RV-7 How long to remove wings ?

[newimaging]

Could anyone tell me how long it takes to remove the wings from an RV7-A, is it feasable to trailer the plane to the airport. I was originaly planing on building a Sonex, but the RV has such better performance. But it does have easy to remove wings, which in my case is a plus.

I read some of the threads here, but they are mostly on RV4 wings, which might be an older design, or on someone trying to do it himself with an RV12.

Thanks,

Christian

[Andy Hill]

Hi Christian...

Mechanically, to remove the RV-7 wings would take less than an hour, subject to how any wiring was done. Bear in mind it also involves disconnecting fuel pipes, with no shut off facility, so prior to this you really need to drain the tanks. All in all, easy enough on a one-off basis e.g. a grounded / damaged aircraft needing transportation.

However, your post could be read to imply you want to do this on a regular (daily?) basis? In which case I would say the RV series (except the RV-12? Don't know) is not suitable. The attachment hardware is not, IMHO, designed for repeated removal / refitting.

As a wild guess, others will no doubt have other opinions I would limit wing removal / refitting to once per year at most... If you need to do it more often, suggest get something else...

Best regards
Andy

[David-aviator]

You'd be spending more time removing and reinstalling the wings than flying.

If things are that tight budget wise, this is not the airplane. There are plenty out there much more suitable.

[Mel]

Originally Posted by newimaging

Could anyone tell me how long it takes to remove the wings from an RV7-A, is it feasable to trailer the plane to the airport.
Christian

NO! I've been in the business of amateur-builts for about 30 years now and I can assure you that 90% of the people that build airplanes with the intent of trailering them back and forth to the airport end up leaving them assembled at the airport after just a few trips. Even airplanes that are designed with this in mind aren't as practical as they seem.
None of the RVs, except for the -12 have this design feature.
The wing attach bolts are a very tight fit and difficult to remove and replace. And every flight would be a "test flight". Fuel tanks and connections to lighting and pitot would have to be retrofitted with "quick disconnects". Not to mention the wear & tear on the bolts and attach fittings.

[newimaging]

Thanks guys, I was just wondering, since I read about the RV12 having that feature. I met the local EAA members today, and got a bunch of questions answered. Looks like the RV-7A is what I am looking at. I also found out that the hangers are available at a local airport here KWHP and are below $400/month, so thats do-able.
Thanks for the answers, let the 4 year adventure begin, just cleaned out the garage, time to re-arrange the bank accounts.