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Moving questions for my RV-10 project

tldavis

Member
I'm trying to plan to move my project RV-10.

Current plan is to load it all into a 26-ft U-Haul box truck and drive down the interstate for 2 days from its old hanger to its new home.

It's at the ready-for-finishing-kit stage.
The wings are off, resting in a nice Mouser-style cradle.
The empennage is attached, but there's nothing forward of the firewall.
The horizontal and vertical stabilizers I plan to remove and crate.

As I plan to be sure there's enough room, I need to know how thick the crated stabilizers will be. I can't seem to find the thickness in the plans or online.
I thought I'd move the wings hanging in their cradle, and the fuselage/empennage bolted down via wing roots onto its cart.

Questions:

1. How thick are the horizontal and vertical stabilizers? (I have the longer 2 dimensions of course). I'm hoping small, so they will fit next to the wings and fuselage. But I may need to fly them over the top of the wing root.

2. Any specific thoughts on how you'd pack it?

3. Do I have enough room? I also need to move compressor, about 4 table top tools including DRDT-2, 2 EAA tables, and a whole bunch of smaller stuff.

Thinking I might need to add a trailer.

What do you think?
Thanks in advance.
 
Is it on the landing gear?

If so, you might have trouble getting the mains in the box truck.
 
No gear. Waiting for the finishing kit. The fuse is resting on a nice wooden cart with small wheels. I think I can secure it onto the cart through the holes in the wing roots, and then secure the cart to the truck.
 
I did the same when I moved mine to the airport.

I used 2x4’s that were nailed into the truck’s floor and side rails to ensure the things didn’t move in transit.

The empennage was mounted, but took the horizontal off the tail I mounted the horizontal and control surfaces to the sides. A combination of the special built racks and moving blankets, everything made it safely to the airport. Although my drive was about thirty minutes, not two days.

Since I did that about 15 years ago, my memory is pretty vague at the moment. I don’t think there will be adequate room for your tables and tools.
 
When I moved my project to the hangar, I was at about the same stage as you are. I used a car-carrier trailer and used 2x4s to build supports that were ratchet strapped to hold the project down snuggly. I did the move in two trips to get the fuse and wings and everything else, so you'd need a bigger trailer/truck to get it all in one go. The biggest struggle I had was that the shock absorbers on the trailer were not the greatest so I had to consider that in the move, so I didn't beat the **** out of everything as it bounced up and down. Take that into account when you're loading your project. Use foam, blankets, etc. and realize that continued rubbing of any parts as you go down the road could have very detrimental effects.
 
We moved a quickbuild 8, finished tail, and tools in an 18' trailer from Virginia to Minnesota. Took the wheels off the wing cradles and screwed them to the floor. Lots of packing blankets and shrink wrap, but nothing moved.
 

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I picked up my QB wings and fuselage at Vans with their recommended U haul - I forget, I think it was 26’. They tied the wings to the walls, leading edges up. There was plenty of room for the fuselage, not sure about tail feathers. For sure, there was a lot of vertical space left - if you built a platform over the fuselage, plenty of room for tail pieces, maybe tables, etc. If you are solo many tools could fit in the cab with you.
I cannot overstate how rough the ride was. You cannot use too much rope, nor can you have too many blankets!
 
This is all great news. Thank you for all the sharing. What an awesome community.
Love the photo. My canoe is so much wider.

I didn't get the answer to Q#1 but it sounds like "hang them on the walls above everything" will work just fine as long as I use proper techniques to protect the parts.

We make the trip soon and hope to figure it all out within the 2 days or so we have allotted to assess on site, disassemble metal, build wood, and load. Time to getting on the road may depend on how many trips to Lowe's Aircraft or Aircraft Depot or Aircraft Freight will be needed. And how much ends up in the dumpster or in the passenger seat.

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!
 
I didn't get the answer to Q#1 but it sounds like "hang them on the walls above everything" will work just fine as long as I use proper techniques to protect the parts.
When Stewart moved my project they attached the wings to the walls of the trailer. They were wrapped in moving quilts. I would try to do something similar with the vertical and horizontal. Attached is a photo.
 

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I'm trying to plan to move my project RV-10.

Current plan is to load it all into a 26-ft U-Haul box truck and drive down the interstate for 2 days from its old hanger to its new home.

2 Days? You'll be in Mexico! Where's the new "Home?" Trying to figure out if I could help in some way...

-Marc
 
I moved my project (or pieces of it) back and forth to the airport multiple times to make working room in the shop. I think you can move the entire project minus maybe a piece or two in the 26' truck. The three pieces I'm not sure about are the compressor (how big is it?) and the two benches.

What I would do if I was you would be use your wing stand to move the wings. I'd attach the ailerons and flaps and maybe cleco on the tips. In addition, I would scab on a fixture to hold the HS to the wing stand and would mount the HS and elevators to that stand. I'd load that entire assembly first and put it front right in the box truck. I'd secure everything well, and make sure there were cushions to keep parts from touching and stiffeners/tape/spacers/whatever to keep the control surfaces from moving.

