What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

The "BIG" move -8

phapp

Active Member
Patron
Hi,

Very exciting! After waaaay too many years, it's time to move to the airport, start the Vans / FAA paperwork and make initial contact with a DAR.

I'm asking for help/ideas/critique/advice for the critical move to the airport. Fuse only, no tail feathers, engine mounted.


Due to the insurance issues I've run into (they'll give me my money but potentially subrogate the transporter) for tilt-bed auto transporters / riggers with trailers in my area (insured only for cars and trucks), and the width of rental trailers for the wide gear, it's looking like a U-Haul 26' box as others have suggested is my best option. Currently in my area they all have aluminum floors.

Here's my proposed plan based on only having the side rails of the box of a 26' U-Haul to work with.

- Load tail first (home built ramps for the mains and the supplied walk board for the tail wheel).
- Tail wheel on my stand.
- Tail wheel leg secured horizontally with 2 straps, Left and right to secure aft horizontal movement. So it CANNOT swing. (Don't forget the bolts shared between the VS and tail wheel plate as Paul Dye pointed out on his move.)
- Strap over the fuse forward of the F-881B's and down to secure vertical movement.
- Chocks fore and aft of the mains
- VERY tightly wedged (big hammer, don't bow out the walls or rails!), 2x4's cross-wise fore/aft of the chocks to secure them.
- For additional fore/aft movement safety:
2 lengths of webbing through the spar carry thru. 1 directed forward and 1 aft.
- Low pressure tires

Thoughts?
 
Most people secure the aircraft with straps around the gear legs. That allows the spring gear to flex and absorb some of the bumps in the road. Strapping to the spar or over the fuselage works against this. Also, there's no way I'd run a strap or bungee across the fuselage to hold the airplane down. If you tighten it enough to do any good, you risk bent metal.

When you say "tailwheel on my stand", I'm not sure I follow that. I'd recommend tailwheel on the floor of the truck. Secure it well. Hint: If the truck has wooden floors, a few strategically placed screws into the floor may help.
 
Moved mine twice. Used a commercial tilt, flat bed both times. Like Kyle says, only held the landing gear stationary. Let the gear do it’s job. It’ll flex for anything the truck rolls over. Mine has seen lot worse on a few of my landings.
 
I'm not implying that you are overthinking this as I am certainly guilty of underthinking the big move. I didn't think about it in any way whatsoever. I just called a tow truck and they loaded it in 5 minutes. 15 minutes later they were unloading it at the airport, safe and sound. There was no time at all to worry about it.

http://roughandreadyaerospace.blogspot.com/2016/06/step-141-big-move.html

My question though, is the wheelbase wider on the 8 than the 7A? My 7A had room to spare on the flat bed.
 
One tiny advantage of the crankshaft debacle for me is that now I'll be transporting the fuselage with the engine off; the rebuilt engine will meet the fuselage at the hangar.
 
We in Europe have smaller cars than in the US , thus our trailers are smaller as well... I had to make a spacer and invert my left wheel to fit it onto the trailer.. But it worked out perfectly.

I drove from the shop to the painter and from there to the airport.
My friend who is a police officer was on duty and therefore I had him drive in front of me and he stopped all other traffic so I could gently drive to the airport :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2119.jpg
    IMG_2119.jpg
    481.1 KB · Views: 258
  • IMG_2137.jpg
    IMG_2137.jpg
    805.3 KB · Views: 297
  • IMG_2141.jpg
    IMG_2141.jpg
    830.3 KB · Views: 241
  • IMG_2145.jpg
    IMG_2145.jpg
    645.7 KB · Views: 270
We in Europe have smaller cars than in the US , thus our trailers are smaller as well... I had to make a spacer and invert my left wheel to fit it onto the trailer.. But it worked out perfectly. ...
That's a brilliant idea!
 
Followup

It was a very good day. The fuse is tucked in and ready for final assembly in my hangar.

After weeks of phone calls and research on tow companies, box trucks and trailers I ended up finding a tow company with an aspiring aviator on staff that was willing to transport on a tilt-bed flatbed.

It went like clockwork with no issues.

Details and pics available on request for those who will follow.
 
I'm glad to hear it went well for you. I moved my RV8 last Sunday. I'm going to do the Weight and Balance tomorrow.
 
I have reserved a rental trailer to transport my fuselage to the airport three days from now... but my tow vehicle just blew a trans cooler line two days ago. It's a warranty issue so it has to get sent back to the dealership this morning. Hoping they can fix it by Monday... another stressful event to throw onto the ever-growing pile of build drama.
 
Back
Top