Saville

Saville

Well Known Member
There's a -8 on for sale that was damaged in a storm. The plane is not flyable and it seems as if one has to transport the a/c to some other facility where there is repair talent and facilities.

1) How difficult is it to dismantle an RV in order to transport it by truck?

e.g. remove wings - maybe the prop.

2) Would you want to dismantle it further than that before transporting?

3) One really doesn't know the extent of the damage until skins are removed and inspections made. In this case the right wing aileron is bent - possibly spar damage according to the ad (I'm assuming a rear spar).

Is it possible to order sub assemblies from VAN's (say an aileron or an elevator or a canopy)?

Thanks.
 
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Not having built an 8, this is just going to be a SWAG----------but I am pretty sure you can just pull the wings, and put the plane on a flat bed trailer. The wings may fit under the fuse, laying flat on the trailer bed.

I moved my RV 10 project on a flat bed---------and it is a lot larger than an 8.

You could also use a U-Haul closed truck, but you might need to remove the tail first------or maybe not, depends on the size of the tail.

Or, there are companies out there that specialize in moving RVs.

As to ordering parts from Vans-----------yes.

Good luck.
 
once i bought a tail kit in the box. it came without any hardware. I called vans and in less than a min they replied, oh yeah u need this part# %^&(&^##$%
for $285+fght. it was every nut bolt fitting rivet etc needed. in less than 3 min i had it coming ups. wow!
 
Disassembling it for transport by truck/enclosed trailer would be the optimum/safest way.

The parts to repair it can be easily obtained from Vans, but I believe the only thing that would be already mostly assembled, and closest to a "bolt-on" sub-assembly would be a quick-build aileron, and even that is not 100% complete and still requires some assembly work. The canopy is likely going to be the hardest part, since replacing the plexiglass is almost as much work as building the canopy from the original kit pieces. The replacement tailfeather pieces will likely have to be assembled from kit components, I am unaware of any QB option on those outside of buying an already assembled empenage kit from somebody who's giving up on a project, but personally I'd rather opt for buying a whole new horizontal stabilizer kit & elevators kit and build new ones myself, incorporating the SB 14-01-31 into the build, since the thought of fixing up an existing HS & elevator that's suffered a denting blow just doesn't make me feel very comfortable anymore... especially when building new ones isn't all that expensive or difficult and that's one piece of the aircraft that I like to know for positive certainty what their condition is.
 
Neal@F14 said:
Disassembling it for transport by truck/enclosed trailer would be the optimum/safest way.

The parts to repair it can be easily obtained from Vans, but I believe the only thing that would be already mostly assembled, and closest to a "bolt-on" sub-assembly would be a quick-build aileron, and even that is not 100% complete and still requires some assembly work. The canopy is likely going to be the hardest part, since replacing the plexiglass is almost as much work as building the canopy from the original kit pieces. The replacement tailfeather pieces will likely have to be assembled from kit components, I am unaware of any QB option on those outside of buying an already assembled empenage kit from somebody who's giving up on a project, but personally I'd rather opt for buying a whole new horizontal stabilizer kit & elevators kit and build new ones myself, incorporating the SB 14-01-31 into the build, since the thought of fixing up an existing HS & elevator that's suffered a denting blow just doesn't make me feel very comfortable anymore... especially when building new ones isn't all that expensive or difficult and that's one piece of the aircraft that I like to know for positive certainty what their condition is.
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Neal,

I agree with you that a whole new empennage build is probably the smart way to go and not that hard/expensive. And the reason is the same as for the rest of the a/c:

I can't tell from looking at the pictures that I "see" all that damage there is.

I'm not really sure how much I would have to disassemble the a/c in order to be certain I've gotten down to undamaged parts. I'm pretty sure the dis-assembly could require rivet removal in order to have a decent feeling that there isn't hidden damage that would kill me.

The a/c was built in 2012 though that doesn't guarantee all service bulletins have been adhered to.

Thanks!
 
VETE76 said:
once i bought a tail kit in the box. it came without any hardware. I called vans and in less than a min they replied, oh yeah u need this part# %^&(&^##$%
for $285+fght. it was every nut bolt fitting rivet etc needed. in less than 3 min i had it coming ups. wow!
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Hey Vete - I'm originally from Syracuse........I have two words for you:

Columbus Bakery ;)

Anyhow, it does seem that I can get whatever sub assemblies I need to repair this thing, from Vans.

thanks!
 
