"Factory" door size question, RV-12

The high school room where the kids will be building the Eagle's Nest RV-12 has 35" wide doors. I know that we will have to move to a room with big doors (or to a hangar) for the finish kit, but how about the fuse? I expect the tail cone to fit through 35", but am not sure. How about leaving off the roll bar and going out sideways? Would that be possible. We want to stay in one place as long as possible, but need to plan ahead.

Thanks,

Bob

I don't know what type of wall construction the room has, but don't rule out the possibily of reframing the door opening and making it wider. Don't be afraid to ask, as this may not be such a big deal, depending again on the construction/materials of the wall.

Hi videobob. We left the top skin off the tailcone and was able to take it out through a smaller opening than 35 inches. We built the fuse in the same downstairs room and clecoed the rollbar on for a test fit and removedit and then later took it out turned over on it's side. Good luck , check out unicom 12 .blogspot.com

lewy said:

Hi videobob. We left the top skin off the tailcone and was able to take it out through a smaller opening than 35 inches. We built the fuse in the same downstairs room and clecoed the rollbar on for a test fit and removedit and then later took it out turned over on it's side. Good luck , check out unicom 12 .blogspot.com

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Nice project! That's what I thought, but it is good to know someone else has been there. There really isn't any way to widen the doors--concrete block/brick in a public school. We should be able to work in this room for the rest of the school year, then we will just go from there. Thanks.

Bob

I built my airframe in my basement. My basement door out through the bulkhead is 35" by 82.5". There are stairs outside the door which rise 72.5" to ground level. I got all the completed fabrications out the door.

The wings needed to be turned diagonally to clear the steps and top of the door. The spar just cleared on the basement floor. I made a template out of light wood to test the clearances before I assembled the wings.

The fuselage was completed with exception of the rollbar assembly. The baggage bulkhead was installed but the tail cone was not attached. The fuselage was turned sideways as it departed the basement, with 1/2" clearance. I would recommend that the tail cone turtle deck skins and rollbar be clecoed to the fuselage before installing the canopy. This will assure an accurate trim on the rear of the canopy. These assemblies can the be unclecoed and easily moved to another location if desired.