Removing wings without landing gear?

I won't go into detail why right now, but I am needing to pull the wings on my RV-6A and want to leave it on the landing gear. Is this possible? If so, how? I can't see it right now, so I need to ask. I know the -7A and up this is possible because of the design of the center sections. Need to know how it works on the -6A.

Thanks in advance!

No! The -6A gear leg sockets bolt to and through the wing spars. To remove the wings, you need to support the fuselage high enough to remove the gear legs then unbolt the gear leg sockets and the rest of the bolts holding the spar from the fuselage.

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks. If anybody has a work-around, please let me know.

I think you could fabricated substitute spar "filler" of wood one metal that would be bolted into place once the wing is removed. You might use brass tube from a hobby shop to match drill the holes from the f604 to the substitute spar. The tube would be used to drill pilot holes that are centered but undersized on the f604 holes, then the part could be removed and the holes drilled to the correct size.

RV6

I think if you support fuse on bottom pull wires from spar and planed a board same as spar installed and a couple bolts thur each bracket at the spar it would be fine.
Bob

thickness-planed wood spacers

... it's how you get a -6A on gear to the airport on a trailer - without a wide-load permit and a police escort

I have never needed to take the wings back off, but if I did I'd strap the mains together to prevent splay, pull the wings, insert a planed board as a spar substitute and match-drill in place, bolt up snug and you should be GTG. You fab the same thing during construction when the gear first goes on, as I recall, but it's been 20 years so the memory is imprecise.

Thanks all for the replies on and offline. I think we have a good solution figured out with all your help.

Jesse, could you report back how it all worked out...... It might help others.

Jesse said:

I won't go into detail why right now, but I am needing to pull the wings on my RV-6A and want to leave it on the landing gear. Is this possible? If so, how? I can't see it right now, so I need to ask. I know the -7A and up this is possible because of the design of the center sections. Need to know how it works on the -6A.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

It can be done. I brought my 6A to the airport on the gear with 2X12's in place of the spar. I used the long HR bottle jack to lift the plane off the gear and set it back down onto a saw horse supporting the fuse at the location of the spar. I did not remove the gear legs from the sockets. I think that I needed a second support device to hold the fuse up once the first saw horse was in place. I believe that I had the other near the tail.

At this point, the gear towers cam move a bit. I don't think I even loosened the attach bolts on the fuse side, but I may have. You need an extra helper, as you need to have a hand on the gear tower as you slide the spar in. Taking the wing out should be much simpler.

You will need another saw horse to hold the remaining wing, once the first is removed, as it will want to tip. I used one of my kids in place of the saw horse. If you plan to put the plane back on the gear, you will need the sized and pre-drilled wood boards to take the load from the gear leags, as others have mentioned.

After installing the spar bolts, I swore I would sell the plane before removing the wings. If I had to remove them, I would leave it on the gear and follow the same procedure I used to install them.

Larry

So true!

"After installing the spar bolts, I swore I would sell the plane before removing the wings."

This. Absolutely.

spar bolt washer placement.

Hi All

Quick question regarding spar/wing attachment bolts.

Which of these bolts require washers and where? Head or nut or both ends?

rv6nosedragger said:

Hi All

Quick question regarding spar/wing attachment bolts.

Which of these bolts require washers and where? Head or nut or both ends?

Click to expand...

Whichever end you intend to turn when tightening - not sure on the 6A but on the 9A several of the bolts had to be torqued from the bolt instead of the nut, and so the washer goes under the bolt head. Not so say you can't put one under the nut as well, as long as there are enough threads showing.

Chris

Bill Boyd said:

"After installing the spar bolts, I swore I would sell the plane before removing the wings."

This. Absolutely.

Click to expand...

There's a long list of things I "won't ever do again"

Build a fuel tank
Trim a cowl
Paint a plane
Take the wings off

Yeah... I've done all those many times. They suck and you will do them when you have to.

Jesse said:

I won't go into detail why right now, but I am needing to pull the wings on my RV-6A and want to leave it on the landing gear. Is this possible? If so, how? I can't see it right now, so I need to ask. I know the -7A and up this is possible because of the design of the center sections. Need to know how it works on the -6A.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

I fabricated a couple of faux spar replacements for the factory straight wood spar shipping insert, to get a better fit while my -6A sat on it's gear for months, and months. A cherrypicker and straps to lift the fuse by wrapping thru strong points on the engine mount to handle the height, boards under the wheels to control sagging gear. Inserted and removed the wings TWICE in the build.

The custom faux spar needs a flat forward side and an 'open' aft side (used rails of 1 1/2" x 5/8" plywood, on the top/bottom of the aft side. The open area allows some nutplates on the forward side of the spar bulkhead. These nutplates (and bolts from the aft side secure the control stick assemblies to remain intact, and in position.)

http://www.mykitlog.com/garyc
* entry for 4-20-2015 shows move to airport with gear and no wings.
* entry for 12-07-2010 shows the faux spar design and gear towers.
NOTE: I did cut a correct dihedral on the inboard ends of the faux spars. Didn't 'exactly' match drill a few holes but marked and drilled a few oversize holes 'good enough'. Main point is to hold the gear but get the thickness close enough and don't overtighten the street hardware to secure the gear.

This is the BIGGEST PITA on the -6A because so much needs to be done with wings on the fuselage and there's no center spar/bulkhead to work with. -7A and later have a major build advantage in this point.

Also - there are revisions and notes on wiring/pass-thru that earlier builders didn't have (if you have questions).