An extra access panel.... Yeah, that's what I'll call it.

I hate to make this post, but if it saves someone else......

When I was ready to lift my wings off the jigs I made a simple end stand, and put it on small wheels. I rested the wingtips on milk cartons and they worked fine.

 

 

Until the night we moved the wings to Einar's shop. While Einar was holding the left wing I took the stand off and leaned it against the wall, then headed over to lift the wingtip. I heard Einar call out STEVE!!!!, then came the sick, wet sound of tearing fabric. The stand had fallen off the wall, impacting the bottom of the wing and making a 3/4" puncture and a 3" long scrape that didn't quite go through the fabric. I stayed calm on the outside, but was furious and disgusted with myself on the inside.

If it had to happen, it happened in a good spot (not on a rib or in a high visibility location), and IAW the PolyFiber manual a simple patch covered it up. I did make an elongated patch instead of the rectangular one they recommend, though, since I hate having corners that can easily peel up. And it looks better, too.

But it motivated me to build some new stands the way they should have been done in the first place. (Thanks to Ralph for going out of his way and bringing the 2 4x6x16 beams all the way out to Einar's.) 

A piece of threaded rod is inserted into a hinge point, and locked into the outer frame with wingnuts. That's some beautiful scrap cedar I found in the miscut bin at Home Depot for $1.

Now the wing can be easily moved around the shop, without worrying about it falling over. Could have made the end bracket wider, but it's ok.

If the patch is visible after painting I'll make up a decal that says "Wing Monkey Access Compartment. No Step."