Do I take the wings off?

[vintage]

Well, this is my first post here so I will be careful. I just scrolled through all of the responses and as it turned out, my friend Dan said pretty much what I would also have advised. Don't panic about removing the wings guys. I just (yesterday) finished disassembly of a 14-19-2; on the ramp; at Columbia airport; 100+ miles from my shop. I removed both wings without any assistance. It is no big deal once things are prepared and set up properly. The wings can also be installed by one person, yup done that too. Hopefully you will not have to do it very often, but make it easy on yourself and take the wings off. Many years ago I asked the same question of an experinced Bellanca restorer (Scott Twitchell, who is no longer with us thanks to the Long-EZE he built). He told me plainly that there is no way to recover the fuselage without removing the wings without doing a "half-assed" job. He was an opinionated craftsman and did not mince words about these things, but he was right. Personally I would rather remove and install the wings on a low wing Bellanca than most high wing airplanes I have dealt with over the years.

Respectfully,

Bob Seals

 

[Rhunter]

Wow, Mike those were some harsh words. Lynn, is a man of few words, but when he speaks he generally knows what he is talking about. Personally I don't give a damn one way or another.
But it troubles me that two bellanca aviators would get cross ways over a misunderstanding.

I took the wings off 9840B just to patch the belly, there really was no choice they were taped to the fuselage and really screwed things up when I removed the tapes.
Point being there are always different circumstance. I wouldn't want to try a fabric job with the wings on though. I would be about as hard as getting the
damn things back on. (Three guys, a fork lift, and a wife to shout orders!!)

If anyone gives a damn, 9840B is repaired and waiting for the engine.

I would have to say four guys, the shouting wife, and two forklifts (one for the wings and another with straps for the fuselage) are what I needed to remove the wings at New Castle, Indiana, a few years ago. What I had was two guys, one forklift and some jacks. It tipped over on it's nose and off the jacks. What a mess. It's because we didn't have the shouting wife. All fixed now and project is shaping up slowly.

 

[vh2q]

Well this is an ancient thread .. but since I just bought a second Cruisair, I was doing some research on wing finishes. My first plane n86826 has beautiful fiberglassed wings and I believe the paint is polyurethane. This second one N77AY has doped fabric and the finish is cracking and bubbling in places on the upper wing surface. There is no indication of wood rot by the tap test. So I am trying to decide how to proceed: patch the paint (white so easy to blend), strip and ceconite, or strip and fiberglass. The prior owner used liberal amounts of silicone at the wing roots in place of a fairing (I have the fairing) so I am thinking it may be difficult to remove the wing without damaging the (nicely redone) fuselage. I suppose we could cut the silicone and strip the remains off the wing surface along with the paint, but what about the fuselage?