How many man hours does it take to remove amphib floats, then install standard landing gear (for the purpose of allowing the aircraft to roll to the paint shop), and then reinstall floats, service and rig, ops check? Cessna 185.

First time we've done this and I don't want to over charge.

Related but not the same might help for context so of course worth what you're paying for it... I help my buddy remove straight floats from a maule and put on gear. Pontoon trailer and overhead hoist, two guys and some jerking around 6 hours ish so 12 man hours to take off?

Didn't mark H just start using his amphib on standard gear he's probably got an invoice and can tell you I bet he'll chime in.

We had to remove the floats anyway, to repair the fuselage. Customer upgraded to a full strip and paint. The paint shop much preferred the fuselage to be on regular gear.
Repair and paint are done to aircraft. Floats should go back on this week. Ill ping Mark H. later.

Minimum two guys for 4.5 hours. I’ve heard this claim made but never witnessed it. More believable for straight floats. Maximum two guys for 10 hours. Wiring is likely the biggest but not the only variable. If the floor has to come apart to access a terminal block it is time consuming. If they’ve rigged an easily accessed connector, then less. Hydraulic system will expel and air with a couple cycles and only needs a top off. Brakes need to be bled at reinstall. Tailwheel/water rudder steering cables, and water rudder lift cables have some variables.

We don’t have to re-rig the Aerocets. The flying wire adjustment is not disturbed. When the eye bolts in the rigging are removed, the tension comes off, and the re-install puts them back to exactly where they were. Very repeatable.

On other floats, if the jamb nuts on the wires must be loosened, we would only loosen one side, so when they are retentioned, the rigging all pulls back into original position.

Perhaps you’ll save some time by not reconnecting cables and brakes lines on the wheel gear if you’re only rolling it around.

Hope I’m not over detailing it. You’re the professional and I may be stating the obvious.

Looks nice!

Interesting spreader bar...
My 180 has 2 lift rings at front near windshield. We have a 3 inch or so diameter piece of pipe with flat stock welded to it. The Flat stock has a keyhole for chain hoist, opposite the flat stock is 2 slots in pipe, place slots over the lift rings, slide in a piece of rebar down the pipe through the lift rings and up it goes. No chains to mess with bolting or hooking to the lift rings, no chains to touch the paint.

Looks like that has 4 rings, is that due to the heavier weight?

I'm chuckling thinking of 4 of those gold plated eye bolts cessna sells.


Edit- man I can't spell

Daryl,
That's all useful info. Thanks. Correct on the standard gear and stinger. We have a spare set with junk wheels and tires. Didn't even bother to set the toe and camber

Interesting spreader bar...
My 180 has 2 lift rings at front near windshield. We have a 3 inch or so diameter piece of pipe with flat stock welded to it. The Flat stock has a keyhole for chain hoist, opposite the flat stock is 2 slots in pipe, place slots over the lift rings, slide in a piece of rebar down the pipe through the lift rings and up it goes. No chains to mess with bolting or hooking to the lift rings, no chains to touch the paint.

Looks like that has 4 rings, is that due to the heavier weight?

I'm chuckling thinking of 4 of those gold plated eye bolts cessna sells.


Edit- man I can't spell

Del,
Marc Bourdon does this himself I believe on his 185. He should be able to help too. I'll PM him. Have a great day. CET

The aircraft already had 4 eye bolts, so we built a spreader to match. Put a plywood platform and glued the thick foam, so nothing touches the plane while attaching and hoisting, except foam.
We built it to clear the commonly installed com antennas, although we had already removed them before we considered the design.

Daryl as it right, I would say 4-6 hrs max for 2 experience guys for a changeover if it as been done before on an Amphib.

FWIW most Cessna have 4 lift rings but most only use the 2 fronts. Its easier to balance the plane by tying the tail that way.

Here’s a picture of my spreader. Home made. The back chains are longer than the front so that the spreader is level when the airplane is level. The CG is adjustable under load so that the front and rear attach bolts are lined up at the same time without yanking on the tail and fighting it not the correct attitude.



Note that the rear crossmember pivots to equalize the load side to side on all the chains.

In particular, note where the shackle is, barely behind the front rings, indicating roughly the CG. This puts the door frame level. You could lengthen your rear chains and shorten the front ones above the spreader bar to the same effect.

You want the shackle as close to the roof as possible so that the airplane is not too stable. I used to use very long slings and no spreader. It was so stable that we couldn’t rock the fuselage to line up bolts. Make sure the fuel load is low, balanced, and cross feed blocked.
To speed things along, I have my land gear ready, all hardware bagged and handy. I have caps and plugs for brakes and hydraulics set aside solely for this purpose. Gear position lights are through Cannon plugs. I have machined bullets to tap out the eyebolts that secure the tops of the struts to the pork chops and rear attach lugs. Once all the hole wallowing threaded eye bolts are gently slid out, then I remove the bullets with nice tapered ends. Reverse for reassembly. Nothing special for the water rudder cables. They switch easily. For the water rudder lift cable, I have some SA362 fork ends and SA361 eye ends that connect with one bolt, then they roll up and stow behind an inspection cover in the belly. No tail wheel lock to deal with.

Sorry if I got carried away again. Crane operator, and mechanical engineering in my past. Can’t help myself.

More pics. A bit nose low, but once the main gear is off, it balances just right to line up all the bolts to the floats with very little struggle.

Daryl,
That's cool, and again, great info! Thanks