Manipulating Wings

[jnmeade]

I have a (gasp) non-RV, but this forum seems particularly attuned to handling airplane parts and I'm sure you will have some good suggestions for me.

I have a Flight Design CTSW, a plastic high-wing 2 seater. The wings come off readily (I've done it).

I'm going to do some work on the fuselage and need to remove the wings because my shop is too small for the assembled airplane. I need to store the wings out of the way for a month or so. The shop gets used for farm repairs, as well. There is no easy way to hoist them overhead, because I have a finished ceiling so the supports are not visible, I have no way to get up there and work, and the gantry crane is too close to the ceiling.

I'm thinking of some kind of sling or other arrangement to hold the wings on edge as one sees in glider trailers. Any experiences or suggestions you have in that regard are welcome.

It would be nice if the carrier was mobile, that is, was on wheels or otherwise could be moved around by one person. It's not critical. With wheels on one end, I could move the wing by picking up the other end and pushing/pulling.

I'm going to have to do some work on one wing, either the leading edge or underside, or both. It would be nice if the carrier doubled as a work station. (Rotisserie?) Some of the work will require precision measurements, as in adding a pitot tube at the correct angle.

There is no room to put up a couple of big table indefinitely. I actually have to work on farm machinery from time to time. My shop is only 36'X48'X16' and it is much smaller than that figuring all the space taken up by impedimenta. I do have a gantry crane and cherry picker and, of course, the tractor loader (not a very precise instrument).

I'm not real handy at welding, though I could do some if necessary.

Price is somewhat of an object. I don't mind buying some plywood and steel and so forth but am not crazy about spending $1000 if I can avoid it.

Pictures are welcome.

[rgmwa]

Here you are:
http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-c...e-a-wing-stand

[wirejock]

Welcome Jim
Robert's EAA wing stand is the way to go.

Most of us fabricate a wing cradle. Basically it's a tracing of a wing rib transferred to plywood. The cut out is lined with padding. Usually the cutout is done twice for two wings to sit in the same cradle. The opposite end is supported by the main spar. The whole thing is just a few 2"x4" boards. There are some pics on my blog "wing page".
Some folks suspend from ceiling with straps. Make sure the straps are on a rib area or make something to distribute the load. I suspended tail parts with 2" webbing. Craft stores sell it and the clips.

[Lemmingman]

+1 for the wing stand. Here are some "after" shots. I dont have wood working tools or skills, so I just used the Home Depot brackets that allow for 90deg joints to be made. Deck screws and lag bolts hold it all together. The straps I found in Lowes/Home Depot are just towing straps. Pick good wheels I had cheap ones at first and they disintegrated after about a year.

[WingsOnWheels]

You can use strips of carpet instead of straps, that will spread the load over a greater area. A lot of builders have built racks like the one pictured. Easy and cheap to build, does a great job.

[longranger]

This design seems fairly common in the RV world. The padding is foam pipe insulation.