[Dbro172]

I am about to complete the Emp for my RV-9A and the wings will be delivering in a few weeks.

I am currently building in one stall of a two stall garage and would like to keep the wife happy by doing so, as long as possible...

With that being said; would it be less painful to A) build the wings one at a time, or B) trip over both wings at the same time in a single stall?


Derek
RV-9A - Wings on the way.
San Diego

 

[larrynew]

I built both wings at the same time in one stall of a two car garage. No problems and would do it again but make sure you have a "bumper guard" to avoid door dings. I clamped a 2x4 to the side of my "Rudi's" wing stand that faced the car.

 

[Dbro172]

Benefits?

Larry,

What are the benefits to building both wings at the same time?

Some nice looking stands by the way...

 

[panhandler1956]

I built both wings at the same time in one stall of a two car garage.

Ditto

I think it's faster, but your mileage may vary.

 

[MarkW]

I build in a two car garage with two Harleys, four surfboards and still let my wife park inside. I built the left of each stage first and then the right. Spar then ribs, then leading edges then tanks and such. I didn't want to completely finish a side and then go all of the way back. I built my stand out of wood and I was able to slide it around. I could use the whole garage and then when done for the night I would slide it over to "my side" and then pull the wife's car in for the night. The fuse is next so I may need to build a roll-around stand for it. My wife knows the day is coming that I will need the whole garage.

 

[larrynew]

Derek,

What are the benefits to building both wings at the same time?

Just getting together all the tools and materials for each phase of building takes quite a bit of time. Also, less chance of forgetting the little techniques you learn along the way. It helped to build two of a mirrored part at the same time with less chance of reversing them. The ribs are easy to reverse as some named "right" go on the left wing. Many more reasons and probably some more important I've forgotten.

I think it's faster, but your mileage may vary.

I've only built one set of wings but I'm sure it was faster than one at a time.

 

[krw5927]

To add a little contrast here, I built my 9A wings one at a time, and like you, had reservations about it when I started. Now that they're done, I'm actually very happy to have built them separately.

For one, I wasn't tripping over TWO wings in my little single bay of the garage that I have. Second, I was amazed at how much faster the second wing went than the first. Granted, I deburred/prepped/primed all the ribs at the same time. But the second wing FLEW by (pun intended) compared to the first. Sealing up the second tank was still every bit as messy and unpleasant as the first though

If I had to do it again, and someday I just might, I wouldn't have any hesitation about building one wing at a time.

 

[longranger]

I only have one set of borrowed wing stands, and I haven't even been able to get someone to give me an estiimate on building a duplicate set, so my current plan is to do as much prep on parts for both wings as possible, then assemble them one at a time.

 

[RVNineA]

... Also, less chance of forgetting the little techniques you learn along the way....

I built mine together, but from what I've read over the years, it seems that great success can be achieved either way. My main (maybe imagined) benefit was in the text quoted above; building the wings together allowed me to carry over each little technique without fear of forgetting it.

Nevertheless, if you're able to clean out your one stall, I think you should be able to get them both in there. My wing stands were positioned to provide about 30 inches of separation space between the two inner facing skins, and that worked ok for me.

Good luck!
John

 

[bruceh]

I did both wings at the same time in 1/3 of a three car garage. Having a movable wing stand helps, and extra storage space for all of the ribs, skins, wingtips, flaps, ailerons and hardware.
You will need double the clecos and even at that, you will be running out when you put both skins on. When you build the flaps and ailerons you will need to have enough space to build a perfectly flat assembly surface that you can drill into.
I prepped everything first, including the tank parts and then went at it. Got them done in under 6 months with probably a month off during the holidays.

 

[rapid_ascent]

I'm building my wing jig right now. I'm planning on building both wings at once. I'm wondering how far apart others have found to be the right spacing between the two wings. I don't want to take up too much space, but I want to be able to get in between the wings and work too. I was thinking about 3 1/2 feet is the right distance.

 

[Dbro172]

No Problem

As a follow up to my post I thought i'd provide an update. I evaluted everyones thoughtful advice, researched a bunch of wing jig photos and built one of my own.

Building both wings simultaneously in a single stall has pretty much been a non issue. I made a jig that would accomodate two but planned to only do one at a time.... As i started building though i found that both wings just sort of started getting built. At times I do need to reverse them on the jig, but that's easy enough.

 

[ArVeeNiner]

That's how I did it except I put wheels on my wing stand. In fact, I had a car in one stall for the entire build except for when I was getting ready to hang the engine and when I did my canopy work. Of course you have to find a place to stash the wings for a while.