Installing Wings After Gear on an "A" Model?

All,
I want to go ahead and put my 8A on its gear and mount the engine and do other items I can do here at home. I don't plan on installing the wings until I move to my hangar. Is there a problem putting the wings on with the plane on the gear? I figure I can level the longerons by rolling the mains on small ramps.

Thanks,

Wings

Setting the wing incidence is a pretty precise operation. I belive it will work better for you if you can do it on a solid base. Do you have room to do one wing at a time. I think this is the way Dan Chekoway did it, you may want to check out his site. I did mine on a platform, with a lasar and It came out spot on. http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displ...ll&project=423&category=3016&log=51237&row=10 This is the proceedure I used:

Good luck, CJ

No Prob

Tony,
It came time to mount the wings on my 8A and I just plugged the main gear legs into their sockets and slipped in some bolts. The fuselage sat on the main gear (without wheels) on two pads of plywood on the floor. When it came time to level the longerons, I simply slid some shims under one gear leg until the fuse was level. If you end up with the fuselage on all three gear legs, leveling everything should be no problem. You can look me up on Kitlog to see some photos. One tip, however. There is a #40 pilot hole where the fuel lines come in on either side of the fuselage from the wing tanks. Go ahead and drill those to 1" now because it is impossible to drill them once the wings are plugged in. Ask me how I know. We are close to the same progress in construction. Maybe we should get together and visit each other's projects.
Cheers,

I plan to do the same thing

I haven't even got my wings and the fuse is on its gear, I sure hope it can be done.

Randy
Finishing and wiring

My thought is don't sweat it. Put the wings on and if the aircraft need to be more stable, put more air in the tires, if that doesn't work, get some 2X4's and some bottle jacks or floor jacks and put them under the fuse and jack until things are stable, than continue with the wing adjustments.

I just looked at my airplane and there is a bunch of space between the floor and the fuse, so put a tire on the floor(mounted on the rim with air,spar from your truck) and then the jack or make a plateform and put it under the fuse and then use the jack, just make sure you put some blocks of wood under the fuse to protect the underbody. We are not talking supporting the fuse here, just stabilizing it.

Actually its a very interesting question. The gear weldment bolts go through the carry through section if you remove those bolts without supporting the entire fuselage, including the engine . . . I'm in the same situation. I expect to support the fuselage with an engine lift connected on the engine mount at the firewall or possibly the rollover bow. Then remove the bolts, slip in the wing and replace the bolts. One wing at a time of course so most of the weight can be supported by the other main gear and the nose gear. The issue of adjusting incidence should really be a non event. There have been several good suggestions on the issue in this string.

apatti said:

........Is there a problem putting the wings on with the plane on the gear? I figure I can level the longerons by rolling the mains on small ramps.....

Click to expand...

If there is a problem, I did not experience it. If you can level the longerons by rolling the mains up on small ramps, that would be better than what I did which was to support the 6A on sawhorses which required the main gear to be clear of the floor. Still, I was able to insert and remove the wings several times by myself. Same deal for the -8 project but it was far easier to level the airplane because the main gear actually worked with me and only a single sawhorse was required near the tailcone to level the longerons.

ctbecker said:

Actually its a very interesting question. The gear weldment bolts go through the carry through section if you remove those bolts without supporting the entire fuselage, including the engine . . . I'm in the same situation. I expect to support the fuselage with an engine lift connected on the engine mount at the firewall or possibly the rollover bow. Then remove the bolts, slip in the wing and replace the bolts. One wing at a time of course so most of the weight can be supported by the other main gear and the nose gear. The issue of adjusting incidence should really be a non event. There have been several good suggestions on the issue in this string.

Click to expand...

Aren't there like 6-7 AN4 bolts holding the weldments on independent of the wing spar bolts? I would think that would be plenty to support the plane in a static situation.

They are.....

......as long as the side bolts are also in and tight. The bolts that are shared by the wings don't have to be in.

Regards,

All,
Thanks for the replies (and the pictures, Rick). I decided to go ahead and put if on the gear. It looks like I will be fine. It is only three bolts. But it sure does "feel" a lot better. Like a giant leap in progress. It is odd how this project goes. You can spend months (well, I did anyway) working on the canopy and not feel like you made all that much progress. Then in one day you install three bolts and wow!

Steve,
I sent you a PM.