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  #11  
Old 07-14-2012, 02:17 PM
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Barry Barry is offline
 
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If I may add one word of caution. If your mom trys to get in the plane and she need help, be aware that if there is too much weight rear of the main spar with say a helper the plane can tip on the empenage and damage the rudder. My advice would be to have somone at the nose of the plane ready to hold the nose down in case the plane tries to tips backwards. I once damage the rudder of my 6 A when two of us were getting out of the plane at the same time and there was only a small amount of fuel in the tanks and a loaded baggage compartment hence a rear C of G condition.
Hope your mom can make the flight and am sure she will enjoy it.
Barry
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  #12  
Old 07-14-2012, 02:43 PM
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Brantel Brantel is offline
 
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2-3 guys can get her in and out. Just take it slow and easy.
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  #13  
Old 07-14-2012, 03:05 PM
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tc1234c tc1234c is offline
 
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http://www.phc-online.com/Lift_Slings_s/48.htm

Engine hoist is too low to lift someone into the airplane. Blocks and sheet (pulley and rope) inside hangar works better. Keep the tail tiedown ring on may avoid rudder damage.

Hope you will be able to find a solution and share the joy with your mom. My 80 some year old mom is coming to visit and I intend to give her a ride too.
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  #14  
Old 07-14-2012, 05:18 PM
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Vern Vern is offline
 
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Default Hauling the infirm and elderly via RV

I regularly fly my wife from Peachtree City, Ga to North Little Rock for cancer treatments at UAMS. Deb has 7 fractured vertebrae, six of which have been repaired. <see www.debdarley.blogspot.com>

I have also hauled some elderly riders in their eighties.

I fly my 6A slider or the RV-10 normally. Flaps down.

>Carpets/floor: Getting in is not so hard. I use a small stool first. Then a short work platform that gets them up at rear-wing height.

>Getting out is the issue.The flat sitting position of the 6A has folks pushing with their feet trying to help raise their body up so they can get out. I have insulation and carpet on the floor. Double sided tape would not hold the carpet, so I rigged four screws with washers to hold the carpet steady so it would allow the pax to exit using their feet to help push them up the back of the seat to
sitting on the crossbar behind the seats. Stand up facing forward on the cushion. Then step out facing forward. Two ground helpers , one in front of the wing, one behind, help.

I have a slider with the handles up above on the rollover bar. The handles
really help those with some upper body strength. Otherwise, I put a box or something in the pilot seat so the pax can push up with their left hand and put their right hand on the side rail. They have to get their butt up onto the crossbar behind the seat.

In the ten, it took about 8 men to help get Deb in for our first trip out west. I carried the stool and platform with us. Pix are on the blog.

When Deb and I first started flights to Arkansas, I considered leaving the right seat out and making a slide in stretcher board with head forward, feet to the rear. Fortunately, surgery made that unnecessary.

Cautions about not grabbing the canopy and other delicate parts are always repeated.
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  #15  
Old 07-14-2012, 05:19 PM
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Paul Tuttle Paul Tuttle is offline
 
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Default Go for it.

You'll enjoy the memory instead of saying, I wish I had done that.

I took a young man who had lost the use of his legs for a flight in a Challenger ultra-light a few years ago. We came up with a workable plan to get him in and out of the aircraft. It turned out to be not that difficult and it was a very rewarding experience for both of us.

A side bar to that flight: It was in the winter and he commented on how warm it seemed inside the plane. I said " yeah, my feet get a bit cold now and then" he answered "I guess it's better if you cant feel them". I stopped complaining.
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  #16  
Old 07-14-2012, 05:57 PM
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LettersFromFlyoverCountry LettersFromFlyoverCountry is offline
 
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Yes, I agree that getting out is a significant challenge, at least insomuch as getting back up to longeron level.

Of course, the challenge here is that I have no hangar since she's lives 900 -1200 miles away from me at KFIT. And I don't know if there are hangars there with RV's in them with a joist to sling stuff over.

I could probably make steps and a ramp to get up to and onto the wing, and maybe another step to get over the the skin and get her feet onto the seat, but then it all goes to pot from there.

That's why I think this sling idea or a seat that can be hoisted up and over makes some sense; and then when she needs to get out we hoist the seat right out.

My nephew, who lives with her, has a tree service and has a bucket truck. I wonder if we can fashion something that can connect to that and he can lift the bucket up and over and drop her in?

Also, in terms of an emergency exit, yes, I realize the egress problem in such a situation. I'll have to think about that some more .
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  #17  
Old 07-14-2012, 06:25 PM
rv7charlie rv7charlie is offline
 
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Location: Pocahontas MS
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If she still has some strength & mobility, & you have 2 strong backs available, how about the sling idea but with the lifting done with a strong bar held on each side of the cockpit by the 2 strong guys (or ladies). As has been mentioned, the toughest part is getting vertical again while still in the plane. Just make sure the lift point in the middle of the bar is fixed (so the lift strap can't slide to the side). Once she is standing upright on the seat, the rest of the exit should go just like the entry.

Charlie
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  #18  
Old 07-14-2012, 06:45 PM
dealfair dealfair is offline
 
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Location: George West, TX
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Default RV-4s are easy on elderly!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by LettersFromFlyoverCountry View Post
I know I'm asking to do the impossible, but I have to give a try anyway.

My mother is 90 years old, doesn't move so well anymore, and -- let's face it -- we're running out of time.

I'm hoping to take N614EF back to Fitchburg, Massachusetts sometime after Oshkosh. Showing it to her would probably be good enough, but if I had one wish right now, it would be to figure out how to get a 90 year old woman who doesn't move so well in and out of an RV.

"I'd love to see what my house looks like from the air," she said to me five years ago when I took her on her first -- and only

But, of course, the RV isn't built for giving rides to elderly people who have a hard time moving, and who probably -- well, really there's no probably about it -- couldn't lift themselves OUT of a seat.

Still, although I'm out of ideas, I have to give it one more try to see if anyone has ever developed a contraption or method of doing this.

Or, are there enough RVers near Fitchburg, Massachusetts who could figure out a way to lift her in?
I would take my Dad flying in my -4 right up until when he died at age 95. He had very weak ankles resulting from breaking both after falling off a boxcar when he worked for the railroad. I had two small steps for him to get on the wing. Then he had the use of that wonderful ROLLBAR to assist him with entry & exit. A -6 or -7 was to difficult for him. I'M TELLING YA, a -4 is easy entry for elderly if they any upper body strength. The -8 should be easier also. We put assist bars in bathrooms...the -4s and -8s have them in the rollbar. I'll be 68 here soon. The -4 is much easier for me than a -6A.

Just think about it & look at photos of the planes. The -8A is going to be more difficult than the -8.

My Dad loved flying with me!!

Good luck,
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  #19  
Old 07-14-2012, 06:52 PM
dealfair dealfair is offline
 
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Bob,

I'm sorry I left out, "...get a trusted friend to give her a ride in a -4 or -8..."

My Mom will be 101 next month. I could get her in my 4 fairly easy but she doesn't want to go flying. I put her in a Ford pickup every day.

Best regards & luck to you,
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  #20  
Old 07-14-2012, 08:43 PM
Bob Axsom Bob Axsom is offline
 
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Default Put something under the aft fuselage

As mentioned earlier on the A's it is easy to smack the tail down. I would consider putting something under the aft fuselage if you go the multiple person help method. I also had to repair the rudder after such an incident.

Bob Axsom
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