Swapping wings question??

flybynight55 · #1 11-26-2006, 12:05 PM

Ok, heres another questionable question that may already been answered before. I bought a RV4 with the white slosh in the tanks. Also, the wings need some skins replace(long story). Since RV4 wings are hard to find used and most would probably have the white slosh in the tanks, will a newer set of RV6 wings fit the 4. I figure I could find a set of 6's wings already built and put them on the 4 and get it in the air sooner than building a new 4 wing altogether. Thanks for any advice and info. Tom

rvbuilder2002 · #2 11-26-2006, 02:42 PM

Nope.

I believe the wing and control surface ribs are the same but thats about it.

mgomez · #3 11-26-2006, 05:12 PM

Are the wings on the RV-4 and -6 match-drilled to the fuselage?

Mel · #4 11-26-2006, 05:15 PM

Yes! They are match drilled. Although the span is the same between the -4 and -6, the -4 fuselage is narrower. Therefore the wing skins, fuel tanks, flaps and ailerons are different. (Wing tips are interchangable (if they haven't been fitted.))

mgomez · #5 11-26-2006, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mel

Yes! They are match drilled.

So, flybynight55, that suggests that even if you could find an already-built set of RV-6 wings, getting the holes in the wing and the fuselage to line up might not be possible.

ChiefPilot · #6 11-26-2006, 08:16 PM

What about the holes through the bulkhead and spar; I thought they were critical and precluded any possibility of swapping spars from fuselage to fuselage.

pierre smith · #7 11-27-2006, 05:19 AM

As Mel said, it's a narrower fuselage on the -4 than the -6. The spars and the wingspan is the same but you'll have a huge gap between the fuselage and the wings if you try and install -6 wings on a -4. The -4 wings have longer skin to make up for the narrower -4 fuselage, and that skin is added to the inboard section of the tanks and the wing.
Regards,

svanarts · #8 11-27-2006, 02:39 PM

Nope won't work as others have already mentioned. If you could look at a 4 and a 6 wing side by side, you'd see that there is less wing covering the spar on the 6 than on the 4 wing. I don't think the rear spar would make contact with the fuselage attachment. Then there is the fact that the bolt holes in the spar and the bulkhead the spar bolts to are all match drilled. You MAY get another 4 wing to fit. I would hope they used a jig to drill all these bolt holes but that's still no guarantee it would fit.

John_RV4 · #9 11-28-2006, 07:40 AM

Doubt you would even get another -4 set of wings to fit. The attachment holes are match drilled to the fuselage bulkhead. They are also a "light press fit". They were all bult one set at a time and (when I talked to Phlogiston several years ago) there was no hard tooling for the RV4 spar. So, a little variation is almost certain.

Might be best to just repair the wings as needed.

John