not flat so be careful if you support the plane there. I used a support under the bottom edge of the firewall with padding. It’s flat across there.

Best of luck to you. Hope it isn’t too hot where you are.
 
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Removal info

I would much rather try to move it with the wings on also. If it can not be done. Make sure you make a list of everything you disconnect and or remove. That way when it’s going back together you can check off each item to make sure it all goes back like it should. I thinking engine removal mainly. To many items to accidentally miss something. Good luck, this will take you a while.
 
If you have a mobile compressor use an air powered nut driver to remove the nuts and a rivet gun with a copper/brass set to remove the wing bolts - they are tight. You may also have to spray ACF50 or something similar along the spar tangs to get them to slide out.

Jacking the whole plane on the engine mount with the engine installed is OK to remove the wings, but the fuselage will fall forward if it is supported on a faux spar - you will need something to pick up on the nosewheel mount, or another part of the mount.

Before removing the engine ensure you have something to support it, often not as straight forward as it sounds.

Once the wings are off do you have a cradle to carry them? There is not much to hold at the tips. Complete disassembly could easily take more than a day.
 
Lots of good advice above, more than I could offer!

As for moving the wings once they are removed, the easy way is to move them vertically, leading edge down. I used 4x8 sheets of insulating foam (metal on one side), cut into strips for padding when I sold my RV-4. (No, it was not damaged).

Good luck!

Ed
 
I can't say enough how much I appreciate all the information provided here and offers for assistance. From spar bolts, engine hoisting, even carrying the wings! Invaluable info for my situation. What an incredible aviation group the VAF is, I couldn't be more humbled and impressed!

As for the plane, after we were able to rest the nose where the nose gear connects on the lip of a trailer. This put the plane in a slight nose high pitch. Very slowly moved it to a paved parking area. Made a jig to rest the nose in same position at parking and tied down. Although small, first hurdle crossed and a bit less stress having it out of the grass field and mostly secured. All the advice from this thread has certainly helped to avoid additional damage in hastily trying to get the wings off in a rush.

I was able to talk to the insurance broker and file a claim, hopefully the right thing to do. Waiting on ins company now to determine how to handle. I don't think a recovery company would have any of the specialized knowledge on wing removal for this. So it will be interesting to see what the plan is.

Next hurdle, F A A
 
I can't say enough how much I appreciate all the information provided here and offers for assistance. From spar bolts, engine hoisting, even carrying the wings! Invaluable info for my situation. What an incredible aviation group the VAF is, I couldn't be more humbled and impressed!

As for the plane, after we were able to rest the nose where the nose gear connects on the lip of a trailer. This put the plane in a slight nose high pitch. Very slowly moved it to a paved parking area. Made a jig to rest the nose in same position at parking and tied down. Although small, first hurdle crossed and a bit less stress having it out of the grass field and mostly secured. All the advice from this thread has certainly helped to avoid additional damage in hastily trying to get the wings off in a rush.

I was able to talk to the insurance broker and file a claim, hopefully the right thing to do. Waiting on ins company now to determine how to handle. I don't think a recovery company would have any of the specialized knowledge on wing removal for this. So it will be interesting to see what the plan is.

Next hurdle, F A A

Excellent! Even though very sorry you are having to deal with this it is good to see your plane is secured and you've started the claim process. Just sit tight and let the carrier determine what to do, this is their problem now.

I suggest you have an experienced RV builder give the plane a very close look in case there is hidden damage an adjuster might miss. Impact damage can be transferred up into the structure in ways that might not be obvious to someone not familiar with the airframe.

Hang in there, I'm confident you will have a good outcome eventually.
 
I believe I would work with my insurance company and the claims adjuster. There are too many things that can go wrong and that's why you buy the insurance coverage. Let them handle it. Good luck.
 
follow up

Eric,

Glad you were not hurt and you have insurance.

I know you are busy but if you ever get time to update here on how things turned out, it would be valuable info for many folks.

Good luck to you.

Charlie
 
Main wing spar bolt removal

I used big C-clamps to press out the main spar bolts on my old RV-3. Of course you'll need a pipe or similar to press the bolt heads into. Don't know how access is on the RV-6 ...

Yes, still need undersized bolts or C-clamp to hold the laminations together so they don't bind.

Just another way that appears less brutal than driving the bolts out with a mallet and drift.

Finn
 
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