In the left hand side nose of the trailer, I'd store all of the tools. Maybe you can get moving boxes or whatever to secure them. Next, I'd insert the fuselage, tail first on the left side of the trailer, in a cradle of some sort, using the spar carry-through as the main tie-down point. You can run bolts through the holes in the carry through and hook to those. I'm not sure what you meant by securing the fuse using the holes in the fuselage, but the carry-through is a much better place to attach. Then, pad/secure the aft fuselage to keep it from moving around. Finally, I'd pile everything else (rudder, vertical stab, seats, etc) in the fuselage using appropriate padding. The only thing left at that point is maybe the compressor and the EAA tables, which may fit towards the back of the trailer, adjacent to the fuselage. If the project is near-complete, the EAA tables are handy, but if they don't fit in the truck, well, you don't need them badly at this point anyway... Alternately, you can make new ones if you need.

Here are some pictures that might give you ideas around the wing and fuselage stands. These are kind of in "storage mode" so all of the padding and straps are not in the picture...

Wing Cradle 2.JPG

Wing Cradle 1.JPG

Fuse Cradle.JPG

Carry lots of extra tape, straps, cardboard, Harbor Freight packing blankets, 2x4's screws, drill with driver bit, etc. You'll be surprised at how much of that stuff you'll need.

And just a word of caution. Load up, secure everything, drive 2-5 miles and stop to check everything. Then ten more miles and do it again. Then 50, then every couple of hours. Nothing will ruin your day faster than something coming loose and bashing up your airplane parts.

Hope this helps.
 
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How did your move go? Any insights or advice?

I'm just looking at moving my RV8 kit (fuselage, wings, emp, finishing kit & crated engine and prop) to Texas from Pac NW...

E~
 
Move done

It went very well. I moved it all in a giant U-Haul box truck.

A few tips that many will know already:
1) U-Haul includes the high "momma's closet" area over the cab in the length. It might be useful space but doesn't count for the fuselage/tailcone combo of course. Penske and others describe their trucks by floor dimensions, so I'm told. I used U-Haul anyway, much cheaper, and big enough.

2) An RV-10 without tailfeathers attached fits well along with a whole hangar full of tools and parts and sundry and 2 EAA tables in a "26 foot" (the larges) U-Haul truck.

3) When driving from Oregon, you may need to stop and buy chains from Les Schwab. You can return them for price paid if you don't use them, but carrying them may be required. I had to do this in March to drive south on I-5. Better than a huge ticket. And my spouse flew me to the closest Les Schwab 100 miles away from home to return them.

4) Packing
Stabilizers etc. hang on the side walls very well. Rent blankets, use straps, snug down. Notice that many control surfaces will damage the adjacent metal if they are allowed to flop all the way down, so immobilize everything.
You may need to reinforce the wing caddy if it wasn't built to travel. A few diagonal cross members makes a big difference. You can't have too many blankets or too many straps.
Fuselage/tailcone can travel on its special-built gurney if you have one. I did it, after adding some long wood screws with cellophane tape ferrules for the wing spars, and strapping the fuselage better onto its dolly.
Cleco things that aren't fully attached. That works. But bumping clecos causes dents, so care is needed.
Make sure everything is snugged down tight to the vehicle sides and/or front.
You can wrap things in stretch wrap plastic and they stick to the floor. You can even stack things in stretch wrap plastic but think about forces and a thousand miles, maybe not. You can wrap things in blankets and the slide all over the floor. Strap down if so.

5) Checking.
Stop and check all the straps and positions after about 10 minutes of driving, then after an hour, and then whenever you hit some big bumps or turn a tight corner. You can fix it if you catch it in time. That said, it just calmed my nerves. Nothing was ever loose or moving. You will be less nervous on better roads, so plan the route accordingly.

Cost: Giant U-Haul 1 way rental from Oregon to central cost of California 1000 statute miles was just over $1000. Probably $500 fuel, maybe more. Figure 10-12 miles/gallon. I didn't save receipts. Minimum rental included 5 days. We took 1 day prep before picking up, 1 to load, 1 to drive, 1 to recover and recruit friends from the airport, 1 to unload, so it was close.

Warning: Much of the year the high mountain passes out of Oregon get ice and snow. This is a big truck. Wind can blow it off. It can slide downhill or off the road. Visibility of adjacent traffice can be a problem. Stay safe. Look at the weather before and during the expedition, specifically the passes (my route it was Siskiyou Pass, between Medford and
Go with a buddy. My son and I traded off driving and it went smoothly.

Later when you get it home and you find a little damage you can wonder whether it was the move or the prior experience the plane had before the trip. These things acquire a mysterious patina with age. You may never know.
 
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