Wing panel weight

[Bryan Cotton]

How much does each completed wing weigh? I am trying to decide if I want to build wings next or the engine. I could store the wings on my shelves if they are not too heavy.

[kevinh]

I think I can answer this one: I stored my RV7 wings (which probably way almost the same or slightly more than Sonex) wings on top of some high shelves. No problems - they are quite light (one person can easily lift). (though I later moved them to straps on the garage ceiling for safety)

PS: I've learned a lot from your great posts! Thanks.

[Bryan Cotton]

Thanks Kevin! These are the shelves:

The long box under the cowl halves is wing leading edge skins. The canopy box has been taken down. The pile of flap/aileron skins would move. I would make a rack to put on the shelves and probably one wing in a spot to put it close to the wall. They are only wire shelves, 16" wide.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Bryan it's not so much the weight as the depth and unbalanced weight I would be concerned about.

The wing panels are nearly 4' deep, 10' long and the spar is heavy at the root and extends out 40"+/-.

I have both of mine hanging from hooks in my garage ceiling with double straps.

I vote for building your engine and installing it next. Should only take you a month or so to do this and it's quite rewarding. Although there is a lot that goes into the FWF package, how far do you intend to go? I built my engine last May, and didn't install it until late November, and am still wrapping up FWF stuff.

The wings took me about a month to build the spars (yours are premade) and another month or so for each wing half (based on my rate of construction) YMMV...

[Bryan Cotton]

Scott,
The racks I would build would put the wing on its leading edge tucked up against the wall. That would mean the 4' width would go straight out. The one reason I am considering the wings is I would like to finish rigging and rivet up the forward floors.

[MichaelFarley56]

Bryan,

Do you have room in your hangar for a rolling wing stand of some sort? I'm sure you've seen the Sonex promo video; watch the part where the factory talks about wing removal and you'll see they have a stand to stack the wings, leading edge down, that rolls around. I built my wings first before my fuselage and by using a wing rack like this, I could keep my wings in my one car garage and still build the fuselage. Just a thought...

[Bryan Cotton]

Mike,
As long as I have a renter it would be a bit tight. That is why I would like to store them high while I finish the last 90%. Ironically a neighbor offered a free wing stand to anybody on the airport.

[Rynoth]

In the back of my memory I seem to recall reading/hearing that the wings were about 65lbs each. After handling them, I'd say that's probably fairly accurate (without flaps/ailerons attached.)

Regarding the engine, Sonex does recommend building the engine within 30 days of delivery because the parts are not "pickled". If you don't do the engine next, it would be a good idea to at least inventory the engine and make sure parts are protected from corrosion. By the same token, building the engine and then letting it sit for too long could cause the same issue, just be sure the internals are are protected.

[fastj22]

The wings aren't that heavy, but they are unwieldy. How are you going to get them up on that high shelf? I stored mine from the ceiling on my garage from bike hooks and straps. It was spooky enough getting them up there. Can't image trying to balance them up on a high self.

[NWade]

Just wanted to reiterate what Ryan Roth said: Engines are meant to be run. They are not meant to be stored! Mike Busch (award-winning A&P with a ton of webinars on the EAA website) likes to say that most small aircraft engines "rust out, they don't wear out".

So ask yourself: How fast am I building - how many hours per month am I working, and how likely is it that I'll finish the entire aircraft up without any major breaks or distractions (or life-events)? The wings are fairly time-consuming - look at several builder's kit logs online to get a sense for the time it takes to build both wings (hint: somewhere between 200 - 400 hours). So unless you're working at a _very_ fast pace, it is likely that doing the engine first will mean having it sit around for a year or two without being used.

Finally, as others have mentioned, there are many options for storing the wings against a wall, on a rolling stand, or strapped flat against a ceiling. This is not a hard problem to solve. Compare that against the multitude of problems trying to run an engine on a partially-completed airplane (what about cooling air? gas? instruments? etc...)

Take care,

--Noel