How to move a project?

[brian]

I recently sold my RV-7A project. I'm in NH and the buyer is in KS. How do people move projects? This one is on all its gear and the tail is on.

Wheels width = 91?, 89? with wheel nuts removed
HS width = 106?, 100? with elevators removed
VS height = 94 ??, 91 1/2 ? with rudder removed

The tail could come off, if we have to. The elevators will have to come off anyway, to be under the DOT 102" limit. Maybe the horizontal stabilizer, maybe the vertical stabilizer.

This also leaves lots of large delicate parts to move, like cowl, canopy, wings, flight controls. I suppose the best thing to do with the canopy is to mount it to the plane and tape it down good.

I'm wondering how others move projects like this - with a big wide rolling airframe, plus a lot of parts.

Does anyone here have any recommendations about any of this; either in moving details, things to watch out for, or moving companies that are recommended or recommended to avoid?

[flytoboat]

Brian,
Call Tony Partain. 541-330-0828. That's what he does. He's one of the advertisors on VAF.

[Jerry Cochran]

...moved a project for me last year from SC to OR, no pain, no strain, and about the same cost if I had flown there, rented a truck, loaded it, drove back, motels, etc...He also is an RV-r who moves a lot of stuff for Van's

Highly recommended...

[koda2]

Brian,
Sorry to know that you decided to sell your project, but glad you got it sold.

If your canopy is partially fitted and you don't have the crate, the best place IMO is (padded and taped) on the fuselage. I used Partain to ship a new canopy and even shipped it without a crate (more risky but it made it and saved me several hundred in a crating charge.) Don't think I would do it again though. (Partain's crew had it in the front of the trailer padded with tons of padding.)

I am guessing he has multiple rigs now. The one that showed up was a huge goose neck trailer and five point hitch arrangement. The driver had delivered multiple kits on that run and a plane was still in the trailer. An A model RV, IIRC, and I think the tail was off.

To add to the others, Partain is easy to work with and I would use them again in a heartbeat. Tony can tell you what will work best.

Dave A.

[brian]

Thanks for all the advice. While my buyer and I looked at several movers, it was clear from the advice here and from our impressions talking to Tony Partain that his operation was the most knowledgeable and experienced in moving a project. It was a bit difficult to connect with Tony, but once we did, everything fell into place.

We lucked out because the truck was already coming to Vermont for another pickup, so the whole process only took a couple weeks. The driver, Michael, clearly knew what he was doing and had done this many times before. We didn't have to do as much packing and prep as we'd originally thought (mainly just remove the tail), and the plane and parts got all packed up and gone in a few hours.


Nice big rig - clearly capable of getting the job done. Pretty cool full size over-the-road tractor. Michael even has a laptop mounted in the cab with GPS and internet connections, with some great mapping software. Michael said he gets almost 10 mpg with this rig.



He also had some wings in there that he'd picked up in northern VT, and he was on his way to Indiana to pick up a crated RV-10 to go in the front part of the trailer. He said he moves about a hundred of these every year. We were comfortable that the plane was in good hands.

9/13 UPDATE - buyer said plane & pieces arrived in KS a few days later, all in great shape.

[Rob Erdos]

I recently bought a partially built RV-6 project from a builder in Mission, BC, Canada. That's near Vancouver. I live in Ottawa - 5500 km away. My understanding is that Tony Partain doesn't ship kits in Canada, and I didn't want to trust all of that lovely aluminum to just any trucker. One hears terrible horror stories about forklift holes through wings, etc.

I flew out, inspected the kit, and loaded it into a 26 foot U-Haul rental truck. The fuselage was on its gear, so we built a wooden frame within the truck to isolate it from movement, "pinning" the fuselage at the wheels. The wings were installed on either side of the truck against the walls. They were wrapped in bubble wrap, sandwiched in stryrofoam sheets and stood leading edge down.

The control surfaces were bubblewrapped and gently stuffed into the fuselage. Once the canopy was closed over top, the contents were immobilized.

It worked. The bits and pieces all arrived safe and sound in Ottawa. If anyone is interested in more details I can provide, but the bottom line is that the U-drive option can work just fine. It took me five days of driving, I saw the entire country, sweated over some aweful potholes, but it worked.

FYI,

Rob