Rotating fuselage stand, are there cons?

[JakeLewis22]

After hanging over the longerons for a few hours, my back has decided that I need to construct a fuselage rotisserie for my RV7. The rear deck is riveted on but none of the top skins are in place yet. I can think of several pros but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking any cons.

Has anyone encountered any problems with supporting the fuselage from the firewall and the tail wheel mount at this stage of construction?

[rv8guy]

On my -8 fuselage it was the best thing I did -- so no cons!

[dav1111]

Originally Posted by JakeLewis22

After hanging over the longerons for a few hours, my back has decided that I need to construct a fuselage rotisserie for my RV7. The rear deck is riveted on but none of the top skins are in place yet. I can think of several pros but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking any cons.

Has anyone encountered any problems with supporting the fuselage from the firewall and the tail wheel mount at this stage of construction?

Having built three RV's I only wished I had a rotisserie on the first two. I used two Harbor Freight engine stands, $49.99 each, machined 4 stand offs for the firewall engine mount bolt holes, cut four 1" steel square tubing to bolt onto the front plate of the engine stand and on the four standoffs for the firewall portion of the rotisserie. I obtained a universal joint from the junkyard and welded one end of it to a plate that I bolted on the rear engine stand and attached the other end to the tailwheel mount. The universal joint on the rear allows the fuselage to rotate without creating any binds.

If I had had the rotating stand when I built the RV-8 I might not have sworn never to build another -8.

[Phil]

I'd like to, but I haven't heard of anyone putting a -10 on a rotating stand yet.

No doubt that it would make life easier.

[JakeLewis22]

Originally Posted by dav1111

Having built three RV's I only wished I had a rotisserie on the first two. I used two Harbor Freight engine stands, $49.99 each, machined 4 stand offs for the firewall engine mount bolt holes, cut four 1" steel square tubing to bolt onto the front plate of the engine stand and on the four standoffs for the firewall portion of the rotisserie. I obtained a universal joint from the junkyard and welded one end of it to a plate that I bolted on the rear engine stand and attached the other end to the tailwheel mount. The universal joint on the rear allows the fuselage to rotate without creating any binds.

If I had had the rotating stand when I built the RV-8 I might not have sworn never to build another -8.

Russ,

I want to leave room to do some of the work on the forward side of the firewall so I was planning to fabricate stand off's for the rotisserie mount. How far from the firewall is yours & was it enough or too much? What is the best distance?

[RVRC]

Here is a link to how we made ours.
http://websites.expercraft.com/rvrc/...y&log_id=31025

We combined several methods to make this work and loved it. I have other builders on the field that will borrow it when they get to this point. On the firewall, I went to Lowe's Aviation and bought some 3/4 x 3/4 alum and cut to length. Used drywall screws to attach the wood to the angle. Clecos through the angle on the exterior through firewall and into the kit supplied angle on the interior. Worked like a charm. My back couldn't take the bending either.

If you have a tailwheel, I used 3/4" pipe, IIRC, and one wrap of duct tape to slide in where the tail wheel goes. Made a simple 2 x 8 wooden stand for it to go through. Old pill bottle to make sure the tail doesn't come in contact with the wood. and sleeve or cap on the other side to keep it from sliding off the stand.

Engine stand came from flea market for $15.

I have plenty of other pictures if you like.

Hope this helps.

[jsherblon]

Like others, I build a rotating stand using a Harbor Freight engine stand at the firewall and a wood stand at the tail. The only cons are some extra time and money to build them, and they add a little length in the garage.
For me, neither of those were major issues. Being able to roll the fuse is a major benefit for me. I am very glad I did it.

[Gary Baker]

Hi Jake,

Glad to hear you're progressing! Here's a link to my fuselage stand using the HF engine stand. My fuselage is a QB version. I just used a tail stand for support to rotate the fuselage.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bakerfam...FuselageStand#

Hope this helps!

[JakeLewis22]

I welded up extension arms for an engine stand and made a wood stand out of 2x4's for the tail to rotate on. Works great! This should save my back. Thanks for the responses.

[Gary Baker]

It looks great, Jake You are really going to appreciate having that fuselage on its side.