Where is the aircraft? You might get some seasoned northeast RVers to fly to wherever it is to help you disassemble it and give it a once over if it's within a couple hours' range and near a good swimming hole, ice cream shop, or breakfast joint. ;)
 
Noah said:
Where is the aircraft? You might get some seasoned northeast RVers to fly to wherever it is to help you disassemble it and give it a once over if it's within a couple hours' range and near a good swimming hole, ice cream shop, or breakfast joint. ;)
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Hi Noah,

It's in Iowa ;)
 
springer said:
I know which one you are talking about and have seen the photos. Have you seen the aircraft in person? I was planning to look at another one nearby later this week.
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Hi Jim,

No I haven't seen the a/c in person. Just the ad. I've sent an email to the owner with a few questions.
 
2012 is the year the plane received its airworthyness certificate, it could have been under construction for 10 years.

If it a "pre-punch" kit it will be easier to repair because you can order replacement skinsn ribs, etc. and go to work. If it is an early -8, it may require building jigs to hold it square while you rebuild it.

As for transporting it, batons of fiberglass insulation work great to protect the wings and fuselage.
 
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Time changes things...

Saville said:
Hey Vete - I'm originally from Syracuse........I have two words for you:

Columbus Bakery ;)

Anyhow, it does seem that I can get whatever sub assemblies I need to repair this thing, from Vans.

thanks!
Click to expand...

HA! I did 2 to 10 in Syracuse.

When I got to Syracuse: Hungry Charlie's
When I left: Pascale's

Transporting long distance really requires a closed trailer. Tony Partain moved for me. He would also offer advice.

CC
 
We've done this several times now (the last one was an RV4 that had a terrible mishap in a ditch in South Dakota). Key is to have a couple people, a good trailer, lots of padding, lots of strapping, etc..

Remove the wings (isn't fun, but not terribly hard), take care of any fuel/oils, etc.., and make sure you can secure the various piece parts (wings, tail, etc..). Sometimes it's easiest just to take the tail off, as it is just about legal width in some places. Overall, if you're intimately familiar with RV's, the disassembly is fast (like a couple hours) and you can be on your way. That said, if you are not familiar with them, it could take you a long time plus lots of cussing to get it to come apart!

As others have mentioned, all parts are available from Vans. We rebuilt the -4 from the firewall to behind the spar with all new parts - though it did take some creative jigging and shoring to do it. A customer of ours just did the same with an RV8 that got crinkled/flipped in a storm, he should fly later this fall. Be wary that sometimes you can and will end up with as much in the rebuild as you might with a new or 2nd hand kit. In the cases we have participated in, an insurance company picked up the tab so money wasn't as critical, but having also done these for personal reasons I'll say that unless you get the airplane for an absolute song - I'd almost recommend just going new/used standard kit instead of the rebuild. Quite often, the time it takes just to get to "zero" negates any positive savings on the project.

Just my 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein

Oh..one last thing (and important one at that). If the airplane was totaled and written off with the airworthiness certificate surrendered (then deregistered with the FAA, then getting a new A/W cert can be difficult, problematic, or sometimes impossible.
 
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N941WR said:
2012 is the year the plane received its airworthyness certificate, it could have been under construction for 10 years.
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The airworthiness date listed on the registration may or may not be the original airworthiness date. If the aircraft, for some reason, has had a recurrent airworthiness inspection, that would be the date listed.

Example: Prior to around 1999, if a major change occurred, the aircraft had to get a new airworthiness certificate. My RV-6 was originally issued it's AW in 1993. When I increased the hp in 1995, I had to get a recurrent AW. And again in 2004 when I changed props. Therefore my registration shows an AW of 2004.
 
dismantling

So the impression I'm getting is that the dismantling portion of this operation can take a much longer time if you've never done it before. I wonder if there's something that can be studied to speed things up.
 
IMHO the hardest part is removal of the bolts in the wings spar. I've done it on a -7. the rest is easy.
Dave
 
What about wiring and control disconnects? I suppose that if necessary, the can be disconnected at the cockpit.
 
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