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Transport with the HS On?

A

AirWolf

Active Member
I'm getting close to taking my 9A to the Airport, and I was curious what others have done regarding whether or not they have had the HS (and Elevators) on for their trip to the Airport?
 
Well, I would leave it on. I would also secure the elevators from moving, render it neutral and orient it into the relative wind ie. point the plane forward.

The HS won't become "alive" until 55 or so mph, so if it transported open (as I suspect you are) keep it under 50 or so mph.

I haven't done this yet, but that is what I plan to do.

Any veteran advice?

:) CJ
 
I think I'd be a bit concerned about trailering nose first in the tail down attitude. If the engine is mounted and the wings are off it will be pretty light in the tail, and 50 mph of breeze will tug upward pretty hard. I suppose as long as things are tied down well, things would be ok. This is just speculation, so I'll wait for those who've done it to chime in.

Steve Zicree
 
If the plane is tail-down, moving forward on a truck, the HS has a positive angle of attack and the tail will try to rise.
 
Ok... I'll clarify. If you trailer it on all three wheels (since it is an -A), support the HS from below. Better yet, wrap the HS in blankets to spoil any aerodynamic forces at all - and provide padding as well.
 
In 1981, I towed my Cessna 120 about 5 miles to the airport with the tail on and the controls rigged. I did it at about 04:30 and never exceeded 25 mph. The plane was towed backward on the main gear with a one time hitch apparatus connected to the tailwheel spring. Trailering a 9A should be a piece of cake. Just secure the plane to trailer well. I had a chase vehicle to protect airplane. It worked just fine. 12 hours after arriving at the airport, It was ready to fly again. Just pick your route wisely and try to time your trip for the lightest traffic. Are you going to assemble it at UAO?

Bob S
 
Moving Day for my RV-9A

http://www.n2prise.org/rv9a117.htm#MovingDay

I left the tail feathers OFF for my move. You can see why at the URL above. Remember that your HS is TEN FEET wide, and that is a WIDE LOAD. If another vehicle passes too closely, you could get some major damage since the HS is going to overhang the sides of your trailer or flat-bed truck.

With the fuselage clean, I had room to put the wing cradle and some work tables on the tow truck for the ride to the airport. Maximum speed was 35 MPH for the 18-mile trip from my place to the Collegedale Airport (3M3).

Jerry K. Thorne
RV-9A N2PZ
"Enterprise"
 
hngrflyr said:
Are you going to assemble it at UAO?

Bob S
Click to expand...

Nope, I'm going to do Final Assy at Lenhardts. I just couldn't justify the extra $200/mo for UAO.

n2prise said:
Remember that your HS is TEN FEET wide, and that is a WIDE LOAD. If another vehicle passes too closely, you could get some major damage since the HS is going to overhang the sides of your trailer or flat-bed truck.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 10' width was what I was concerned about. The more I think about it, the more I don't think that the risk is worth it. It won't take me that long to put the HS and gang on at the airport.

Thanks everybody,
Ron
RV-9A
 
I took my 6A 30 miles by car-trailer at expressway speeds with only the HS and VS on, no elevator or rudder. We had at least 5 ropes on the engine mount and wooden false spar and a couple rachet straps on the tail.

It rode excellent and I would do it again.

RV_on_the_road.JPG
 
watch how you tie it down

It is best to secure the wheels to the trailer and just let the plane "ride" with the bumps. Putting ropes on the rear tie down or anywhere else on the structure can get you a wrinkled tailcone if you hit a big bump.
 
ClayR_9A said:
It is best to secure the wheels to the trailer and just let the plane "ride" with the bumps. Putting ropes on the rear tie down or anywhere else on the structure can get you a wrinkled tailcone if you hit a big bump.
Click to expand...

Or just take it easy, and stay out of the fast lane on the highway :D
 
trailering RV-xA

I trailered my 8A with HS on, no problems. As mentioned above, select your route and time carefully. Make sure all three wheels are well blocked(we used deck screws to fasten the blocks to the trailer) and strapped down all three wheels. I did use a tie-down strap on the tail tie-down ring after the wheels were fully strapped down... just a little bit of tension on the tail keeps vibration down. Trailering is a very stressful event.

Good luck,
Mark
 
Don't do it! Pull the horizontal

Please, please pull the horizontal. I almost lost my airplane when taking mine to the airport. The airplane was secured on the trailer, and all was good. I had a driver behind me to pull into the adjoining lane if needed to block traffic and give me extra room and it still happened. The retaining wall on the side of the highway suddenly became a sound wall about 15 feet tall and virtually on the yellow line when a Semi Trailer Truck got by the chase car and closed on me so fast there was nothing that I could do. My passenger said as he was looking backwards that the tips of the horizontal were inches from the wall on one side and about a foot or less from being scraped off by the semi on the other. Three and a half years of building could have been ruined for 15 minutes or so to remove the tail. It upset the driver of the chase car so much that he split the lane for about 15 more miles to the airport risking a ticket to make sure that I could use two lanes if needed. It was truly sickening! Thankfully I got away with one there, maybe you might not be so lucky.

Regards,
Bryan N994W
 
Trailer width

Morning all.

Well i am almost ready to trailer the fuse to the airport but i am having dfficulty in locating a trailer that has a clear width of 7'2" (Outside of main gear).

I had a brain wave this morning....Why can't you turn the main gear thru 180 degrees?....This would put the wheels inwards and give an overall width of about 6 feet.

The main wheels would be at an odd angle and might have to put a scrap 1/4" bolt thru the top of the gear towers as the 5/16ths bolt may not line up reversed.

Any thoughts?

Frank
RV7a
 
frankh said:
Morning all.

Well i am almost ready to trailer the fuse to the airport but i am having dfficulty in locating a trailer that has a clear width of 7'2" (Outside of main gear).

I had a brain wave this morning....Why can't you turn the main gear thru 180 degrees?....This would put the wheels inwards and give an overall width of about 6 feet.
Any thoughts?

Frank
RV7a
Click to expand...

Just took my 7A to the airport yesterday. The trailer (a 26 foot'er) was not wide enough just as you mention. The solution, get two 8 foot 2x6's and screw them to the trailer floor (across) about 4 inches apart. The mains rest on the 2x6's and stradel the gap between them. 2 sheets of 1/2 inch OSB were used to roll the plane up the ramps and to the 2x6's. No sweat, three of us did it in 10 minutes. Chock the wheels good and tie the gear down.

I loaded it tail first, no tail feathers on, took the back roads to 3K6 a 10 mile run at about 30 MPH. Done deal.

Larry
 
I helped a friend transport his -9A back to his home airport after suffering a nose wheel collapse (posted in another tread). We removed the wings but left the HS/elevators and VS/rudder in place.

The stick was tied back with the seat belt and all three wheels were tied down as best as we could. I might be wrong here but I think we also screwed chalks into the wood trailer decking.

It was towed facing forward, into the relative wind and we saw speeds up to 40 mph +/-. Still seemed a bit fast for me but it wasn?t my plane.

The biggest issue was getting it up his tree lined curvy driveway. I stayed on the trailer moving braches out of the way to keep from knocking the HS tips off.
 
Towed to the airport with the HS off. 84 miles on back roads at speeds less than 50 mph. Used a 18 ft 4 wheel trailer with a 2X10 to increase width for mains. Aircrat pointing foward with prop, cowling and canopy on. Plenty of tie downs especially on the wheels on the 2X10. Also provided additional blocking for the wheels. Did not want them to fall off after a bump.

Do not tow with HS on of you are not a risk taker.

Larry N72NJ
 
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