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Initial Wing fitting - laterally level too?

claycookiemonster

Well Known Member
I can see all the stress on getting the fuselage perfectly level in the longitudinal axis, front to rear. How much stress should I put on getting the fuselage as perfectly level laterally? Garage floors are not perfectly level. No doubt I can do it if required. None of the measurements seem to have any lateral component, or am I missing something? RV-8 if that matters.
 
It was quite easy to level mine laterally by shimming under the feet of the sawhorse support. As you say though it is probably not that critical. The dihedral is already fixed.

It is very important however to get the incidence angle of both wings to be the same and for the correct edge distance at the rear spar bolt attach. I think save the stress for these aspects!
 
Clay,

My build hangar wasn’t perfectly level either. I leveled the fuselage then added or subtracted air to the tires to get it laterally level. I used a digital level on the carry through spare.

Keep in mind that 20 years ago these planes were built with bubble levels and those planes fly just fine. The most important thing is that both wings have the same sweep and angle of incidence.

I measured my plane (fuselage) and wings about 6 times before I drilled the aft spare. Having someone else check your measurements is a very good idea before drilling.

Hope this helps.
 

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Everyone has preferences

A digital level is a great, cheap "luxury". It makes so many jobs quicker and simpler. "Hold" and "relative/zero" functions further simplify things. Cheap and widely available. It will quickly pay for itself in time saved. e.g. measuring relative angle for aero surface deflection. Became a one man job and not even the simplest math required; just read the display. Just stating an option.
 

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I leveled mine laterally per instructions. I didn't really think about it too much, but in the back of my mind, I sort of assumed that if it was really off it might effect where the plumb bobs fell.

Setting the wings is obviously more about symmetry that exact position (within reason) so I tried to get everything as symmetrical as humanly possible, starting with leveling.

FYI- I splurged on a $$$ digital level and laser for this and they both gave me the same indications as the this little guy from harbor freight that I already had. Go figure.

https://www.harborfreight.com/digital-angle-gauge-63615.html
 
Iphone level not

Don’t forget, the iPhone has an extremely nice and sensitive level built in.

The iphone level does not seem very accurate. I had better accuracy using a bubble level. the bubble level will get down to 0.1Degrees, but the iphone is only at 1 degree or so. Even 0.1 degree digital doesnt seem as accurate as a good bubble level. I think I will invest in a harbor frieght one with two decimal places; it seems to be about the same price as 2 gallons of avgas....
 
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