Transporting an a/c to be repaired

[Saville]

There's a -8 on for sale that was damaged in a storm. The plane is not flyable and it seems as if one has to transport the a/c to some other facility where there is repair talent and facilities.

1) How difficult is it to dismantle an RV in order to transport it by truck?

e.g. remove wings - maybe the prop.

2) Would you want to dismantle it further than that before transporting?

3) One really doesn't know the extent of the damage until skins are removed and inspections made. In this case the right wing aileron is bent - possibly spar damage according to the ad (I'm assuming a rear spar).

Is it possible to order sub assemblies from VAN's (say an aileron or an elevator or a canopy)?

Thanks.

[Mike S]

Not having built an 8, this is just going to be a SWAG----------but I am pretty sure you can just pull the wings, and put the plane on a flat bed trailer. The wings may fit under the fuse, laying flat on the trailer bed.

I moved my RV 10 project on a flat bed---------and it is a lot larger than an 8.

You could also use a U-Haul closed truck, but you might need to remove the tail first------or maybe not, depends on the size of the tail.

Or, there are companies out there that specialize in moving RVs.

As to ordering parts from Vans-----------yes.

Good luck.

[VETE76]

once i bought a tail kit in the box. it came without any hardware. I called vans and in less than a min they replied, oh yeah u need this part# %^&(&^##$%
for $285+fght. it was every nut bolt fitting rivet etc needed. in less than 3 min i had it coming ups. wow!

[Neal@F14]

Disassembling it for transport by truck/enclosed trailer would be the optimum/safest way.

The parts to repair it can be easily obtained from Vans, but I believe the only thing that would be already mostly assembled, and closest to a "bolt-on" sub-assembly would be a quick-build aileron, and even that is not 100% complete and still requires some assembly work. The canopy is likely going to be the hardest part, since replacing the plexiglass is almost as much work as building the canopy from the original kit pieces. The replacement tailfeather pieces will likely have to be assembled from kit components, I am unaware of any QB option on those outside of buying an already assembled empenage kit from somebody who's giving up on a project, but personally I'd rather opt for buying a whole new horizontal stabilizer kit & elevators kit and build new ones myself, incorporating the SB 14-01-31 into the build, since the thought of fixing up an existing HS & elevator that's suffered a denting blow just doesn't make me feel very comfortable anymore... especially when building new ones isn't all that expensive or difficult and that's one piece of the aircraft that I like to know for positive certainty what their condition is.

[Saville]

Originally Posted by Neal@F14

Disassembling it for transport by truck/enclosed trailer would be the optimum/safest way.

The parts to repair it can be easily obtained from Vans, but I believe the only thing that would be already mostly assembled, and closest to a "bolt-on" sub-assembly would be a quick-build aileron, and even that is not 100% complete and still requires some assembly work. The canopy is likely going to be the hardest part, since replacing the plexiglass is almost as much work as building the canopy from the original kit pieces. The replacement tailfeather pieces will likely have to be assembled from kit components, I am unaware of any QB option on those outside of buying an already assembled empenage kit from somebody who's giving up on a project, but personally I'd rather opt for buying a whole new horizontal stabilizer kit & elevators kit and build new ones myself, incorporating the SB 14-01-31 into the build, since the thought of fixing up an existing HS & elevator that's suffered a denting blow just doesn't make me feel very comfortable anymore... especially when building new ones isn't all that expensive or difficult and that's one piece of the aircraft that I like to know for positive certainty what their condition is.

Neal,

I agree with you that a whole new empennage build is probably the smart way to go and not that hard/expensive. And the reason is the same as for the rest of the a/c:

I can't tell from looking at the pictures that I "see" all that damage there is.

I'm not really sure how much I would have to disassemble the a/c in order to be certain I've gotten down to undamaged parts. I'm pretty sure the dis-assembly could require rivet removal in order to have a decent feeling that there isn't hidden damage that would kill me.

The a/c was built in 2012 though that doesn't guarantee all service bulletins have been adhered to.

Thanks!

[Saville]

Originally Posted by VETE76

once i bought a tail kit in the box. it came without any hardware. I called vans and in less than a min they replied, oh yeah u need this part# %^&(&^##$%
for $285+fght. it was every nut bolt fitting rivet etc needed. in less than 3 min i had it coming ups. wow!

Hey Vete - I'm originally from Syracuse........I have two words for you:

Columbus Bakery

Anyhow, it does seem that I can get whatever sub assemblies I need to repair this thing, from Vans.

thanks!

[Mike S]

You might want to talk to Jay Pratt about this.

http://www.vansairforce.net/rvcentral.htm

[Saville]

Originally Posted by Mike S

You might want to talk to Jay Pratt about this.

http://www.vansairforce.net/rvcentral.htm

My very intention once I get home.

[Noah]

Where is the aircraft? You might get some seasoned northeast RVers to fly to wherever it is to help you disassemble it and give it a once over if it's within a couple hours' range and near a good swimming hole, ice cream shop, or breakfast joint.

[Saville]

Originally Posted by Noah

Where is the aircraft? You might get some seasoned northeast RVers to fly to wherever it is to help you disassemble it and give it a once over if it's within a couple hours' range and near a good swimming hole, ice cream shop, or breakfast joint.

Hi Noah,

It's in Iowa