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Wings or Fuelage Next

M

mquam99

Well Known Member
so I am making good progress on my tail feathers and am thinking about the next component.

I searched the forums a bit, but was wondering if anyone has ordered the fuselage before the wings.

what are the reasons for ordering one before the other..

thanks in advance for any advice
 
wings next

There are about twenty or so reasons as to why you should get the wings next. I can't think of them right now and I can't find the thread that was just up here the other week. But all fingers point toward building the wings next.
 
The fuselage center section ships with the wing kit. If you order the fuselage first you'll be missing a very important part.
 
32508&highlight=fuselage

I'm at work so I can't copy the link. But the one at the top is close.

I believe it's the third page of threads in the general discussion.

I don't think the center section is that important to get with the wings. Since the onset of CNC and all the other technical advancements the center section can be made seperately. Also if you had a major malfunction with a wing (hangar crashes on one wing), you can order just that spar ffrom Vans and it will fit fine.
 
Sorry about the previous replies Mike, I'm at work, had a guy talking in my ear while I was trying to get this out.

I did an Advanced Search for "wings". On the third page (about half way dowm) there is a thread by Jhines called "RV-9 fuse before wings?" This is the thread you should read.
 
I'm building a 10 and I am building the fuselage before the wings. When I ordered it, I ordered the center section spar kit with it. Van's said it was no big deal and seems to be becoming more popular.

The tradition comes from the old days when the spars needed to be match drilled. The modern kits are so precise that it is no longer an issue.

My reasons for doing it that way are space related. I want to stay in my home shop as long as possible. My plan is to have the whole ship complete from spinner to tail with a warm engine and warm panel before ordering wings and moving to a hanger. I also didn't like the idea of storing wings while the rest is being built. Buy ordering wings at the last minute they will hopefully have any latest updates. Also, I plan on ordering QB wings and hopefully, the longer they are at it, the more bugs they can work out and better at it they will be.
 
Wings are easier to build than the fuselage. The latter requires much more parts fabrication and less repetition (which is also what makes it much more fun). I'd "practice" on the wings before moving to the fuselage.
 
Thanks for all the advice.. I may give Van's a call and see what they have to say from a technical point of view.

I will let you know what they say.. In the mean time, I will keep working on the tail to get that finished
 
Fuse before wing?

Also the fuse longerons come in the wing spar box. You'll have to order them separately.

Having completed the wings, and working fuse, the standard order works good - gets you thinking at a lower level regarding systems. ANd you get to be real good at riveting left or right handed. Also depends on your helper status - fuse needs more two-people riveting than wing.

IMO, of course.

Rick 90432
 
and Van's says......

rjcthree said:
Also the fuse longerons come in the wing spar box. You'll have to order them separately.

Rick 90432
Click to expand...

.....they are very expensive to ship, which is why they send them with the wing kit, to save on the shipping costs.
 
There is one other minor issue...

The wings are easier to store and take up less room in your shop than the fuselage.

Thus, if you are tight on space, do the wings first and hang them up out of the way.
 
Not a big deal to build the Fus. first, thats what I'm doing on an RV8-1. The center section comes with the kit, as do the longerones. You must request the longerones at the time of the order! Does not cost much more to ship. They place the longerones in a 2 or 2.5 inch pvc pipe and include it along with the large box that the rest of the parts come in.

There have been some mis-statments made about the center section and wing spars made. Mine for example has two locations with a close tolerance bolt. The contractor who match drills these parts will then send a paper with map of where these larger bolts are to be placed, and mine was wrong. Van's admitted that unless you want to ream all the holes, the center section and spars NEED to be a mathced set. Since I am building the Fus. first, and pointed out this error to them, they have had the contractor who makes these parts make another identical set, and claim to be holding my wing spars. I am going with QB wings, and Van's told me to call well before I need them so they can send my spars to where ever the wings are built.
 
I called Van's yesterday and talked to Gus. he told me that I have to order the wings first, because they match drill the wing spars to the center section. Basically because they match drill the spars, they don't want to hold on to the wing spars while you complete the fuse.

I think I will go the standard way and order the wings next. Seems like it makes the most sense.

thanks again..
 
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