18 Aug 04 - Getting the QB Wings and Fuselage off the Truck

So what's it like, trying to get one of these things off a truck?

Well, it's pretty exciting. It's nice to have the kit here, finally. Thanks a bunch to everyone who came out to help: RV wannabe Joe Fikes, RV-6 builder Sam Buchanan, and Jeff Segroves and Ken Haynes. Jeff and Ken aren't RV wannabes yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

There's the truck.	Wear gloves when you do this . . . the boxes can give you nasty splinters otherwise.	We started by moving the wings. Smaller box, easier place to start.
This box has a 2x4 runner on the bottom, so it slides pretty well.	One end of the box on the dolly. We only had one dolly.	This is the sort of odd-looking stuff that happens when you have one dolly.
Safely in the workshop!	Okay, now let's think about moving the larger box.	One end on the dolly. We contemplate what to do next.
Up the driveway: Jeff's using a hand truck as wheels for the back end.	More "we've only got one dolly" antics. Jeff looks like he's just along for the ride.	In the workshop . . . mostly.
Relative size of the garage and the boxes. No cars in there anytime soon, huh?	Opening the fuselage crate.	Sam's peeking in the box.
View of the RV butt.	Prying the top lid off. There are screws in the side, don't unscrew them before you take the lid off.	Box lid is off!
These are packed really nicely. There was lots of paper to throw away.	Farther down towards the tail end.	Dad grins while Sam investigates what appears to be a steering wheel.
Let's look at the wings before we all have to go back to work.	Sam's prying the top off of the wing box.	The one on top is the right wing.
Same thing, different perspective.	Looks like we found the plans! These will get hung on the wall sometime soon.	All the stuff that's shipped in the fuselage. Note the fuel floats, wingtips, and ailerons/flaps.
Detail of the skin on the fuselage, showing (a) the really nice job they did on the rivets, and (b) the greasy surface. The smudge is from where someone felt the rivets.

Things you should have to make this easier:

• Have plenty of people. This is possible to do with fewer people than we had, but the more people you've got, the easier (and quicker) it will be.
• Have furniture dollies to move the boxes around. They are possible to slide but if you want to move the boxes (particularly the fuselage) a long distance, this will make things much easier.
• Have a crowbar, or a screwdriver that you don't care about.
• Gloves aren't a bad idea, either.

Also, prepare yourself for some interesting questions from your neighbors, if they didn't already know about the project. We had someone ask us if we were moving.

It looks like the workmanship on what we've seen so far of the kit is extremely well done. It's just beautiful! I've heard that the quality of work that is done on these kits is generally accepted as being better than a first-time builder is able to do. After seeing this, I believe it.

This was extremely well packed. There's no damage to the kit, there's plenty of stuffing, and it looks like the trucking company did a great job too.

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