jig

Where is the closest pa 18 jig to central Arkansas.At centralarkansasaircraftrepair four of the seven rebuilds in the shop are cubs.I would be also interested in buying a jig.thanks Robbie.

nevermind ,we are building one.thanks

..at least you got the plug in!

not trying to plug.three are our personal planes.was just tring to get info to check straightness before srarting,

Skybolt,
I'd be real intrigued on how you go about building the jig. If you could post the process and maybe some pictures that'd be awesome. I may want to build my own some day.

Chris

Would make more sense just to rent pierce's for a month rather than cobbling something together.

when i retire - or get laid off

I'd be very interested in seeing photos of this as well. Been wanting to build a jig for some time now.

build jig frame first, weld... it will warp all over as you weld/cool....

then build actual removable attach feet to a good/new/donor fuselage

LABLE/STAMP mark feet so you don't get them confused!!!!

PAD All the things you will hit your head on... still ain't got to this...

not sure if you can see the feet and engine mount pickups in the jig I have used since I WAS Skinny 20+ years ago...

see how the feet are on 2 identical dowl pinned 1/2" steel plates(make foot & weld to upper plate, then weld bottom plate to jig or such...)

we were lucky to have one new univair fuselage and one fuse bought that was supposed to have been repaired in a good jig.I guess we all know that every one thinks they have the best one.we had a surplus of 4 inch by quarter thick tube on the farm.we built a complete diagonally braced box very similar to the one in left hand pic on airframes Alaska home page.I know it is overkill but I have seen some lightweight ones that moved a little when trying to do something other than build in.what good is it if by checking a part you can pry it to fit a unknown part.we simply welded in the attach points keeping in mind it had to come out and also weld final welds without fuselage in to be aware of metal moving with heat.Has thirteen attach points.The only difference is no wheels and will always be brought to same spot in shop.It could twist ever so slightly when one corner was jacked up magnifying it at tailpoint.I did have a couple of jigs I could have used but in Ark. we are about a million miles from everywhere.I opted to build because we know of one other person in need of the use of it.so far it has turned out ok.You can almost remove and put bolts in by hand.We checked it with blueprints of pa18 drawings the best we could.So if anyone in the area needs the use of it to check something its free to use.If you want to take it with you I couldnt garrantee it on another floor,,,but then again what else other than the Lord is guaranteed.

looks good mike

skybolt64 said:

.....similar to the one in left hand pic on airframes Alaska home page.

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same jig I show...

A guy in Homer Ak made this Jig in late 80's/early 90's and 2 others from a virgin never assembled real piper fuselage

....And some where between Homer and Birchwood there are a couple of the original "feet" that fell off on one of it's road trips to Birchwood.....(that'd leave a ding in your windshield..)

skybolt64 said:

I know it is overkill but I have seen some lightweight ones that moved a little when trying to do something other than build in.

Click to expand...

NOT overkill, a jig must be super strong, so you can clamp/pry/porta power things back to where they need to be without jig or attach points moving.... Ya i borrowed a wimpy jig a few times and they are basically useless...

Yep, Mikes right. Figure out what size pipe/steel you need then double that. Mine is made from NEW 6" drill stem pipe.
Its got 2 "squares" made from 4" channel iron with braces where needed. This is where the wing attach and gear fittings are fitted. 1" all thread stuck thru the 4" channel is used to crank the fuselage points where you want them. Tail post and firewall attach points are bolted on. It works great.
Tip: Never loan your jig out. I did it twice and it took me 2 days to straighten up all the crap that was installed incorrectly.

T.J. said:

... This is where the wing attach and gear fittings are fitted. 1" all thread stuck thru the 4" channel is used to crank the fuselage points where you want them. ..

Click to expand...

can you post a picture of that??

Skybolt, Where in Arkansas are you located?

I borrowed a jig to repair my fuselage. But was not strong enough to straighten the fuselage. Was only good for starting over, for aligning everything.

I you buy one, makes sure it is build very solid.


My only experience with a fuselage jig:

Wil try to get picture.i am in lonoke ar.