Wing Stand/Cradle

[jwilbur]

I remember it being very handy to have early on. I screwed a board over the open end which made it a very convenient work area while working on the main spars.

Some pics here:
http://airplane.athomeinthewilburnes...05/main-spars/

[cderk]

Originally Posted by jwilbur

I remember it being very handy to have early on. I screwed a board over the open end which made it a very convenient work area while working on the main spars.

Some pics here:
http://airplane.athomeinthewilburnes...05/main-spars/

Joe - thanks... this is exactly what I was looking to see. I didn't think about just throwing that 2x4 over the open end. I guess I know what I'm doing this week...

[ppilotmike]

..about working on the spars while they are sitting across a wing cradle. You don't want to have any "sag" or "twist" in the spar while you're working on it. That's why I found it was best to work on the benches. That way you can level it out along its length and keep everything where it's supposed to be. For the RV-10, Vans doesn't require the use of a wing jig, but they do still want you to work on a flat surface. IMHO, setting up the spars across such a long span might not provide this.

As a hint, I found, when shimming up my spars on top of my tables (they vary in thickness along their lengths) using old magazines was a great way to do this and get it just right, so everything was spot on flat, with no twist or sag, plus supported. Once I got it all right, I tapped the magazines to my tables, to keep everything in place.

[cderk]

Thanks Mike. That's a good tip. I'll have to see what they look like in the cradle. Perhaps I can put a few removable cross members to help support the weight.

[jwilbur]

Looking back at my build log I can see I was moving the spars to the benches to do the work anyway. The cradle is at least a good place for storage when you're not working on them.

Here, for example:
http://airplane.athomeinthewilburnes...op-wing-skins/