Alan Erickson
Active Member
I recently moved from NM to MT with my -8A under construction. She's up on wheels, but without wings. I used Broadway Express, who brought in a semi trailer - I rented the whole thing and fit the whole works: the house, the plane with all parts, and my Helicycle also under construction. $4600 door to door, with a stop at the new hangar for the babies. I verified that my insurance through NationAir would cover any oopsies during the move.
Despite concerns about loading and securing the plane, it was amazingly simple: the driver I was assigned (Todd Benoble) had a rig with a long liftgate, so we just wheeled the plane onto the liftgate and hoisted away. We secured it in the rig by using straps to each main gear leg leading fore and aft, and by a heavy strap across the trailer putting slight down pressure on the crankshaft just aft of the prop mounting plate. We left the tail unsecured so it could bounce a little without stressing the fuselage. The axle nuts cleared the sides of the trailer by about six inches on each side, so we packed rolled blankets between the trailer sides and wheels to prevent any 'walking'. Unload was just as simple.
You can see load video (sorry, it's the whole move -- you'll want to skip to 10:50 for airplane stuff) out on:
(airplane at 10:50) http://picasaweb.google.com/alane01/MovingOut
The driver, Todd, was even more concerned about my baby than I was! Every time he stopped along the route, he checked the plane to make sure she wasn't trying to get away. I highly recommend him.
Holler if you have any questions I can answer!
Despite concerns about loading and securing the plane, it was amazingly simple: the driver I was assigned (Todd Benoble) had a rig with a long liftgate, so we just wheeled the plane onto the liftgate and hoisted away. We secured it in the rig by using straps to each main gear leg leading fore and aft, and by a heavy strap across the trailer putting slight down pressure on the crankshaft just aft of the prop mounting plate. We left the tail unsecured so it could bounce a little without stressing the fuselage. The axle nuts cleared the sides of the trailer by about six inches on each side, so we packed rolled blankets between the trailer sides and wheels to prevent any 'walking'. Unload was just as simple.
You can see load video (sorry, it's the whole move -- you'll want to skip to 10:50 for airplane stuff) out on:
(airplane at 10:50) http://picasaweb.google.com/alane01/MovingOut
The driver, Todd, was even more concerned about my baby than I was! Every time he stopped along the route, he checked the plane to make sure she wasn't trying to get away. I highly recommend him.
Holler if you have any questions I can answer!
