?? re: picking up RV-9 fuselage

My SLOW-build fuselage is ready for pickup the week of Oct 15. At this point, I'm planning on driving down myself to pick it up with my Honda minivan. I was planning to pick it up uncrated to save $50 or so, particularly since I still have my wing crate to store the fuse. parts in and also because I already have more than enough scrap lumber around for any forseable fixtures and carts.

The fuse crate itself is plenty small enough (the back of my van is 4ft x almost 8 feet), but are there any odd sized or shaped parts that I will have to plan for that, if uncrated, might pose a problem for a Honda Odyssey? Are any of the skins prebent, etc., that will require extra padding or support? (The longerons already came with my wing kit)

Any thoughts would be appreciated. If it sounds too problematic I'll just have them crate it all, but $50 will sure go along way toward that engine I'll have to hang on the front!! Thanks.

Seems like a bad idea

I picked up my wings and fuselage at the same time in a 24 foot u-haul. Both were uncrated. Seemed like overkill until I got there and saw the dimensions of the fuselage. We tied the wings to the wall and then tied the fuselage in the middle of the floor. It rode will, but there are little thin skinned "winglets" off of the bottom of the fuselage that hang out in the breeze and could easily get trashed.
I think the length of the fuselage is 16 feet. I doubt it will fit.

Duane Wilson
Kelso, WA.

Edited above post to note that mine is NOT a quickbuild. Sorry for not being clear the first time. Thanks though, Duane.

minivan

From what I recall of the size of the crate, you shouldn't have a problem getting the uncrated parts in your van. There are some prebent skins but the radiuses are small and won't take up much room. The length and width of some parts may be an issue. Have plenty of padding available so you don't mess up your interior with sharp metal such as the firewall. The crate sizes are posted on Vans website which can give you a good indication of the size of the parts inside.

Bruce

oops

Guess I didn't read your post carefully enough. The quick build is too big to fit, but the slow build might.

Duane

Steve,

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to chime in and say that we are neck and neck.

I am doing my tanks now and my fuse will be arriving mid October also! They are bringing it to my door, because I am lazy!



When we finish our planes, let's meet in one of those square states in the middle of the country for a beer and dinner!

CJ

Steve,

I had the box shipped to a freight terminal and picked it up there in a standard size pick up. The box filled the back of my truck with the tail gate down. (8' long)

When I unpacked I had parts all over the place. Some of the skins come rolled up up, which made packing them easier for Van's.

One advantage of spending the $50 is that all those little parts will play nice with each other on the ride home. Then after unpacking you have the makings of a very big book shelf for your shop.

The good news is none of the fuselage parts are heavy but some of the skins and bulkheads could easly be damaged on the drive home.

Good luck and please take a picture of your loaded van so we can see how you made out.

Captain_John said:

Steve,

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to chime in and say that we are neck and neck.

When we finish our planes, let's meet in one of those square states in the middle of the country for a beer and dinner!

CJ

Click to expand...

Yeah, we are pretty close. I'm still trying to get the baffle aligned on my second tank, but the leading edges have been riveted on and skins are all ready to go on. One aileron is match drilled and ready. I think I caught up to you over the summer (which I have almost entirely free--I probably got 20-25 hours in a week, and it would have been more like 40 had it not been for a shed I built at the same time! ). Still, I'm going to have a crowded garage for a month or so until I can get those wings onto the rolling cart/stand.

Yeah, big square states. Colorado or Wyoming aren't too bad for being square. And Nebraska has some pretty good corn-fed beef steaks! Will look forward to it! But first, I have a steep learning curve to master on the FWF and wiring!

N941WR said:

One advantage of spending the $50 is that all those little parts will play nice with each other on the ride home. Then after unpacking you have the makings of a very big book shelf for your shop.


Good luck and please take a picture of your loaded van so we can see how you made out.

Click to expand...

Good first point. My only problem is that my van is just under 96" long withe the seats removed, and the crate is 97"--I wouldn't be able to close the tailgate so it would be a long drive home with the tailgate open, or I'd have to rent a trailer. I'm figuring that the crate adds at least 2" to the necessary length, so length-wise everything should fit in the van without the crating. But you are right, I'd have to worry about them rubbing against each other.

On the second point. Picture? Why? So that you can laugh at how ridiculous it looks with 5 million parts all flying around or because I happen to be driving a minivan?? Just so everyone knows, it's the wife's minivan/airplane part transport mechanism. A little sensitive about that, aren't I!?

Thanks for the thoughts.

mini van

Yeah I had the same problem, ever waved at a very hot looking girl at a red light , while driving a pos mini van its very ego deflating , the only good point of this story driving that thing (it was a good veh btw) I saved up enough for a new corvette ( new when I got it 2004) and my rv9a quick build kit so it was worth it after all... plus the A/c was cold and I drove it like I stole it every where I went and it held up very well, and it had a great radio..
so be proud in the minivan just get a sticker saying (my other car is a 200 mph RV? airplane ) just letting you know I understand totally, it should fit outside of the crate..


Danny..

alpinelakespilot2000 said:

On the second point. Picture? Why? So that you can laugh at how ridiculous it looks with 5 million parts all flying around or because I happen to be driving a minivan?? Just so everyone knows, it's the wife's minivan/airplane part transport mechanism. A little sensitive about that, aren't I!?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the laugh this morning.

There is one good thing about driving a minivan, there are a bunch of hot MILF's out there who would look at you and think, now there is a man I could "have"! As for the Vette, Sorry Godspeed, those same women wouldn't look twice. Then again, there is another group of women who would.

Back when I started my -9 and I first met my soon to be wife I to used take my 10 year old baby Nissan pick-up out on dates, mostly first dates. For some reason I took my Miata, which is mostly a track car on that first date and when she bent over to actually read the tire size I knew I had found true love. A week later she was helping me bolt a new roll bar in the thing. (Note how far above the bar my head is in that picture, not a problem any longer.) What a woman!

BTW Godspeed, at our last track event I came in between the two Z06's that were running. Last year I smoked the Ferraris, which was really funny. Talk about some wining going on. Then again it is easier to drive fast when you don't really care about what happens to the car. One of the guys let me take a few hot laps in his Ferrari right after I stuffed my car into a sand pit. What a fool! After having driven and instructed in both the Ferrari and a Z06, I like the Vette better. More usable power and most importantly, I fit in it with a helmet on. However, the Ferrari has MUCH better brakes! Oh man, I almost pulled my fillings out the first time I got on them.

(Sorry Danny, I always feel like I have to defend that little car.)

I just picked up my -9A fuse on 9/23 at the FedEx in SLC. I used a bud's (an RV-10 guy) F-150. A couple of points to consider: The large 8 foot crate holds the thin, fragile skins - some flat and others nested and rolled. The small 3 foot crate holds the heavy pieces like gear legs and gear mount weldments. I'm glad those parts are not crated together for damage control reasons. Yes, your $55 crates and $185 shipping cost gets you several pounds of packing paper but I believe it's worth the cost unless you live close enough to Van's to make a couple of trips.

Working the firewall,
Steve

Steve said:

The small 3 foot crate holds the heavy pieces like gear legs and gear mount weldments. I'm glad those parts are not crated together for damage control reasons.

Click to expand...

Steve,

Good point. The -9's fuselage all fit in one crate. The main landing gear arrived yesterday w/ the finishing kit.