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Transport after paint

J

Jackm

Well Known Member
Bit of odd question.....but how have you transported wings and tail section after paint? Painters are done but they are not comfortable transporting wings in the wing stand we sent them in? The problem lies in the fact the paint is too fresh to be in contact with the carpet sling and the tail feathers were transported the same way as a addition to the wing stand. Thinking of building a addition to the stand to support the wing from the wing tip end.
Thoughts ideas appreciated!
 
My stand is plywood with a piece of pipe insulation to cushion the rounded leading edge. We put the wings in the stand 24 hrs after Clearcoat. Clear takes much longer to dry than most paints. When I pulled the wings out of the stand six months later there was some yellowing on one wing and some of the insulation had stuck. To this point I have only rubbed a little paste wax on it and most of it came right out.
 
I transported mine on a flat deck trailer with foam rubber (old mattress toppers) under and between them. Once at the hangar I put them back in the well padded stand. There were no noticeable marks on the clear-coat from the stand...
 
I used microfiber towels to soften the carpet slings on my wing stands. After transport, they sat in the stands for about two weeks with no issues. I made sure the stand was well secured to the trailer and the wings secured to the stand.

I wouldn't paint the tail by itself. The fuselage and tail should be painted together for better results.
 
I know the wings on a -10 are substantially different than those on my -6, but I built a rack for my wings. The stub spar on the inboard side sat on horizontal beam and I inserted a piece of large diameter PVC pipe through the lightning holes at the tip and set it on a horizontal beam at the outboard end. The PVC extended all the way to the fuel tank, and the rack held the wings in a nose down configuration.

It worked very well. Not only did I transport the wings 15 miles to the airport in that fixture, I also stored the wings in that fixture for years (before and after paint).
 
I used single stage paint and put the wings back in the storage rack after a few days drying time. I also used the foam pipe insulation on the cradle supports (4) and they were in them for about six months. I had no sticking or other issues when I took them out to mount on the plane.
 
transporting

This probably isn't helpful but when I get to that point, I think I'll buy 3 new king size mattress's and new silk sheets for transportation. Maybe a police escort if I can line that up also :D
 
Kyle Boatright said:
I know the wings on a -10 are substantially different than those on my -6, but I built a rack for my wings. The stub spar on the inboard side sat on horizontal beam and I inserted a piece of large diameter PVC pipe through the lightning holes at the tip and set it on a horizontal beam at the outboard end. The PVC extended all the way to the fuel tank, and the rack held the wings in a nose down configuration.
Click to expand...

+1. No need to risk paint damage when it's so easy to support wings from the spar and some kind of temporary fixture at the wingtip.

In addition to transport I did all the post-painting cut and buff work with the panels supported as above and sitting on sawhorses.
 
I don't know about the 10, but on my 8 I slid a large 4", i think,PVC pipe through the rib lightening holes near the fwd spar and supported each end, Also slid a 1 1/2 in PVC through near the aft spar secured it and carried on.

Bird
 
I converted a garage into a paint booth. We used the suspension method mentioned and let them dry in place for two months. Transported them back to the airport in the original cradles with no problem.
 
I transported mine laying flat one at a time on pads in the back of my truck. Then I hung them on saw horses until I was ready for them. One end was supported by the spar stub the outboard end I used a long piece of PVC pipe stuck in the lightening hole. This leaves the painted area free to cure.



The PVC method also works well for painting. 2 people can roll them over easily
 
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Kyle Boatright said:
I know the wings on a -10 are substantially different than those on my -6, but I built a rack for my wings. The stub spar on the inboard side sat on horizontal beam and I inserted a piece of large diameter PVC pipe through the lightning holes at the tip and set it on a horizontal beam at the outboard end. The PVC extended all the way to the fuel tank, and the rack held the wings in a nose down configuration.

It worked very well. Not only did I transport the wings 15 miles to the airport in that fixture, I also stored the wings in that fixture for years (before and after paint).
Click to expand...

+2 I painted my truck a few years back. I painted the hood and after a couple of very hot days turned it over on some saw horses with layers of towels, all good I thought. NO! Imprints of the towel were hard to cut and buff out. I will be keeping pressure off paint a while. Weeks for sure. Or, just fly it home. Undecided.
 
At the advice of my painter I mounted the tail section to the fuselage without the elevators on. Then transported via flat bed trailer for the 50 mile ride to the airport. For the wings, I laid flat on the padded flatbed and strapped down. The flaps and ailerons were off the wing but also laid flat all wrapped in a blanket on the flatbed.

Jim
RV9A
Phase 1
Howell, MI
 
Thanks for feed back!
Was able to use some of your ideas. Going to install some of tail on fuse once loaded inside the van trailer and support the wings with ideas posted!
Inspected the workmanship yesterday and and was very happy with quality of work....now just need to get it home without damaging the beautiful paint!
 
Back of Truck

Mine were painted in a heated booth, and had a weekend to cook, then a few more days to cure before transport. My painter said they should be fine, so I just laid them on blankets in the back of my pickup. Of course, I only transported them about 5 miles so it was pretty brief. Once at the hangar, they went back onto the rotisserie stands that I used to enable painting. No problems.
 
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