[IowaRV9Dreamer]

In preparation for wing mounting I want to have some stands to fit under the wings to prevent "tippage"

I did a bit of searching and it appears that for the RV-7A, the wing dihedral angle is 3.5 degrees. Can anyone confirm that this is about the same for the -9A?

If it is 3.5 degrees, then I can use high school trig to predict that the wing only slopes up 8 inches from the root to the final rib (not including wingtip).

That doesn't seem much to me, but maybe someone else will know?

My fuselage is sitting on a platform about 14 inches high, so my wing stands only need to be about 22 inches.

 

[PaulR]

Dave,
I can't tell you the dihedral but I can tell you that there will be some serious up and down movement at the tips to get them mounted. Don't get your stands so high that you can't "wiggle" the tips down. For what it's worth, I used a stand the same height as the fuse was off the ground and it worked well.

 

[flion]

You can also get adjustable height work stands at Home Depot or similar. I didn't get the kind with rollers (intended for feeding long work into a planer or similar) but the flat kind. The flat part is angle adjustable and if you leave the pin out it supports but follows the angle of the wing as you insert it. I've also used them to help level the fuselage.

 

[mikehoover]

Seems like I remember about 4 degrees when I was mounting my ADAHRS in the wing, so that does sound pretty close. I took measurements off the three-view DWG and calculated it.

 

[Rupester]

when I installed my wings ...

I put saw horses under the outboard end that were about 4" short of needed .... made up the last 4" with flat-folded towels and sheets (that the wife donated to my project.) Gave me the adjustability and wiggle room I needed.

and yes ... lots of wiggling and rocking up and down to get the spars fully inserted.

 

[A5555]

inboard side

for the inboard side, I took the back off a old desk chair on rollers that had adjustable height, pneumatic. worked well. like has been said, rock the wing tips up and down when fitting pins or bolts. I also found that the chair seat is great when working on the engine.

 

[pmccoy]

Mounting Wings

I put 2 five gallon buckets at inboard and outboard ends. With a padded 2x4 sitting between them. That was for rough position.

With one person on the wing tip, and the other at the inboard. The wing is not heavy, just a bit difficult to hold for long periods. I had a rolling chair on the wing tip side, and my helper was able to sit down and rest the wing on his lap, after just getting the first inch or so of the spar inserted. That allowed me to crawl under the inboard section and hold it UP, while he wiggled and pushed from the wing tip.

The part about holding the inboard section UP, was key to getting my wings on. They were sticking on the bottom fuselage skin that is flexible for the flaps to deploy. Once I crawled under and put a bit of upward pressure on the wing, it slid right into place. Anyway, that's how it went for me. You millage my vary. Have fun, it's a wonderful thing to see those wings go on for the first time. Makes you feel like it really is going to fly some day soon.

 

[Rupester]

The part about holding the inboard section UP, was key to getting my wings on. They were sticking on the bottom fuselage skin that is flexible for the flaps to deploy. Once I crawled under and put a bit of upward pressure on the wing, it slid right into place.

Oh, man. So-o-o-o- true. I forgot about the bottom skin issues ... that was really the only difficulty in installing my wings.