Rotating Wing Stand

Many, many fabric wings have been covered while placed flat on sawhorses. However, you’ll need a strong helper to flip the wing from time to time, and the spray operations require doing one side, waiting for cure, then spraying the other side. The typical light aircraft wing is easier to finish if placed in a rotary fixture after the initial wrap.

Rotary mounting can take two forms. The butt end is almost always attached to a simple axle using the spar’s root fittings. An axle also works well at the outboard end if the wing has a removable tip. However, for those with a fully enclosed tip bow, you’ll need a hoop rack. The L-3 wing in the photos is one of those.

I’ll assume most fabricators have access to a CAD program. Needs vary depending on the project, so here we’ll walk through design considerations and leave detail choices to the individual. Dimensions are approximate, and materials may vary depending on the contents of your scrap box.

First decision is height. I’m tall, so I elected an axle height of 58 inches, which allows a wing with a 5-foot chord to have roughly 2 feet of clearance under the trailing edge when rotated to vertical. The reasons are practical; it allows spray painting a vertical panel without blowing dirt off the floor. Most builders would find a 48-inch axle height to be more comfortable. Either allows up to a 7-foot chord.

Why seven as a maximum chord? Steel tube is generally available in 20- and 24-foot lengths. A whole 24-foot section rolled into a hoop results in a finished diameter of around 88 inches (86 inches ID) after trimming off a little bit of unbent material on the ends. A 7-footer is easy and handles most light aircraft wings, but smaller is reasonable too. A Super Cub, for example, is just under 5-1/2 feet and could be mounted in a 6-foot hoop rolled from a 20-foot stick.

Phone around your local area and chances are you’ll find a steel fabricator with a bending machine or a large set of slip rolls. The application of a Ben Franklin will magically form a beautiful hoop in 14-gauge square material. An 8-foot length of 14-gauge will be enough for the cross tube.

The base and uprights for the rollers were made from 1×2-inch 16-gauge tube, just because it sets a handy width for roller brackets made from 2×3/16-inch strap. The resulting 2-inch inside dimension sandwiches the rollers and big rub washers cut from 1/4-inch-thick nylon plate. The base length is 4 feet. You’ll need to determine the length of the uprights to match the height of your inboard axle and finished hoop diameter. Add two lengths of plate at the center of the base tube, again to clamp or bolt to the spanwise 2×4 connecting to the inboard pivot post.

Don’t bother with fancy paint or powder coat. A rattle can will do, just enough to fend off rust. Over time, your trusty roller will acquire a nice selection of mixed dope and paint colors, a visual reminder of how much fun you had covering all those wings.