Chapter 958 Comes to the Rescue!

I needed to remove the wings as a normal sequence to the build and I knew I needed help. Austin and I were able to put the wings on by ourselves but I knew we couldn't remove them. So, I invited my EAA Chapter to my house after our scheduled Saturday meeting and I bribed them with the promise of a free lunch. I have to admit I was a little nervous having others handle MY airplane. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. The guys were extremely careful, amazingly proficient and FAST! I went inside to get the burgers to put on the grill and when I came out, they had already removed one wing and were working on the other.

One thing I was worried about was removing the lower wing bolts. I had read horror stories about them getting stuck and all the problems folks went through to finally remove them. I even made a special tool to use. The guys would have none of that. They left the two upper bolts in to keep everything aligned and then wiggled the wing and Stan just reached in a pulled them out.

Here's Phil. He's probably looking at the clecos I forgot to remove that hold the bottom of the wing to the belly skin.

Here are the guys about to lift the left wing.

Left wing done, on to the right wing.

Right wing being removed. Where's lunch!

After everyone had eaten lunch and departed, I told Paula how much help everyone was and how much they did and how much I appreciated it so she asked if they could come back every weekend. I don't think they can but I did tell her I'm on call for about a dozen favors I need to return.