Fuselage Stand

[Danny]

Wings are covered and out of the way. Time to cover the fuselage. Has anyone built a support stand for the tail that will allow the fuselage to be easily rotated? Have 2x4's on the firewall to support the front. Rotating the fuselage is a 2 person job without some type of tail support.

Any suggestions or photos??
Thanks
Danny Powell
Model 7 SuperSport

[SkyPirate]

one way ,..depending on if you have a lift point from your rafters in your shop,..tie a rope to the tail from the rafters..lift the front and rotate,..or visa versa,..or make a stand/saw hawse that is taller then from the top of the tail deck to the top of the rudder ,,and roll it over,.. or make a stand for the front and rotate it from the rear,...or ,..watch for the postman ..when he comes,.. tackle him and drag him in the shop ..tell him "rotate this end or you'll cut the neighbors dog loose" :) ha ha naa might create a disgruntal post office employee that way ,..
next to getting someone to help you,..it's ingenuity that gets the job done.
years ago I use to just grab the airframe near the balance point pick it up and rotate it ..but ,..I'm older now so I have to rely on ingenuity.

Chase

[t j]

A while back I had to make some repairs to my belly fabric. I took the engine, wings, and landing gear, off and put the "Tic-tac-toe" frame on the firewall...2 x 2's. Took the rudder off and hung the tail from the ceiling like Chase suggests. I hooked a tie down strap between two large fender washers on a long bolt screwed all the way into the bottom rudder attach fitting.

I put a padded saw horse under and released the tensension while I was working. when i needed to rotate, just lift the tail with one hand. Tighten the tie down strap to hold it and go to the front and rotate the tic-tac-toe frame.

[HighWing]

Danny,

I did exactly as you are suggesting. I used a 2X4 and some 5/16 bolts with some tubular standoffs and bolted it all the rudder hinge attachments on the tail post with a cross bar (gussetted) long enough to keep the cockpit side from hitting the hangar floor.

It is a one man rotating job and if I am working fabric on the side, it is easy to put something under the cross bar to lift the tail to a working height. You need a bit of room to rotate it, but once rolled, it is easy to move it back into the center of the work area.

Lowell

[Danny]

Thanks for the advice guys. Think I have a plan now.
Danny

[N218SM]

Here are a couple of pictures of what I made up for my Sport/S7. It allowed me to role it in and out of the paint booth and rotate the fuselage for painting.

Scott
Kitfox Sport
Seattle/Bremerton

[Danny]

Great looking rig, Scott. Thanks for the photos.
Danny