Hi guys....I need to jack the -10..

[pierre smith]

...and I searched the archives and only 1 reference to the -10. My concern is that the tiedowns are so far out and I wonder if it's acceptable to jack there?

Thanks,

 

[dmaib]

Pierre, I just finished my first Condition Inspection and used the tiedown jack pads that Van's sells. I used regular wing jacks and a tail weight and everything worked fine. It does seem like the tiedown points are a long ways out on the wing. I can't remember where or when, but I seem to remember that Van's confirmed that the tie downs were acceptable jack points.

 

[Geico266]

Jack away Pierre! You can lift the whole plane by the tie down jacking points. Tie a 100 pound weight to the tail tie down and you can jack up the nose wheel.

 

[pierre smith]

Thanks...

I need to level it fore/aft/sideways to check a wing incidence malignment.

Blue skies 'n tailwinds,

 

[flion]

No you don't, especially if you have a protractor level or a 'smart' level. Just use it to find out what your current level is (say, down aft 7 degrees, down left 2 degrees) and then make all your measurements and correct with simple addition/subtraction. Or, if you feel you must level the plane first, find the low side and roll the wheel onto a pad of plywood or particle board; use wheel inflation to fine adjust. Fore/aft can be set by jacking the tail or putting a pad under the nose wheel. While you can safely jack the plane on the tiedown pads, I wouldn't trust it not to affect the wing dihedral and incidence slightly; better to keep the wings at 1G load.

 

[dmaib]

I can't imagine how you will be able to adjust the wings on a -10. All of the spar attach holes are pre-drilled. Even the aft spar attach hole.

 

[Phil]

Another idea is to drop air pressure in a tire or two...

But I agree with David, I didn't realize you could adjust the angle. I thought it was pre-drilled.

But my pile of aluminum hasn't gotten much farther than the drive way at this point. So you can take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

 

[Mike S]

Or, if you feel you must level the plane first, find the low side and roll the wheel onto a pad of plywood or particle board; use wheel inflation to fine adjust. Fore/aft can be set by jacking the tail or putting a pad under the nose wheel.

This is what I was going to suggest, works well.

While you can safely jack the plane on the tiedown pads, I wouldn't trust it not to affect the wing dihedral and incidence slightly; better to keep the wings at 1G load.

Agreed, I cant imagine that you could trust the numbers if supported by the wing jack points.

The main spars are pre drilled, the rear has a tiny hole .125" at best, that is used for a guide---see page 44-3.

Did you get the build manual package when you bought the plane??? I could not find instructions as to checking incidence before drilling the rear spar, but it could be there, as I just did a quick scan.

 

[pierre smith]

You go with a bigger bolt..

I can't imagine how you will be able to adjust the wings on a -10. All of the spar attach holes are pre-drilled. Even the aft spar attach hole.

....since the hole in the rear spar will be misaligned with the hole in the fuse brackets. You will have two holes slightly overlapping each other, so you go to the next size bigger drill bit. If it still does not yield a round hole, you go one more larger and use a bigger bolt/nut.

We had to do this on a -4 that was 1/8" off on one wing.

Regards,

 

[Rick S.]

Pierre,

It's not hard if you have these. Placing them under the wing to lift it then using a small floor jack you can raise the nose until level. You can also adjust the wings in roll if needed. Tim has a write up on how the make them, I used regular wing jacks to lift mine to do the pants....and yes you have to level the aircraft to do THAT! But using one of the smart levels would be easier for what you're doing...just need to set a datum refernece and work off that for the incidence check.

http://www.myrv10.com/tips/tools/jackstands_2.jpg

 

[dmaib]

I don't have my plans handy, but I don't remember anything about setting the wing incidence on the -10. I seem to remember that it all fit together as drilled.

 

[dmaib]

I took a look at the plans and confirmed that there is not a procedure for measuring and setting wing incidence on the -10. I believe there is a procedure to set the incidence on the other RV's. It is pretty bullet proof on the 10. Install the wings with drift pins in the main spars and then progressively drill out the pre-drilled rear spar attach holes to 3/8" and bolt it together.

 

[Mike S]

Pierre, have you considered that the flap rigging may be off, rather than wing incidence?

 

[pierre smith]

We measured the location of the rear spar bolts...

...from the bottom edge of the fuselage stubs, Mike, and it's at least 1/16" off on the right wing, hence the built in right roll. The right flap and aileron are both down with the right aileron down more than 1/4" in level flight, with fuel tanks both full and two aboard. The airplane is nevertheless amazing, trueing over 200 MPH at 23"/2400 RPM.

Regards,