I just bought a RV-10 and really excited to take delivery however, my FBO told me that that I cannot keep my plane there. They made the decision to stop accepting RV-10 because the tow bar that connects to their tugs has come off and damaged the wheel pants on a few of them. They make the statement that their tugs will not attach to the axle bolts securely. Has anyone else heard of this? Does anyone have a workaround that will help this issue for the FBO? Is there an Axle extension that will bring the bolds out of the wheel pants to connect to? Just looking for ideas.
Van's Air Force
The definitive Van's Aircraft support community! Buying, building or flying an RV? Join our exclusive family of mentors and enthusiasts!
My FBO Won’t Use a TUG to move my RV-10
- Thread starter magaharp
- Start date
Move it yourself.
Best tugs
Maybe call best tugs and ask if they have any kind of FBO adapter
Best tugs
Maybe call best tugs and ask if they have any kind of FBO adapter
FBO tugs
New to me plane brought home yesterday. Shared hangar, used to leaving plane at FBO, they put it away. After an hour yesterday they called and said they had no way of doing this with available equipment, must use tug bar. I'm grateful they did not risk the plane. Is this true for most RV10s...
vansairforce.net
I used a longer axle bolt on my 6A with a spacer on each side to put the head and nut further out.
I also have a wider main washer on each side to take the clamping rubbing action.
I have an electric tug that I use for putting the plane back in the hangar - I get my exercise manually pulling it out.
The longer bolt allows for a real good seating of the tug.
I also have a wider main washer on each side to take the clamping rubbing action.
I have an electric tug that I use for putting the plane back in the hangar - I get my exercise manually pulling it out.
The longer bolt allows for a real good seating of the tug.
Did someone forget to remove the nose wheel pin? Doh!
No, too small of a tug on an incline. Unsupervised new lineman. Tug jackknifed, towbar broke and plane wing ran over tug. Tug driver ran away. Insurance totaled the plane.
Ouch. That’s one way to move up to a 900LX
Thanks for the comments. I would move it myself if they would allow but you know how community hangers are. If you are familiar with the Atlanta area, there is NO hanger space anywhere, especially T hangers. I am looking to find a single hanger but until then, te only one I have access to is a community. I will discuss the extensions. From Bogart with them and see what they say. Thanks everyone for the help. BTW, this is NOT at RYY.
One other consideration based on my experience with the airport tow bar. You might need to enlarge the tow bar holes in the nose wheel fairing as well as install the longer bolts. I have the longer Bogart bolts installed, but the large tow bar used fit into the holes was too snug and ended up cracking the fairing around the hole. I believe someone makes a steel "grommet" for that hole, which may be larger and afford additional protection against damage from the airport's tow bar. You might want to talk to the airport about this as an additional protection if the extended bolts are not sufficient.
Thanks so much. This is really helpful and I appreciate the picture. I am going to give it a try. And my search for a T hangers in Atlanta continues.
Thanks. The steel grommet should also help.
My nosewheel axle is a bit off on the horizontal axis, so the arms of my Best Tug don't engage evenly. Even being careful, the closing arm has eventually hit and damaged the fiberglass around the hole on that side.. I repaired the fiberglass and filled those openings...just waiting on paint shipment. The original holes in the wheel pant were too big for the Flyboy Accessories Tug Guards (stainless steel grommets), so now that they're filled, I'll re-drill them smaller. These tug guards were originally designed for the RV-10.
And here is an article about a guy who fabricated adapters for his RV-10.
Using a Best Tugs Alpha A3 with a Van's RV-10 and FlyBoy tug guards - Strikhedonia
Whelp I sure created a lot more work than was necessary. A bit of background, I share my hanger with a Cessna 180 and my partner has a Best Tugs Alpha A3. When I moved my plane in with her I tried to use her tug on my plane but found the adapters were too wide to fit in the…
www.strikhedonia.com
Those tug guards look very nice but too much for me. I am building a tug from a Jazzy dual motor mobility chair. I bashed the crap out of my wheel pants trying to make it work. Those little bolts are not the best to connect to and not at the best pivot point. I ended up putting 4 layers of carbon fiber on the exterior to strengthen them. I then took one of those round hard plastic door slam guards that you stick on a wall so the handle doesnt crash the drywall and drilled it out with a 1" bit. They are about a 3" diameter. My plan is to either rivet or nut plate it on. I think the hard plastic will give the protection needed and if it gets scratched up it is only a couple bucks to change it out.
This is my tug. It is still in the - it works but not great stage. Im going to get some wider tires for better winter traction and fine tune the connection but it works. What I really need is to learn how to drive it better. I have only a few inches between the propeller on the Glastar and the hangar door so it is tricky!!
This is my tug. It is still in the - it works but not great stage. Im going to get some wider tires for better winter traction and fine tune the connection but it works. What I really need is to learn how to drive it better. I have only a few inches between the propeller on the Glastar and the hangar door so it is tricky!!
... Another variation.
I busted up my holes when the tug popped of as well and instead of fiberglass I 3d printed these out of polycarbonate and made the hole in the wheel pant bigger. It took a bit to get them right, since there is both an angle and slightly different depths right and left, which makes them a one-off application. The bolt goes through the center and they are strong enough that I don't "need" to capture the bolt with the tug. Before I put the pants back on I did my very best to break them yanking around with the tug set to very loose and they didn't show any tendency to want to give up.
Solved both the scuffing challenge and the capture.
Derek
I busted up my holes when the tug popped of as well and instead of fiberglass I 3d printed these out of polycarbonate and made the hole in the wheel pant bigger. It took a bit to get them right, since there is both an angle and slightly different depths right and left, which makes them a one-off application. The bolt goes through the center and they are strong enough that I don't "need" to capture the bolt with the tug. Before I put the pants back on I did my very best to break them yanking around with the tug set to very loose and they didn't show any tendency to want to give up.
Solved both the scuffing challenge and the capture.
Derek
