How long to remove & reinstall wings for trailering?

[gshearer]

With a 4-place, how long would it take to remove the wings & then reinstall them in order to trailer the plane to another location? Could one person do this or require two?

thanks
Glen

[Rollie]

I have installed and removed my Patrol wings a couple times during the build process for the purpose of fitting the wings to the fuselage and rigging the flight controls, etc. It is a two person job at a minimum and would be safer with three. I can get by with two by using stands I built that support the wing while you disconnect the lift struts and then unbolt it from the fuselage. As far as how long it would take, that would depend a lot on things like how many wires go from the fuselage into the wings and did the builder plan ahead for the chance that the wings might need to come off by putting disconnects at the wing roots for all the wiring. The cables and fuel lines should be pretty straight forward. You will probably need to remove the tail feathers as well.

I'd say that you should be able to get it ready to trailer in a day and put it back together in a day. It would be a little faster the next time once you know where everything is and how it all goes together. Oh, this is assuming that you have support stands already built and wing racks for transport already on hand. If you plan to build these things on site, add a day for that. My wing racks are quite simple and I thought I would whip them out in a couple hours but it took an entire day and the stands were almost another day. If you try to move one of these wings from the plane to a wing rack alone, you will damage the wing. Get some help. Good luck.

[jaredyates]

I think you need at least three to do it safely, unless you are going to build some wooden support structure. 4 would be better. Drain the fuel, disconnect everything except the big 4 bolts, put a strong person on the wingtip, remove the strut, put persons 3-4 on the wing root, and then remove the remaining two big bolts. Expect at least 150 pounds, assuming you have removed the flaps and ailerons, as I would think you'd want to.

[craig4place]

I drained all fuel and removed the wings on a 4-place with 2 guys in 2 hours. Had a friend with a 30 ft flatbed with tie downs and foam rubber show up 4 hours later. And with 3 guys had the fuselage the wings loaded in 1.5 hours. Transported the plane 200 miles. No damage. The friend has a aircraft salvage business so he had done this a few times, made it easier. Replaced the wings to a flying state with 4 guys in 4 hours.