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Empennage before wings?

Jckeenum

I'm New Here
New builder of a rv7. I'm at the point of fitting the wings, but don't have the room in my garage. I'm trying to do as much work at my house before taking everything up to the hangar for major assembly. Vans instructions say to fit the wings before the tail section, but I was wondering if there would be any reason I couldn't fit the tail before the wings?
 
I fitted my tail section before the wings. No reason not to that I’m aware of.
 
New builder of a rv7. I'm at the point of fitting the wings, but don't have the room in my garage. I'm trying to do as much work at my house before taking everything up to the hangar for major assembly. Vans instructions say to fit the wings before the tail section, but I was wondering if there would be any reason I couldn't fit the tail before the wings?

No reason not to put the tail feathers on first, that I can think of.
Just curious, do you have enough room to fit one wing at a time? I did the right, removed, swiveled the fuselage around, then the other, then stored both while I completed the fuselage, canopy, engine, cowling, etc...
 
Thanks for the speedy replies!!
I have a two car garage, so probably have enough room to fit one wing at a time!
 
The reason for fitting the wings first is to get the horizontal level of the HS in line with the wings.

If you install the HS first, make sure the main spar carry through is level as a reference.
 
No reason not to put the tail feathers on first, that I can think of.
Just curious, do you have enough room to fit one wing at a time? I did the right, removed, swiveled the fuselage around, then the other, then stored both while I completed the fuselage, canopy, engine, cowling, etc...

If you fit only one wing at a time, how do you set the "sweep"?
 
The reason for fitting the wings first is to get the horizontal level of the HS in line with the wings.

If you install the HS first, make sure the main spar carry through is level as a reference.

Thanks Mel! I planned on leveling the spar and working my way from there. Lots of snow on the ground in Colorado, plus my ice box hangar... Im really trying to stay in my warm garage for as long as possible.
 
Wings

Maybe my 2-car garage is bigger. I got both wings on at the same time. Wasn't the easiest and involved a lot of crawling but I did it.

By the way, I manage a forum of Colorado builder/owners.
If you want to join, shoot me an e-mail (below) with
First, Last Name
Phone #

Looks like you are right down the road.
 
Mel brings up a great point about setting the sweep on the wings. I put the tail feathers on prior to the wings. Make sure to level the fuselage using the longerons and center section and triangulate the position of the HS using the firewall as a reference point to measure the distance of the HS tips on each side.

Roberta
 
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If you fit only one wing at a time, how do you set the "sweep"?

I did that 16 years ago and the answer is lost in time, but I recall using the 3-4-5 triangle method and plum bob. First/last time builder so inexperienced, but the plane has flown hands-off without trim tabs since the beginning.
Do you check sweep as a normal inspection process for certification, or only if something looks off/improperly assembled?
 
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