Trailering to an airport..

I think the idea of trailering a LSA to an airport is a great idea...

My concern is how accommodating is the airport going to be????
Will the airport let you into the hanger/taxi area so that you can unload your plane, put it together and then park your trailer somewhere????

I do not have an airplane now but am considering an RV12..
I am leaning toward just building a great shop at my house with room to park the trailered RV12 and trailering to the airport on the weekend.

I am concerned how most airports are going to welcome my trailered airplane...

Anyone doing this now??? Any thoughts????

Thanks all.

Some do it...

RV_Tom said:

I think the idea of trailering a LSA to an airport is a great idea...

My concern is how accommodating is the airport going to be????
Will the airport let you into the hanger/taxi area so that you can unload your plane, put it together and then park your trailer somewhere????

I do not have an airplane now but am considering an RV12..
I am leaning toward just building a great shop at my house with room to park the trailered RV12 and trailering to the airport on the weekend.

I am concerned how most airports are going to welcome my trailered airplane...

Anyone doing this now??? Any thoughts????

Thanks all.

Click to expand...

If the airport has regular sailplane users, this is a standard operating procedure....

I have left my sailplane in it's trailer at airports (non-sailplane ones) and just been charged the regular tie-down fee.

Just offer to pay a one day tie down fee for the trailer when you fly, and they should be happy...

RV_Tom said:

I think the idea of trailering a LSA to an airport is a great idea...Any thoughts????

Click to expand...

RVTom... Ken at Vans also suggest that it may be easier to rent hangar space for an RV12 since it can fit it very unusual places with wings off.

Jeff

The advantage of a trailer...

Gandalf said:

RVTom... Ken at Vans also suggest that it may be easier to rent hangar space for an RV12 since it can fit it very unusual places with wings off.

Jeff

Click to expand...

...that is well designed is a near elimination of "hangar rash"

Especially since the scenario Ken suggests would most likely be a sub-let of an unused corner within an existing hangar.

Hassles

As charming as the thought of no hangar rent is, I find that the simpler it is to get ready, the more you enjoy the craft. The top of this food chain are the lucky few that get to live on an airport. Next, I suppose are those of us with a hangar not far from home. The more hassle, the less enjoyment. "Gee, nice day to fly, but I have to hook up the trailer, drive to the airport, assemble the airplane, park the trailer, then do it all over again when I come back. Aw, to heck with it, maybe tomorrow." If it were me, I would go for the fold the wings and share a hangar idea. I have a hunch that you can get a "folded" 12 in a normal 'T' hangar along with another non-folding RV.

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

Hassles

John Clark said:

As charming as the thought of no hangar rent is, I find that the simpler it is to get ready, the more you enjoy the craft. The top of this food chain are the lucky few that get to live on an airport. Next, I suppose are those of us with a hangar not far from home. The more hassle, the less enjoyment. "Gee, nice day to fly, but I have to hook up the trailer, drive to the airport, assemble the airplane, park the trailer, then do it all over again when I come back. Aw, to heck with it, maybe tomorrow." If it were me, I would go for the fold the wings and share a hangar idea. I have a hunch that you can get a "folded" 12 in a normal 'T' hangar along with another non-folding RV.

John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

Click to expand...

You are right, if it is a hassle it will not be fun and will not work, After seeing the video of the wings coming off and going on it is clear that Van got it right so that if you have a friend or line boy to help it will not be much of a hassle to put on the wings. I can see how many people will be able to enjoy lower cost by renting a small unused area of a hangar to store the RV-12 in and in areas where it takes years to get a hangar this is a wounderfull feature. For others a well designed open trailer which would hold the wing while one person swings it around into possition to be inserted into the aircraft could make it a five minute one persone job that could be handled by even us old guys and if we can keep the plane at home on a solid trailer that will save us money and it will be right there if we want to work on it, that also would be great.

Most airports would warm up to you if you offer to pay a small "Green Fee" each time you come to fly and you purchase fuel from them. $ 5.00 is cheap especially if the line boy helps you.

I currently live at Spruce Creek Fly-in and have a fine hangar attached to my home and it is great, but I have been looking at smaller condos with two car garages to be able to downsize my cost in the future and the wings coming off is what will make that plan possible.

Have a good day.

Best regards,
Vern

Now it's my turn!!!

Not meaning to demean or criticize anyone but I'm an older (by years only) guy (now retired) who has 'given' and 'given' and 'given' all of my life.

I have 'strongly' wanted to fly since I was about 6 years old - and my parents who experienced the Great Depression would not allow me even to walk to the nearby airport. Not blaming them for anything but when my kids came along, I considered it my job to open as many doors as possible for them. This included a good moral background, college, (and flying lessons if they wanted them). So now, there are four more good adults in this world.

NOW IT'S MY TURN.

I will build the RV-12 starting next year. I will build a trailer for it. That trailer will allow me to fly whenever I want to - I expect to use it a lot.

We all know that there comes a day when we must give up our tools, driving, and flying, etc. When the day comes that I want to go and fly my RV-12 and for some reason cannot, I will sell my toys. But for now, it's my turn!!!

Thanks for the replies

Thanks all for the replies..

Tom

Trailering a Europa

For 2 years I had a mono-wheel Europa in my garage that I trailered to the closest airport (KRYY). Here in the Atlanta metro area hangar space is very expensive and the waiting list is years long. Anyway from the time I left the house here in Roswell till the time I was airborne took 1.5 hours. I then got (finally) hangar space at a private airport (20GA) 20 miles west of Atlanta or 55 miles from the house. It now takes me 1.5 hours from the the time I leave the airport till I am airborne in my RV-9A or the Europa before I sold it. In my two years I never had an issue with not allowing me on the ramp with my car and trailer while I put the wings and tail feathers on the Europa. Being able to bring the aircraft home to do maintenance is great. A lot of the time I would leave the wings at the hangar and just bring the center section home. The other thing that was convenient was stopping at the local gas station and filling up with mogas to feed the Rotax 912S.

Hope this helps.

Trailer or not!

It is best to check with your local airport(s) to see if they will allow launching and retrieval of your RV-12. Don't assume that all of them will. I have a nice city airport close by and two more within ten miles, but the nearest one that will allow it is thirty miles away, as the crow flies.