One-man rigging aids - is the electric up/down control worth it?

On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 11:34:47 AM UTC-4, Steve Bralla wrote:
What happens when you are in the middle of rigging with no one else
around and the battery dies?
Does the battery have the same connectors as your glider battery?

See above ;-)

On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 8:34:47 AM UTC-7, Steve Bralla wrote:
What happens when you are in the middle of rigging with no one else around and the battery dies? Does the battery have the same connectors as your glider battery?

Steve

Two batteries, one active and one in car for such occurrence.

There’s two ways to go about this, raise the wing or raise the fuselage! I put the tool all the way down and leave it there. The key is the height of the wing stand and where you put it, i use a 4 leg step ladder (cut down to height with wings level)I put it at the tip. Fuselage is set at 25 foot pumps up.This makes Second wing just about right to slide all the way in, then I raise or lower fuselage with the foot pump as I feel the spar holes come together. Disassembly, i I put the tool on one wing and pick up the other wing tip to get my wing stand in place. This usually allows the pins to come out without any raising or lowering needed.
Hope this helps,
JJ

I build a homemade one based roughly on UDO's designs back when I had an HP-14. I nearly lost all my glider friends at wave camp asking for help rigging! We used an electric actuator that made use of the remote control unit from a $40 Harbor Freight winch and a small 12V LIPO battery. The system was a bit heavy, but was very helpful when you don't have a ship where everything doesn't line up perfectly every time. I think we spent a little under $500 total in parts. happy to share photos if interested
cxgiacomo-at-gmail

On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 9:44:34 AM UTC-5, Paul Kaye wrote:
....it's not always easy to get help to rig/de-rig so I'm thinking of getting a on-man rigging aid. ...if any of you have any experiences/opinions, I'd be happy to hear them!

When I bought my Ventus in 2000, I bought a bespoke one-man assembly tool from the late Joe Schneider, a machinist and glider guy, that is sturdy, heavy, and remotely operated for up-down movement and manually adjustable for wing tilt. Fore-aft movement is done at the wingtip. I have learned many lessons from 19 years of solo rigging my Ventus.
1: The second wing pushes the first wing out of alignment unless fixed in place. My latest and fastest solution is to align the first wing almost perfectly and then tape the root. (I also put the main spar pin in halfway and brace it with a folded card, but that's not quite adequate.)
2: When working alone, the tilt of the wing chord is important.
3: I have 3 pins to align. The tilt of the fuselage, the height of the fuselage, the tilt and height of the wing are all important. This is a 3-dimensional challenge that can be solved with thoughtful care.
4: The best design I've seen for sale is
https://www.cumulus-soaring.com/soaringxx.htm
I saw it demonstrated at the last SSA convention, and it moves the wing in all axes remotely, perfect for the challenges of truly solo rigging. It's out of your budget, but is exactly what I'd thought of designing for myself and, after inflation, less expensive that the one I have. Amortized over the 2 decades I've used it, it's been a bargain.
5: The wind is very important in solo rigging.
A: I always point the trailer into the wind *gusts*, bearing in mind that the wind will change somewhat during a long soaring day.
B: If it's windy, solo rigging may not be safe for the wing. I've been able to solo-assemble in winds up 20 knots with GREAT care. Being in the lee of a big building is helpful, but beware turbulence.
C: In windy conditions, you need to be able to turn the wing flat as soon as possible after removing from the trailer and as late as possible when de-rigging.
D: A solo-rig device is very helpful even when help is available because it reduces risk and strain.
DrDan

On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 10:44:34 AM UTC-4, Paul Kaye wrote:
My new club seems to have a culture of rig in April and derig in October! Personally I prefer to rig and derig for each flight, unless I know that there is a run of several days good weather and I'm available to fly. I have covers (Cloud-dancers) but I really don't think they offer the protection against UV that is needed for leaving it outdoors for long periods.

