W

WSBuilder

Well Known Member
Most fighter aircraft aren't any better than RV's for baggage, so they mount small pods on the hard points to carry luggage, beer and lobsters. Has anyone ever experimented with external pods for additional baggage? I'm considering adding a second "hard point" on the rear spar, inline with the tie down receptacle and building fiberglass luggage carriers. Should be able to keep CG neutral.
 
WSBuilder said:
Most fighter aircraft aren't any better than RV's for baggage, so they mount small pods on the hard points to carry luggage, beer and lobsters. Has anyone ever experimented with external pods for additional baggage? I'm considering adding a second "hard point" on the rear spar, inline with the tie down receptacle and building fiberglass luggage carriers. Should be able to keep CG neutral.
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I've long fantasized about some entrepreneur offering a fiberglass or carbon fiber external pod capable of holding a golf bag. The forward end could be hinged and capped with a propeller spinner and the back cap hinged for internal access from the back. Sure, the additional drag would be significant but you would just have to accept the fact that on some missions you will be traveling at 160 MPH instead of 180 MPH. :)
 
WSBuilder said:
Most fighter aircraft aren't any better than RV's for baggage, so they mount small pods on the hard points to carry luggage, beer and lobsters. Has anyone ever experimented with external pods for additional baggage? I'm considering adding a second "hard point" on the rear spar, inline with the tie down receptacle and building fiberglass luggage carriers. Should be able to keep CG neutral.
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It's been done, but wasn't a commercial success. Look here for a really interesting videotape on the design and construction techniques.
 
Spot On!

flyeyes said:
It's been done, but wasn't a commercial success. Look here for a really interesting videotape on the design and construction techniques.
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Have you seen the video or have a copy? What can you tell me about the pod: size, drag, weight, attachment design, etc? Mainly, since I'm building the wings and could easily incorporate the aft hard point now, is it worth pursuing?
 
WSBuilder said:
Have you seen the video or have a copy? What can you tell me about the pod: size, drag, weight, attachment design, etc? Mainly, since I'm building the wings and could easily incorporate the aft hard point now, is it worth pursuing?
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I bought the entire set several years ago. Absolutely worth the money IMHO. Unfortunately, I loaned them out (to another RV builder) and haven't gotten them back.

IIRC, the pods (one on each wing) were teardrop shaped, and hung under the wing on a pylon. The base of the pylon picked up the tiedown attach point, and wrapped around the leading edge of the wing.

The pods themselves extended slightly in front of the wing, and were maybe 4 feet long by 1 1/2 feet wide at their widest point. The nose section (like a rounded spinner) was removable.

If you are conteplating doing this, buying the video would be a complete no-brainer. It would still be a lot of work, but the education is invaluable.
 
sjjonesnz said:
Don't s'pose you've got any pictures of the pod in place do you?
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Here's a pic from that site I found. Not bolted into place, but it gives you an idea. I love the concept, like drop tanks on a P51!

pod.sized.jpg
 
panhandler1956 said:
Here's a pic from that site I found. Not bolted into place, but it gives you an idea. I love the concept, like drop tanks on a P51!

pod.sized.jpg
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A friend's RV-6 has a pair of these. They pick up the wing tie-down and you have to install two plate nuts in the top of the leading edge for two screws.

For some reason he doesn't use them while taking long trips.
 
Wings

Why could you not use the last bay of the wings, between the spars......a hinged door, held closed with 8-10 camlocks? There's little or no bending loads out there anyway. If you roll all your clothes tightly into a sausage, you could put a weeks worth of clothes in there....we did it often on scuba diving trips. The doore wouldn't need to be more than a foot long and six inches wide. No drag penalty and close to the CG too.

Regards,
Pierre
 
Good Idea

pierre smith said:
Why could you not use the last bay of the wings, between the spars......a hinged door, held closed with 8-10 camlocks?

Regards,
Pierre
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You'd have to be careful about weight differencial right/left, but not a bad idea. I think I'd use screws/nutplates to keep the skin load-bearing, though.
 
pierre smith said:
Why could you not use the last bay of the wings, between the spars......a hinged door, held closed with 8-10 camlocks?
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This actually has been done on at least one RV-4. There is a (rather brief) article titled "RV Wing Lockers" in "24 Years of the RVator" by Van that describes wing tip lockers installed by Curt Bryan on his RV-4. (Shows one photo of the locker.) Locker cover was fiberglass using piano hinges.

Two related articles in that book (with regard to loading and CG) are "Wing Tip Fuel Tanks" and an "Update" on the tanks that describes issues related to the heavy loads at the wingtips.
 
Is it worth the effort?

While building my RV-6 wings I came up with the hair-brain scheme of having a couple of hard points under the wings in order to increase the capacity of **** I could carry around with me. I placed a second tie-down point on the spar and where the Aileron Pushrod passes through the Rear Spar I manufactured a new doubler that was larger than the one provided for in the kit. This is based on a local modification (RAL 12) I used to install on Cessna 180/185's back in the days when farmers wanted to carry bails of hay under the wings out to animals stuck the snow.

After doubling the time to manufacture each wing (many hours being spent on trying to avoid boxing myself into a corner and ensuring that it was going to be safe) I drew up the additions and sent it to Vans for an opinion. Their reply was typical, uncomplimentary and probably not unexpected.

Now that I'm older and wiser I can honestly say that I have no ambition to strap stuff under the wings, be it additional fuel, snow skis or cameras. The time spent was wasted and it should have been spent building instead of dreaming. If it was such a good idea then Vans would offer them as optional equipment and every second aircraft would go flying past with them on. Unless you have a specific mission to accomplish then, IMHO, forget it and get the thing flying. And you'll be surprised how much stuff (spelt: C.R.A.P.) you can get in the back without having to worry about hanging pods out in the breeze.

As a different option, consider using the empty space in the wing tips. It's only good for the light stuff... sleeping bags and canopy covers etc... but at least it's not hanging out in the airflow slowing you down.

Regards,

Mike EVANS
RV-6 REM TO DO
Arrowtown, NZ
 
Pondering...

WSBuilder said:
Most fighter aircraft aren't any better than RV's for baggage, so they mount small pods on the hard points to carry luggage, beer and lobsters. .
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Hi Bill,
While pondering this last night, it occurred to me that you could buy the reserve fuel tanks that Safeair sells for the RV's and enlarge the tank door in the wingtip. Put whatever clothes, etc you're taking along and put them in a "sock" and slide them toward the fuselage. These tanks appear to be right about on the CG as well and they come all the way to the gas tanks...quite a bit of storage with very little added weight. http://www.safeair1.com


A thought,
Pierre
 
;)
pierre smith said:
Hi Bill,
While pondering this last night, it occurred to me that you could buy the reserve fuel tanks that Safeair sells for the RV's and enlarge the tank door in the wingtip. Put whatever clothes, etc you're taking along and put them in a "sock" and slide them toward the fuselage. These tanks appear to be right about on the CG as well and they come all the way to the gas tanks...quite a bit of storage with very little added weight. http://www.safeair1.com
A thought,
Pierre
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Pierre,
Wouldn't my clothes smell like gasoline, afterward? :D
Mike,
You said you incorporated mount capability, but did you ever follow through with any kind of pod and use it? Do you have pictures of your wing mods? I don't understand why it "doubled wing construction time", however. Seems like a fairly simple thing to grow the aft-spar doubler plate and add another tie-down fitting back there. Please expound on your experience.

Another idea I'm musing is a conformal belly "trunk", ala Cessna 308's and Skymasters. And taking heed of your admonishment to "keep building", I do most of my thinking while primer dries.
 
Ha, I have been daydreaming about a similar thing, except in the form of a belly pod. I have been dreaming about how to retrofit one of these thule/yakima cargo boxes on the belly of my plane.

http://www.amazon.com/Thule-668TT-F...000CPZVPW/ref=pd_sbs_sg_2/102-0543390-5892116

I was daydreaming this while on a recent road trip, watching these cars drive by with these cargo boxes strapped to their roofs.

Then I started day dreaming about flight-testing the belly pod and imagining all the various failure possibilities, and i quickly woke up!

Jae
 
More like a canopy on the belly

Mooney changed their belly access from numerous screw/nutplate panels to one large panel - don't remember what year. But it made access to LG and flap hyraulics much faster. I'm thinking something similar, perhaps 8 to 12" deep, spaning between the flaps. The exhuast system would need to accommodate the obstruction.
 
Bike Pod

I've been dreaming of putting some sort of pike pod on the bottom of my RV-3. It would be the ultimate combo of my two favorite hobbies. I was thinking of an inverted canopy type structure that mounts to the firewall frame and rear spar.
 
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