RV-12 Tie Down

[ChuckC]

On the factory red plane, they have drilled out the tie down access hole on the bottom of the wing. But, on the top of the wing, the access hole has not been drilled out.

[tim walter]

The plans do not specify that you have to drill out the top holes
and my skins have no pilot hole on the top,.
I only final drilled the bottom holes, but I did tap the AEX on both sides, just in case.

[crashley]

Originally Posted by Tony_T

There is the (maybe remote) possiblilty that the builder did not tap the holes for the tie downs. Why would they not open the access holes?

hi have a look for a hole without a rivet in it or they may have placed a rivet in the hole to fill it up look for a rivet that doesnt line up with the others
you can then drill the rivets out and if need be tap the tie down brackets then

[Alschief]

Thanks for the input. We did not receive the drawings for the wings.
We will try and locate the points and tap them today

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by tim walter

The plans do not specify that you have to drill out the top holes
and my skins have no pilot hole on the top,.

All of the skins have the pilot hole at the top location. Maybe when your wings were assembled, someone installed a rivet in that hole location? (The pilot holes are the same size as all of the other rivet holes)

[Alschief]

Found the pilot holes. Drilled to 3/8".
They were tapped correctly.
Thanks for the help

[magiccarpet]

As hangar space availability is a real issue over here, I am planning ahead for having the option to lift my bird up to the ceiling.
If I have understood correctly, the upper 3/8 threads of the tie-down parts on the wing-spars are meant for that purpose and I assume they are strong enough for an empty RV-12 with full fuel on board at max.

Now I am wondering if anybody has already lift his bird on these ports and which third hard point was used on the plane. I am not yet that far in the building process, but I guess I would add something similar somewhere on the firewall or using the engine mount for that. Would that makes sense?

Any inputs or experience in lifting your RV-12 are greatly appreciated.
Thank you !!

[redbaron]

The original wing skins had a #30 hole and you opened it up to a 1/2"with a step reamer. If the fitting is not threaded , which it should be, you can tap it, I think it's 3/8 tap. This should be an easy job to do.

[Bill_H]

As a point of reference, my nosewheel had 133 pounds on it with 304 (L) and 313(R) on the mains. Total 750 empty no fuel. I was thinking you could consider a sling behind the prop, but that's likely not a great idea. Using the motor mount would require taking off the top cowl and covering with towels or something. I haven't read here of anyone actually using those suspension points. I tapped my top ones but then put rivets in the holes.

[crashley]

I would not hang the plane by the tie downs I would use something like this
http://www.morganaeroworks.com.au/storagelift.html