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RV-12 Wings Weight

thatguy

Member
Just wondering how much weight is each wing when removed from the airplane. On Van's I see the total weight of the wing kit (including packaging) is 357lbs. Maybe a dumb question but do they really weigh 150+ lbs each?

Thanks in advance :p
 
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Wings

The wing weighs about 90 pounds a side. My wife (a fairly small, 50ish woman) can lift, manipulate and install her end of the wing(the tip/handle end). At the airport she's known as "The Wing Walker".
 
Thanks, wanted to be sure an average person would be strong enough to help with assembly/disassembly.
 
At 69 I’m no Charles Atlas and I moved mine around on the workbench easily. My wife and I have pulled them off and reinstalled them with no issue. I’m thinking the weight is more like 50#. Remember shipping weight includes the crate and packing material.
 
If out of curiosity anyone wants to measure them exactly, you can find the weight with just a bathroom scale:

Have 2 people hold the detached wing and have them each weigh themselves on the scale while holding their end of the wing. While doing this, try not to change where you hold the wing (how far away from center) and also try not to change the angle of the wing (how level it is when held). Put the wing back, then add these two numbers. Then each person weighs themselves holding nothing. Subtract these two numbers from the first sum. That's the wing weight.

Example: two people holding a wing each weigh 260 and 190. Combined, 450. Holding nothing they weigh 225 and 175. 450 - 225 - 175 = 50# wing.

Not saying anyone needs to do this; just an easy method to if you're curious. :)
 
RV 12 wing

I finally got around to weighing the wing today. The tip is 34# and the spar end is 46#. All up it comes in at 80# . My previous estimate was 90#. This was done as suggested earlier in the thread, hold wing and step on the scale. No wonder my bride can easily lift her end at 34#. She lugs around 50# bags of garden soil on a regular basis.
 
wing weight

I actually weighed mine when I was determining the weight and CG location of the aircraft minus wings, so that I could be confident about securing it to the trailer for transport to the airport the first time. Wings-off the aircraft weighed 164.3 pounds less. That's 82.15 pounds each if they are equal. Landing light on right side, stall warning on left side are not exactly the same weight. It is hard to picture that some other set of wings could be as low as 50 pounds.
 
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