[ColbyS]

So I find myself in Honolulu... for the next 3 years.

I have this itch to begin my build. The problem I face is that in 3 years I will be moving back to the mainland, so I'll need to find a way to ship what I have built back to the mainland. I am active duty military and they won't send an airplane back to the mainland for me.. ::cries:::

Any ideas?
I would say I'd like to have at least the empennage and the wings done by then. Possibly be on the fuselage by then.
If it wont be that much to crate it up and ship then that's what I'll do. Hopefully I can do that for under 1K.

 

[mannanj]

Shipping

So I find myself in Honolulu... for the next 3 years.

I have this itch to begin my build. The problem I face is that in 3 years I will be moving back to the mainland, so I'll need to find a way to ship what I have built back to the mainland. I am active duty military and they won't send an airplane back to the mainland for me.. ::cries:::

Any ideas?
I would say I'd like to have at least the empennage and the wings done by then. Possibly be on the fuselage by then.
If it wont be that much to crate it up and ship then that's what I'll do. Hopefully I can do that for under 1K.

Back in the Stone Ages, (Early 70's), I rebuilt an Aeronca Champ while stationed at Hickam AFB, HI. When I rotated back to the Mainland, I went to the shipping company and gave them a 3 view drawing along with the cubic footage area of the crate I was going to ship the Champ back in. When they brought the container out to the airport, they gave me the seal for the door. Needless to say, I didn't built the crate, I used the whole container, fuselage in the center, one wing on each wall, and sealed the door. I had the whole container for about one fifth the price it would have been if I had asked for the complete container. Apparently, 99 per cent of the containers come back to the mainland empty, so they don't worry about how you load them. Don't count on that though. If necessary, I would build a sturdy crate to ship it back in.

The shipping rate for the cubic area was classified as "household goods" instead of general freight. Which made it higher in cost.

It's possible to ship things back and if I were ready to build, I'd get busy!

 

[FlyArmy]

I wouldn't spend my 3 year assignment in Hawaii in a garage or hangar building...there is too much to do there that you will look back and wish you'd done. Shipping of all the things you'll need to order will be outrageously expensive. If you love aviation, there are a lot of flying related things you can do. I got tired of paying to rent a plane there so I got a glider add-on when I got back from Iraq and got a weekend job on the north shore flying gliders. If you get a commercial ASEL license (not sure how close you are) there are jobs flying tow planes, jump planes, and even some other stuff that always need pilots due to their turnover of people building hours in those jobs.

Having never gone through a build I may not be qualified to give advice regarding a build, but after living in Hawaii for 3 years, I still have things on my list to do that will be difficult unless I move out there again. That list would be infinitely longer if I was dedicated to a build. Not to mention, even with $2300 of BAH I couldn't afford a place big enough to support a build, unless I was just doing small things. Just my $.02. Good luck either way!

 

[don.olandese]

DoD (Army) shipped an Ultralight out of Panama...

...some years ago for me. crated her up and shipped her as an oversized item, no problem. I was a civilian employee, not active duty tho, so maybe that makes a difference. i'd check to see if PARTS (as in hobby items/materials) are authorized for shipment as as HHG. it probably won't be a real (complete) airplane in three years, will it? also, stretching a bit, the fuselage might go as a metal planter, the wings as matching metal tables, etc. there are all kinds of alternative uses for airplane PARTS...

 

[mannanj]

Hawaii

I rebuilt the Champ and still had time to do all the fun things to do in Hawaii. Finished my Private Pilots License, learned to scuba dive, camped and scuba dived/snorkled Hanauma Bay and on the North Shore near Dillingham where the sailplanes are. I learned to "ridge soar" my Champ when I finished the rebuild and left "claw marks" in the tarmac when they had to drag me onto the airplane to leave for good!

 

[ColbyS]

Flyarmy, I'm dual military, so they take my wives BAH and I get all of mine to bank. We live in a nice 2bedroom house with a one car garage. It should be able to handle the empennage and wings.

I just cant spend my 3 years spending money every weekend exploring. There are only so many things you can do here (including all the islands). I'm sure after I leave there will be things I wish I would have done in this **** near one in a life time opportunity to live here.

This coming week I'm gonna call up some shipping companies and see what the price for X size containers would cost me. Maybe call the POD company.

... will it? also, stretching a bit, the fuselage might go as a metal planter, the wings as matching metal tables, etc. there are all kinds of alternative uses for airplane PARTS...

That's awesome.. hhaha.. Don, metal tables that you don't want the shippers to dent! The most smoothest tables you have ever seen! So do I just put my metal planter in the yard and put some pots in it..

 

[springer]

I rebuilt the Champ and still had time to do all the fun things to do in Hawaii. Finished my Private Pilots License, learned to scuba dive, camped and scuba dived/snorkled Hanauma Bay and on the North Shore near Dillingham where the sailplanes are. I learned to "ridge soar" my Champ when I finished the rebuild and left "claw marks" in the tarmac when they had to drag me onto the airplane to leave for good!

I was there the same time as you working at Hickam Harbor. Soloed at Ford Island thanks to the AFROTC FIP program. Great x-country to Hana, Maui....$14/hr wet.

 

[ColbyS]

So I did some calling today. I called PODs. They have a 8'wide,8 tall, 16 long container.
Cost to ship from honolulu to Las Cruces, NM was....... Drum roll please......
$4,180.
Looks like I'll be doing some more research. Maybe I'll be able to use the PODs for my household goods when I leave and put my project in one along with what ever house items I can pack around it. Then the military will just go by how much weight I'm allowed.

We had a 4 bedroom house in Texas. And didn't even use half of the weight we were allowed allotted. Only thing is, if we use PODs, it will be out of pocket and have to WAIT for good ole Uncle Sam to reimburse. We all know how that is..

 

[Dbro172]

Sounds about right.

So I did some calling today. I called PODs. They have a 8'wide,8 tall, 16 long container.
Cost to ship from honolulu to Las Cruces, NM was....... Drum roll please......
$4,180.
Looks like I'll be doing some more research. Maybe I'll be able to use the PODs for my household goods when I leave and put my project in one along with what ever house items I can pack around it. Then the military will just go by how much weight I'm allowed.

We had a 4 bedroom house in Texas. And didn't even use half of the weight we were allowed allotted. Only thing is, if we use PODs, it will be out of pocket and have to WAIT for good ole Uncle Sam to reimburse. We all know how that is..

A coworker of mine recently relocated his family to to Honolulu (or somewhere thereabouts.) I asked him a similar question a few weeks ago and his response was I could get a sea container for about $5k. I think that's how he shipped his boat.