nuts & bolts
shop talk
Building Your Own Aircraft Jacks
A DIY welding project
DAVE BARKER, EAA 587700
Everyone doing aircraft maintenance, inspections, brakes, tire changes, or a gear swing has to first get the aircraft up off its feet. This is a simple
afternoon welding project that allows you to construct
your own set of aircraft jack stands.
I suggest beginning with a pair of inexpensive
automotive (Kragen or other) jack stands. I like the three-point tripod type that can frequently be found at yard
sales for a couple of bucks. The rectangular four-point
jack stands can be used as well. The starting point is to
cut off the U flange on the top of each stand leaving
approximately 1/8 inch of flange overhang to keep the
pipe from falling all the way through the tripod sleeve
tube. Next is the fabrication of the custom-made jack
lift point receptacles. This will vary with the type of
aircraft. When I built my stands years ago, I owned a
Piper Comanche. It has the V-shaped cones that project
from the bottom of the wing. So I lathe turned 90-degree
conical cavities into a 2-inch diameter by 1-inch long
piece of aluminum bar stock. It was then bored through
and tapped with a 1/4-20 thread. The top of the jack
stand flange is drilled, and the cone cap is bolted to the
top of the stand. Some years later I bought a Mooney
231. The Mooney jack points are the tie-down eyelets. So
I machined semi-circular grooves in the same cap pieces
to adapt to both types of lift points. The other end of the
pipe is fitted with another piece of 2-inch
aluminum bar stock turned down along
one shoulder to make a press fit into the
end of the pipe. The back side of this
piece is machined with a recess cavity to
capture the top of the hydraulic jack.
Three-point tripod type jack stands.
One-inch by one-inch angle stock is used for the
jack bridge and legs.
