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Wing Painting

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BigJohn

Well Known Member
Has anyone designed a rotating wing stand for the '12 to assist in painting? My friend who is going to do the spraying would really like to be able to roate the wing to lay down the paint on horizontal surfaces.
 
On my 8, I was able to set the spar on a sawhorse on the root end. I had a piece of large PVC stuck through the lightening holes near the main spar on the other end. I sat that on a sawhorse too.

I also had a smaller piece of PVC in lightening holes towards the trailing edge so that I could pull it out and hold the wing horizontal by setting in on the the sawhorse too.
 
I experimented with a rig. You need a lot of room though. We bolted the wings together in their normal spars overlapped position. We then made a dummy front spar that clamped over the front spar locating flanges. The real spars and the dummy spar can then rest on a pair of saw horses. You just flip it over to do the bottom. It's not as elegant as the ones I've seen that hold one wing at a time and fully rotate. I couldn't figure out to clamp the out board end since our wing tips don't come off, so I scratched this design.
 
We looked at the that hole, considered it, and decided that it would be too easy for the pin to slip out if there was any play. It was just a consideration of Murphy's law. The 2 wings together are rock solid, and get the job done. Since it will be painted in a large commercial paint shop, space is not an issue.
 
Thanks for all the ideas!

Tood,

I am an EAA member but I think I already recycled the May issue. When I try to get it on line I get a blank page for some reason. I'll try again later.

Marty,

I see what you mean about the little hole in the wingtip. I am wondering if it is structurally strong enough. Also concerned about the pin slipping out - disaster! However - I wonder if it might be OK to drill that hole on through to the inside of the handhold, so that a bolt could be passed through both pieces of metal and secured so it couldn't come out. The spar end could be rested on a workbench or horse, and the pin (outboard) end could be supported on a horse, or even hung from above. Thoughts?

John
 
BigJohn said:
I see what you mean about the little hole in the wingtip. I am wondering if it is structurally strong enough. Also concerned about the pin slipping out - disaster! However - I wonder if it might be OK to drill that hole on through to the inside of the handhold, so that a bolt could be passed through both pieces of metal and secured so it couldn't come out. The spar end could be rested on a workbench or horse, and the pin (outboard) end could be supported on a horse, or even hung from above. Thoughts?

John
Click to expand...

The outboard section of the wing at the hand hold is NOT very heavy. I would think supporting the wing there would be akin to using the handhold to remove the wing. Securing the pin sounds like a good idea.
 
The fuse makes the very best wing holder and it gives a nice horizontal surface to lay the paint down. Just lay on a creeper and use a pressure fed paint setup.

:)
 
BigJohn said:
Tood,

I am an EAA member but I think I already recycled the May issue. When I try to get it on line I get a blank page for some reason. I'll try again later.

Marty,

I see what you mean about the little hole in the wingtip. I am wondering if it is structurally strong enough. Also concerned about the pin slipping out - disaster! However - I wonder if it might be OK to drill that hole on through to the inside of the handhold, so that a bolt could be passed through both pieces of metal and secured so it couldn't come out. The spar end could be rested on a workbench or horse, and the pin (outboard) end could be supported on a horse, or even hung from above. Thoughts?

John
Click to expand...

John --- when i was building my wing tips i thought about the 3/16 hole in the middle of the wing tip ---- so ----i mounted a heavy 1/8 wall angle bracket to the spar about 3 inches back and then installed a #10 nutplate to the back of the mentioned angle bracket. i have some high strength stainless NAS 3/16 bolts about 7 inches in length which i can now screw into the reinforced nut plate through the middle hole in the tip. this works very well since the bolt is supported at two locations thus distributing the wingtip weight ---- this was my solution to this problem. Stan
 
John, I didn't go with a rotational fixture. Instead built stands that fit in the lightening holes in rear spar, and sat the main spar on a 50" high sawhorse. Places the wings vertical, but that's not a problem if you are using auto base coats and clear coat. Will send you pics if you like.
Dick Seiders
 
Keith, when the pics of stands show up: (Billy sending under separate response).
The stand is 30" wide with a stabilizing 2x4 on 1 end.
The support plate for rear spar is 24" above the deck, is 10ga steel, and is 10" long.
The pipe is 2" in dia. and extends above the plate by 2".
The pipe mtg plate is 4x4" and is 10ga stl.
Stl is welded and screwed to sawhorse at mtg plate.
That should give you enough data should you choose to build them. With one of these near tip end of rear spar and the main spar supported on a 50" tall sawhorse you have a very stable stand. The wings can even be moved on the stand if floor is smooth for better paint positioning.
Dick Seiders
 
Dick's wing stand...

Thought I'd post for all to see...
wingstands001.jpg

wingstands002.jpg
 
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