Wing Stands

Before I started working on the wings I realized I needed some wing stands which were better than saw horses. I had used Saw horses for a set of Cub wings I repaired but my attic workshop is rather small with everything in it.

-  I needed something light enough to carry up and down the steps to work outside.
-  They needed to be stackable when not in use. They needed to easily rotate and lock in position when working on the wings.
-  The wings had to be able to be taken on and off by one person.

 There were drawings for stands in the 120/140 club news letter (Maintenance Advisor #030) from Robert McDaniel which met some of these needs but not all. They did however give me good ideas and I used the Universal Joint, Pivots and Vertical members almost exactly as shown.

To load the stands by myself the legs needed to be turned inward so they would not tip with the weight of the wing during loading. I didn't want to fasten them to my attic floor or carry sand bags up and down the steps. OK, I'm lazy. This meant they could not be trianlges of 2x4s since the diagonal brace would hit the wing when rotating. Instead I made 4 legs from 2 10 ft. lengths of 3/4" conduit. I bent them with a cheap conduit bender, one of those well used must have tools.

The bending took a little thinking but they came out just great.

I bolted the conduit to the spreaders and vertical members with carriage bolts to provide feet to reduce rocking, as if MY floor might not be level.

 I added an Indexing Plate at the root end with 2 3/8" bolts as locking pins and holes every 15 degrees. It really works great.


Pictures (Double Click for large image):
1 - Root End Stand



2 - Index Plate and U-Joint

 3 - Index Pins













4 - Universal Joint and Pivot Pipe


5 - Tapered End of Dowel


6 - Stop End of Dowel












7 - Rounded Edge of U-Joint


8 - Tip Stand












9 - Tip End Plug




10 - Tip Stand Plugged In













11 - Stacked For Storage











 To install wing on stands, see pictures 12 thru 15, you lay the wing flat on the floor. Attach the U-Joint at the root and safety pin it.
Lift the wing with the tube cap and one washer removed.
Slide the pipe thru the pivot hole in the vertical member and install the washer and cap.
Lock the indexing pins in the horizontal position.
With the tip plug/pivot installed in the tip stand, lift the tip end and push the plug into the nav. light socket.
You're now ready to work.
Remove the wing in the reverse order making sure the wing is locked horizontal first.


12 - Install U-Joint At Root and Safety Pin

13 - Root end on stand First

14 - Lock Wing Horizontal










15 - Plug in Tip Stand