Art, the Lancair inspector put a heavy bench with tires under
the tail. It was pretty well supported I thought. However, when I
personally the plane up on jacks in my hanger, I used a large engine hoist
and held the tail up with a heavy duty horse belly band with a test strength of
several thousand pounds. It was easy to jack up and let down, and if
worse came to worse the plane would stay in the air without the wing jacks at
all.
I believe that even though I provided assistance, Lancair
was liable because they were in charge of the plane. However…if in
the unlikely event that I should ever be involved in a Lancair inspection
again, I wouldn't come within 20 miles of the event. Bill
From: Lancair Mailing
List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Art Bertolina
Sent: 07/12/2009 2:52 PM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] L IVP on jacks
sorry
to hear of your misfortune with the inspection.
Something
that may be of help for those putting their
planes
on jacks in the future. Along with the jacks and engine hoist I use a tail
support that stops the tail from
swinging
back and forth( which makes it more probable
the
plane will come off the jacks). The support consists
of two
10' 2x4s with a 2' piece across the top to form a
T
put carpet on the cross member, an eye screw 2' from
the
bottom of each T. Take a cargo strap( I use a second
for
backup) to connect the eye screws, put the top of the
T
under either side of the horizontal stab. As the plane is
jack
up use the cargo strap to keep the T's snug under the
stab.
This setup will keep the tail from swinging back and
forth.
Don't forget to loosen this as you lower the plane. Bill
yours
is the only experience I have heard about the inspection, not a store to
instill confidence. If you have an
inspection
and don't provide any assistance would they
accept
responsibility for damage and repair.