I needed to create a wing rack for when I’m carrying a larger number of planes in my trailer such as when I go out for trainer night at the field when I usually displace my 30% Edge with some combination of my Telemaster 40, Sturdy Bird and a sport/fun fly plane along with my Radian glider. Usually 2 or 3 of these join the mix. It becomes a problem to find a place for all these 4-6′ one piece wings so I decided to build a small wing rack and of course to do that I reached for some trusty PVC pipe. This stuff is cheap, strong and there are a variety of “joint” pieces available to join two, three or 4 pieces together at 90, 135, and 180 degree angles, plus caps, etc… You can build all sorts of stuff useful in RC.
I will add a few example photos for you to give you some ideas about where this can be useful. Here is a pic of a stand we created to hold the Giant Scale P40 while we worked on it last winter on the bench. Also in the pic is the pipe cement and the special cutters that work kind of like ratcheting scissors to give you a quick and easy PVC pipe cutting ability. A wood or hack saw work OK too but they make a mess and take about 10 times as long to accomplish the task.
Here is a boat holder I created. The two posts sticking out were used to hold the surface radio I used to carry with it.
And this one is the new wing rack I just completed. It will get some padding added soon.
Sitting next to it and housing my P51 mustang is a combination structure using 2x8s along with PVC and velcro. I took one piece of PVC and drilled holes through it to match the wing mounting block in the body to give me a cross piece that drops into notches in the 2x8s for a very reliable and secure hold down method.
I have created wing racks in the garage that hung on the wall, plane stands for holding a couple of planes nose down and many other useful items. With the different sizes available and combining velcro, pipe insulation for padding and even combined with wood at times where some heft or additional strength is required, you can create a whole host of useful stands, racks, carrying aids and much more. Best of all you can assemble and do some “custom fitting” without using any glue and then go back and disassemble and reassemble as many times as necessary to get what you want before applying the cement. And the material is relatively inexpensive!
Let your imagination go wild. With a few sticks of PVC you can do a lot for less than you might think.