A number of people have felt the need for something a bit more elaborate than what is described in the manual for supporting the fuselage during the build process. A number of designs have appeared, two of which are shown below.
The first was built by Mike Gamble and is in the Chuck Popenoe vein. In this form it is dismantlable and if the fuselage is strapped into it the whole assembly can be rolled onto its side, to ease some operations.
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The second is rather different and is the one I am using myself. It was professionally built for another builder. It is made from welded steel (square) tubing and it is very heavy. All three legs are adustable, to allow the fuselage to be levelled accurately. The diaphragms are made from MDF and edged with foam pipe lagging.
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One problem to be solved by the dolly-builder is shaping the support webs or diaphragms to fit the underside of the fuselage. Some years ago, Roger Sheridan placed some sketches of these shapes in the FTP site at Avnet (trolley1.jpg and trolley2.jpg). If you can't retrieve these I could mail them to you (they are around 120K each), address below.
An alternative approach is the one used on the steel dolley above. Some small-bore soft copper tubing (central heating oil tubing or microbore water tubing) was wrapped around the fuselage underside and held its shape to transfer it to the web to be shaped.
It might be worth noting that both the above dollies have turned out to be a bit high off the ground, platforms are needed to work inside the fuselage unless you are built on a rather long wheelbase. The compromise, of course, is between accessibilty in normal use and the need to get at the underneath occasionally.
The next picture shows a simple trolley, not enough support to build on perhaps (though it has been done), but it is jolly handy for moving the fuselage mouldings around the premises while you are building the wings and tail.
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The final pictures show a device for holding an assembled fuselage to permit further work to be done on it easily. It is based on a steel plate, bolted to the LGF where the engine frame will go, with a steel tube protruding forward from it and heavily gussetted to it. The tube is supported in a suitable mount which will also allow rotation of the tube and fuselage. The rear of the fuselage is supported suitably (and the height of this will need changing as the fuselage is rotated). Again, this was built by another builder and I have no plans, but the idea is clear and the details non-critical.
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