Transport to Airport

[Larry]

I have a 80 mile freeway drive to get my fuselage to the airport. I am considering using a 4 wheel trailer and loading the fuselage in backwards. Doing this will put the mains just behind the rear wheels of the trailer and require me to tie down the tail to the trailer. The nose wheel would not be supported. I have talked to another builder who has had experience with this and he said that this would not be a problem. My gut saids that this may not be the case. Has anyone transported a RV-9A or other trike without supporting the nose wheel? I do not to stress the plane during transport.

 

[Mel]

As long as everything is properly tied down there should be no problems. We've done quite a few this way. If you plan to have the empennage installed, make sure that the control surfaces are secured with gust locks in the netural position. Wind from a passing 18 wheeler can play havoc with them.
Mel...DAR

 

[Rutus]

U-haul Option

Larry, I can't speak for the trailer approach to this, but when I moved my -6 to the airport I rented a 26 foot U-Haul truck, and everything fit great: wings and tail feathers in cradles on either side, and fuse down the center, tail first. It was almost like the truck was designed to move an RV. I built a simple set of wood ramps to get the fuse in and out. Especially if you have a risk of inclement weather, the truck option may be worth looking into.

 

[Larry]

John:

The RV-9A wheels span 7.5 ft. From the U-Haul site the inside is 7' 3" wide. What am I missing? How did you pack in the RV-6. Are its wheels closer together?

Larry

 

[Kyle Boatright]

John:

The RV-9A wheels span 7.5 ft. From the U-Haul site the inside is 7' 3" wide. What am I missing? How did you pack in the RV-6. Are its wheels closer together?

Larry

Take the load off of the wheels, tie a rope between the axles and pull the wheels inboard until they will fit in/on your trailer.

 

[Rutus]

U-Haul

On the -6 the main gear may be a little narrower track than on a -6A or -9A; I'm not sure. My main gear fit easily, though; it would not go past the wheelwells of the truck, but loading the bird tail first cured that because the gear stayed aft of the wheelwells.

Kyle's suggestion looks like a good idea, if you want to go the U-haul route.

I know many have successfully trailered their projects, but when I looked at the 60 mile drive to Tacoma Narrows airport from my house, in Seattle spring weather, and thought of the various things that can go wrong with a trailer setup, I liked the truck idea - even if U-haul did rent me one of the most tired out, thrashed, trashed POSs in the fleet (quote from the rental gal: "Oh, we assigned that one to you because you're only using it for a local job and not goping far!"

 

[Robert M]

....I liked the truck idea - even if U-haul did rent me one of the most tired out, thrashed, trashed POSs in the fleet (quote from the rental gal: "Oh, we assigned that one to you because you're only using it for a local job and not goping far!"

Right, save the good trucks for people that are moving their $5,000 worth of furniture across the state. But if you're gonna tote an $80,000+ airplane around town - a GOOD truck - what were you thinking?

.....and all that time she was probably wondering why you even bothered with a truck at all. Why not just pull it behind a car tied off with a rope - cripes, it's only an airplane for heaven's sake!

 

[mlw450802]

We darn near lost a 6A on the way to the airport when we trailered it tail first. The heavy engine in the back got the trailer swinging to the point where one wheel actually came of the ground. I was following in another car and if I could have hid my eyes, I would have. The driver did a great job getting the trailer under control.

That was light 2-wheel trailer, which might make a difference. But from now on, I trailer them engine forward, tail aft.

Absolutely!
Any two wheel trailer needs to have at least 10% of its total load as tongue weight or else instability can result.

Be careful!

-mike

 

[JohnR]

I like this photo of the truck approach.

 

[smithhb]

Haul it late at night or very early on a W/E morning

If you haul it on a livery truck or open trailer, consider hauling it at a time of the least traffic. Plan to have one person drive the truck (30mph max) and another person following (with emer. flashers). Better yet, make friends with your local law enforcement official and maybe he would give you a police escort with flashing lights (siren optional).