Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Removing Rans S4 wings, by Don Lees #89 91

Removing Rans S4 wings, by Don Lees

They're not really a foldable a/c. The wing has horizontal bolts at the root (unlike the Rans S6). The struts must be unbolted & removed too, also uncouple the ailerons, and undo the wing skins central straps.

It is a two man job best with a cradle trailer built to allow the struts to more or less stay in place so you do not need to strip the wing down completely. This helped enormously for each rig/de-rig and consequently the time required.

We put the wings in place, leaving their tips on the ground while inserting the two main root wing bolts front and aft. One man on the wing tip lifted it up to the right position to insert the bolts into the struts. We even perfected a way of doing the rig one handed with the use of a few rigging aids, such as trestles. One of us would lean on the tail planes while the other connected its cables. Originally we used a checklist we had created, but built up a routine where each of us would double check on the other's rigging after assembly. The discipline of the ‘Daily Inspection’ ensured all was well before starting the engine.
Ours was stored in its trailer to after each flight & took about 20 to 30 mins from memory, but we are used to similarly rigging and de-rigging gliders.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment