[flyboykelly]

We've come to a point in our life where it's time to move closer to family. We are going to be moving from Detroit to Florida and I need to move my partially completed RV-8. I can fit the fuse in a 16ft Penske truck, but there is one problem. I have the Emp already attached and it's over 8 ft wide. A Penske truck is only 7ft wide. The HS is a pain to get off, so I was wondering if anyone has ever been successful in getting an rv-8 into a truck with the emp attached, possibly on an angle.

 

[hydroguy2]

Just pull it off. I did not want to pull my HS and VS off for paint, but did. It took a whole 10 minutes.

AND I'm certain we got a better job prepping and painting the underside of everything. We figure we'll recoup some time during the painting and striping as we'll now be able to do the HS and rudder seperate from the fuse. Going back on will take a touch longer, but no biggy in the whole scheme of things. Also moving the fuselage around in the booth is much easier without worrying about dragging a tip.

 

[Danny7]

if you have a rotisserie you can put it in at an angle. This is done regularly with lancair legacys for shipping. just make sure everything is strapped down well, even screw the rotisserie to the floor of the truck and then pad everything

 

[scsmith]

smaller truck=softer ride?

I moved my RV-8 to and from the paint shop in a 24-ft box truck.

I did remove my horizontal tail.

I needed the length because the engine was installed.
On the way up, I used a Penske, on the way back, a U-haul.

With the Penske, I guess the one with the round tires was extra-- my gosh what a harsh ride. I thought I had everything strapped down well, I used the plywood dummy spar stubs to chain the fuselage down. I checked on things after about 100 miles and one of the plywood dummy spar stubs had broken! Good thing I had BIG wheel chocks, or it would have moved around more. I replaced the plywood ones with some solid fir ones that I had made.

The U-haul did have somewhat better ride, but still, it was pretty harsh.

I would assume that the smaller trucks have lighter-duty axles and it will ride smoother for you, but be sure that everything is really held down well.

 

[rvbuilder2002]

Just pull it off. I did not want to pull my HS and VS off for paint, but did. It took a whole 10 minutes.

I agree...It wont take as long as you think.

The other thing to do (I am assuming it is on the gear since the tail is on) remove most of the air from the main gear tires. Don't make them flat, but make them like a soft basket ball that can't be bounced. Fully inflated tires will cause a lot of bounce no matter how tight you tie it down.

 

[John Clark]

Payload

The U-haul did have somewhat better ride, but still, it was pretty harsh.

I would assume that the smaller trucks have lighter-duty axles and it will ride smoother for you, but be sure that everything is really held down well.

The truck's ride would improve if you had a 10,000 lb. airplane.


John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

 

[Ted RV8]

Remove the Horizontal and Vertical...

As others have said the amount of time it takes is minimal. Not worth the risk of damage.

Also as others have pointed out. The ride from those trucks is very harsh and avoid it if you can. Look for a lighter duty truck or trailer that the fuselage will fit on. Even if you have to adapt something to make the trailer work, it's worth the softer ride.

One final note. Be sure and put bolts back in the lower mount for the vertical. These bolts also hold the tailwheel weldment in place. Without bolts in there things can move around, especially with a stiff ride.

Ted

 

[tomagin]

I moved my RV-8 to Florida in a U-Haul -- 26ft.

I looked at the other trucks available and chose the U-haul for the following reasons.

1. None of the other companies would allow a lift gate truck to leave on a one-way rental.

2. The low deck height made it easier to load. I rolled it in on the gear [engine and prop were on] tailwheel first using an electric boat winch and the raised wheel wells in the truck acted as natural chocks. My sloping driveway helped to reduce the loading angle by quite a bit. Ramps were 2x12s. Put the winch in reverse to lower it out when I arrived in Florida.

3. I hung the wings on each side at the back and they were not even close to the fuselage. Used strips of carpet suspended from the wooden rails on the side.

4. 26ft left plenty of room for all the other bits and piecees plus all the tools, workbenches, etc.


There is a lot on the web about the reliability factor with U-Haul. I rented from a large location in NJ and they were happy to hand pick a low mileage truck for me and I had no problem on the 1300 mile drive.

Just as a coincidence I live in a large fly-in community in Florida -- Spruce Creek --- and just the other day a 26ft U-Haul arrived with a RV-7 in it. Unfortunately the Rv7 won't fit on the gear like the -8.

I think the rental was about $1200 plus gas. Around 1300 miles included vs the 1000 actual and I had 4 days to make the trip and return the truck.

 

[cnpeters]

I assume the plane is on its gear? If so, the protection there is worth a lot (your plane is built to withstand loads in this config as opposed to building some rotisserie or tilting rig), and I would just remove the horiz stab and hang it from the wooden side rails (with padding and foam blocks). Then take 100's of feet of rope and tie the plane in all ways to prevent shifting. Wings can go in jigs (you still have them, right?) and fasten securely to one side.
When I moved my sub-assemblies (fuse, winds, empennage, finish kit crate, benches, tool boxes, etc, I had everything so tied it looked like a spider web in the 26 foot Budget truck. Nothing moved, all came through OK.
I would highly recommend checking the load every 100 miles, too.

 

[E. D. Eliot]

Partain

Partain moves airplanes and parts for a living. Don't know if they go from your point A to your point B but if they do, I'd consider letting them do it = professional airplane movers. Check them out.

 

[jarvis]

My Mistake

Since I recently did this (approx 1200 mi)--I'll chime in here. I had a Budget 26 footer (approx $650, 4 days, unlimited miles). This size truck is a VERY rough ride since, as already pointed out, it is essentially empty with one of our RV's in the back. A smaller truck will ride better--but it's very hard to cram airplanes in and protect from damage at the same time.

The fuse was set on furniture pads (no gear) with a pair of folded pads under the small end so it would set level. Three ratchet straps from the wooden false spar and the tail bulkhead to eyescrews in the truck floor held it very tightly--and perfectly.

The wings were wrapped in furniture pads and put in the original crates. The crates were strapped to the truck wall and blocked at the bottom (2X's screwed to the truck floor). No problem.

The emp parts and wing tips were wrapped carefully and set on edge in convenient spaces. These parts travel best on edge--this was second emp move for me. No problem.

The finish kit was in the original Van's crate. Crate was set against the truck wall and held there by 2X blocks (stacked 3 high) screwed together/to the truck floor. We did not fasten the crate down nor replace all the screws in the crate lid, unfortunately.

Herein lies my bitter lesson that might save someone some grief. You must understand that these parts, crates, airplanes will bounce 1-2 feet in the air in these trucks if not fastened DOWN tight, very tight.

The finish crate bounced up on 5 1/2" of blocks which twisted the whole thing, popped the lid completely off (see above--screws, lid ,etc.) and damaged/ruined the new canopy inside.

 

[jarvis]

BTW, it was a 24 foot truck, not a 26 .