Supporting by the wing tip?

[mhorowit]

I'm watching a video of a wing being covered and they seem to be supporting the Piper wing by a 3/4" bolt thru the nav light fixture. Is that bow at the end of a BC wing sufficiently strong to support the wing? - Mike

[N96337]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

I've seen it done that way before, Mike, but I prefer to have it supported by the lift strut attach points. Once you bend that bow or even wiggle it a bit loose, it's a mess.
John

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

The tip bow will hold the wing up OK, but there is a great danger of the stud through the nav light hole being popped out and dropping the whole on the floor.

[mhorowit]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

The tip bow will hold the wing up OK, but there is a great danger of the stud through the nav light hole being popped out and dropping the whole on the floor.

I can solve that by tying the two supporting bases together with a wing-length 2x4. - Mike

[VictorBravo]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

Mike, the conservative safe thing to do is to support it by the strut attach points as mentioned.

Make up a 7 foot diemeter "hoop" from metal conduit. Weld the ends together. Weld a standoff post to the inside of this hoop with a T at the end, that will bolt to the strut attach fittings and thus support the wing centered in this hoop.

Now here's the clever part -

Suspend the hoop from heavy duty hooks in the ceiling of your shop. Gravity will keep the wing from collapsing the hoop or "over-centering" the hoop to one side... as it would if you tried to put the hoop on the floor.

If you want to get fancy, figure out a way to put rollers on the suspending hook, so the conduit will be able to roll easily. This way you can rotate the wing easily.

The root end of the wing spar fittings can be bolted onto another hoop if you want to be able to do it without any help.

[mhorowit]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

Mike, the conservative safe thing to do is to support it by the strut attach points as mentioned.

Make up a 7 foot diemeter "hoop" from metal conduit. Weld the ends together. Weld a standoff post to the inside of this hoop with a T at the end, that will bolt to the strut attach fittings and thus support the wing centered in this hoop.

Now here's the clever part -

Suspend the hoop from heavy duty hooks in the ceiling of your shop. Gravity will keep the wing from collapsing the hoop or "over-centering" the hoop to one side... as it would if you tried to put the hoop on the floor.

If you want to get fancy, figure out a way to put rollers on the suspending hook, so the conduit will be able to roll easily. This way you can rotate the wing easily.

The root end of the wing spar fittings can be bolted onto another hoop if you want to be able to do it without any help.

Thanks Bill - that's one of the ideas I had collected about a year ago; however, if the wingtip business would work it would be the easiest solution - MIke

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Supporting by the wing tip?

I can solve that by tying the two supporting bases together with a wing-length 2x4. - Mike

Actually, you can put a 1/2 inch pipe nipple through the nav light hole and screw a cap onto the nipple inside the wing. Using this technique you must then put an access panel into your wing tip so you can remove the pipe later on.