Anyhow, as a consequence, it's not always easy to get help to rig/de-rig so I'm thinking of getting a on-man rigging aid. It seems that I can get one from IMI for about €900 that is manually-adjustable for height and sideways alignment, or I could pay around €1500 for an electrically-adjustable version. I'm happy to pay for the more expensive one, if it's worth it. So, if any of you have any experiences/opinions, I'd be happy to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

I have a Fonz-Mobile one man rigger... No Motors! Use the cradle carriage pump to do the up and down when adjusting for the final pin in the spar...

Gary

"SQ"

On Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 3:06:03 AM UTC-5, Gary Wayland wrote:
On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 10:44:34 AM UTC-4, Paul Kaye wrote:
My new club seems to have a culture of rig in April and derig in October! Personally I prefer to rig and derig for each flight, unless I know that there is a run of several days good weather and I'm available to fly. I have covers (Cloud-dancers) but I really don't think they offer the protection against UV that is needed for leaving it outdoors for long periods.

Anyhow, as a consequence, it's not always easy to get help to rig/de-rig so I'm thinking of getting a on-man rigging aid. It seems that I can get one from IMI for about €900 that is manually-adjustable for height and sideways alignment, or I could pay around €1500 for an electrically-adjustable version. I'm happy to pay for the more expensive one, if it's worth it. So, if any of you have any experiences/opinions, I'd be happy to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

I have a Fonz-Mobile one man rigger... No Motors! Use the cradle carriage pump to do the up and down when adjusting for the final pin in the spar...

Gary

"SQ"

Looks like we have a bunch of girly luddites on this topic. Two points: the linear actuators are dirt-cheap and easy to fit even to existing riggers. I built my own. Second, remote control of those actuators cost you a whopping $10-20 and makes it super easy to get the pins in. Here is my rigger whirring away in my basement (no wing saddle fitted).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N43YMoq2h7s&t=3s
Now watch it in action, ~7 min for the inside wings. Try to beat that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnmaUsPtvSI&t=1s

you built that rigger yourself? that is nice... looks awesome
When you know... you know!

On Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 1:12:06 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 3:06:03 AM UTC-5, Gary Wayland wrote:
On Sunday, June 2, 2019 at 10:44:34 AM UTC-4, Paul Kaye wrote:
My new club seems to have a culture of rig in April and derig in October! Personally I prefer to rig and derig for each flight, unless I know that there is a run of several days good weather and I'm available to fly. I have covers (Cloud-dancers) but I really don't think they offer the protection against UV that is needed for leaving it outdoors for long periods.

Anyhow, as a consequence, it's not always easy to get help to rig/de-rig so I'm thinking of getting a on-man rigging aid. It seems that I can get one from IMI for about €900 that is manually-adjustable for height and sideways alignment, or I could pay around €1500 for an electrically-adjustable version. I'm happy to pay for the more expensive one, if it's worth it. So, if any of you have any experiences/opinions, I'd be happy to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

I have a Fonz-Mobile one man rigger... No Motors! Use the cradle carriage pump to do the up and down when adjusting for the final pin in the spar....

Gary

"SQ"

Looks like we have a bunch of girly luddites on this topic. Two points: the linear actuators are dirt-cheap and easy to fit even to existing riggers.. I built my own. Second, remote control of those actuators cost you a whopping $10-20 and makes it super easy to get the pins in. Here is my rigger whirring away in my basement (no wing saddle fitted).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N43YMoq2h7s&t=3s
Now watch it in action, ~7 min for the inside wings. Try to beat that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnmaUsPtvSI&t=1s

That looks pretty sweet Herb. What's the mode of failure if the reduction gears break? Does the lead screw unwind under load and drop your wing to minimum height?

best,
Evan Ludeman

Hi Evan, no the failure mode is wherever it left off. I have one, Glider-Rigger, I demoed at Perry this year that uses the same actuators as Herb's wireless remote and breaks down small and packs up in a nice padded covers and softcase all designed to go in the front of the trailer. he is working on revision 3.2 now. It comes with wireless remote and uses 1.5 amp hour cordless drill batteries about 10 or so rigging before charging. It will ship with 2 batteries and charger identical to the Milwaukee 18 volt cordless drill batteries. Website is still under construction but will be:
Glider-Rigger.com email is ventureflight (at) gmail (dot) com

CH ASW27