Rene Bubberman

Rene Bubberman

Well Known Member
Hello RVators,

A friend of mine totalled his brand new 7A one month ago in Sweden. Yes, another tip-over incident :(
This weekend we want to pick up the wreckage. Since I want to use an enclosed truck (it's about 1000km through four countries) I need some input: What is the exact dimension from the front of the firewall to the beginning of the rudder. In other words: what is the lenght of the fuselage when the engine (plus mount) and the rudder are removed?
Can somebody help me on this one? (our own -7 is at the airport 100 miles away, so I can't measure that one). Any other advise is appreciated of course. Thanks!
 
hi rene,

do you have more details on the incident?
grass or paved runway?
fairing on or off?
landing or takeoff?
old or new style fork?
shimmy? bounce? or only during taxi?

i'm going to the workshop right now...
will try to measure...

rgds,
bernie
 
Wing Removal

If you are planning to remove the wings yourself you better be prepared.

Getting the spar bolts out of an "A" model is not easy. See posts on this site. I imagine a 7A is similar to a 9A but if it is the bottom bolts are VERY difficult to access and you might find a compressor and a 90 degree air wrench helpful. You would also benefit from claw type levers to exert pressure on the bolts (1/4" and 7/16") as they are turned.

Good luck.

Rupert Clarke
 
Thanks for the dimension Pierre, that's 4445mm for future reference :)
I feared that it could be hard to get the bolts out. Since the fuselage will be taken apart anyway, does it help if we remove the main gear "spiders"?

As to the accident: my friend and his passenger escaped with only very small injuries. The sad thing is that he does not want to fly anymore :(
The field (Hoganas) was short grass but with bumps. The RV-7a had the new fork and the nose wheel fairing. I have not seen the accident myself but it seems that he landed with three weels at the same time and with too much speed. The gear oscilated, caught, bent and polevaulted the plane over.
 
Rene,
Having transported a few wrecked RVs, I can advise; don't try to get a truck barely big enough. You will need space for extra pieces that have been taken off. I typically try to get a 24' truck. It costs a bit more, but it's much easier to load a bigger truck.
 
Ouch

Rene Bubberman said:
........The field (Hoganas) was short grass but with bumps.......
Click to expand...
flyvans.com said:
....grass or paved runway?....
Click to expand...
Rene,

I can only presume this is the field in H?gan?s, Sweden your friend has the mishap at. The most important thing is they escaped without injury. An RV can always be rebuilt or replaced. Measuring the field with the ruler function indicates one runway is about 2000' long and the other about 2500.' There does not appear to be any obstructions on final approach to any of its runways yet there is no way a Google Earth snapshot can begin to convey prevailing runway conditions at the time. Still, I am naturally curious when and why such things happen even while avoiding the natural tendency to engage in a pointless exercise of "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda." In any event, I do hope your friend changes his mind and resumes flying again.

2cy3cd4.jpg
 
Hi Rick,

This is indeed the field. He had runway 14 (top left to bottom right in your picture). Indeed about 750 meters, very short grass but with some bumps. Downwind overhead the sea. The weather was hot and bumpy with some CB's in the neighbourhood. Before the threshold there are some trees and buildup's which cause some turbulence. He also had some worries about the engine running a bit rough in the lower RPM's. All in all, he might have been a bit distracted and landed too hard, too fast. A C150 might break its leg and smash a prop, a 7a tips over :mad:
No, he will quit flying for sure. He can't work up the energy to build again or to buy and fly a finished RV. Worse: he even doesn't want to fly with me (or anyone else) at the moment. A brother lost to RV-dom.....
We bought the wreck and will rebuild it, but with a wheel at the tail end and with two seats after each other....
 
Back to the topic

Sorry to hear about your friend. Having damaged my RV, I know what he is going through.

Have your friend read this thread on wing removal.

It covers the problems I had in getting my wings off and at the end, is what worked for me.

There are some very good suggestions in there that should be helpful.

As for those of you who insist on the RV-xA vs. RV-x and why the A's go over, please don't pollute every thread with that stuff. There are plenty of other threads to discuss that.

Here is a guy who is looking for help and all the noise isn't helping. Regardless of how he landed it, he did land it and now has problems. As for the grass vs. pavement argument BS! We have had more than one member who has damaged his plane due to a hard nose drop and gear leg tuck.

(OK, off my soap box now. Thanks for letting me rant.)
 
Last edited:
Thanks Bill

I read the thread about wing removal and did not sleep too well... Good that it worked for you, though! The wreck is sitting in a unheated tent hangar some 1200 km away. We do have the gear towers in the 7a, so I think I will have to remove them before trying to remove the wings. So I take a lot of stuff with me. including an angled grinder to get really rough on the fuse spar if needed. The fuse is a write off anyway but I want to save the wings :(
 
Rene Bubberman said:
I read the thread about wing removal and did not sleep too well......... The fuse is a write off anyway but I want to save the wings :(
Click to expand...

If that's the case, then cut the fuse off just behind the roll bar and remove the engine and mount from firewall and load the wings complete with the center section of the fuse into your 24 ft. van.

Then you can spend time in your shop with the correct tools and info to remove the wings at a later time...............
 
I agree

Simply cut the aft of the fuse off in line with the aft edge of the wing and load the wings/fuse center on the trailer.

The good thing about this is that that center spar section maybe salvable and with care/proper tools you have less chance of dmaging it further.

What a shame..Hopefully it will fly again one day.

Frank
 
Rene,

A 7.5t Ford Cargo (or similar) should work well - make sure it has a powered tail lift. The fuselage will go in with the rudder removed if the wings will come off. If the wings wont come off and you have to chop the fuselage, taking the wing tips off and standing it on the chopped fuselage end may get it in? I have found that a rivet gun set with a brass nose is useful to remove wing bolts. Sometimes a long bar (perhaps 300mm long) is also needed.

Pete
 
cut it

The aircraft salvage guys hardly ever use a wrench for anything. But, all of them carry a good recip or circular saw! They can load almost any size airplane on a road-able trailer in half an afternoon. Save what's salvagable - cut the rest (This includes the engine removal, too!).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.