Jim Branaum

My Feedback: (3)

Hmmm...

I have a 6X12 V nosed trailer (special built with a torsion axle - got tired of the old one beating my planes up). To start with the wife insisted I do nothing permanent to it, so I spent a lot of money on 1/4-20 screw inserts put in with Gorilla glue. I put a floor covering in that I had intended to screw aircraft down to but discovered that was a mistake and then got fancy.

I put a shelf in the V at around 26 inches, and another at about 4ft 6 inches. The battery goes on the lower shelf because I am not Charles Atlas. I have a friend who put his on the upper shelf!

I installed a PV-68 watt peel and stick solar panel on the top to keep the battery up, led lights on the ceiling fed by the battery and a switch for them by the door.

My 2000 watt inverter (the red thing behind the white aircraft nose - a Bud Nosen Gere Sport) went in just below the lower shelf because I want all sparks to be lower than any hydrogen gas released by the battery. If you look closely, you can see a section of the lighting I used.


Then I got 'tricky'.

I installed a 2x4 every 2 feet from the front of the box to the back on both sides. Each 2x4 has a 11/16 hole drilled at 15 degrees from horizontal every 2 inches from top to bottom. Those holes are where I put in chunks of 1/2 electrical conduit covered with plumbing foam. Oh I discovered that I needed to use a 1/2 dowel chucked up to a drill and covered in 60 grit sand paper to sand each hole big enough for the conduit to go in. Drilling to 3/4 would have been way too big. The end of each chunk of conduit has a 1/2 dowel plug and an eyelet installed. I use those and small bungee cords to eyelets by each hole in the 2x4 to keep the conduit from wiggling, or falling out. I also went to WalMart and bought a couple cans of racquet balls for the end of the conduit after I cut my head up a couple of times.

On the side of each 2x4 by each hole I put a 1 inch drywall screw with a chunk of straw over it to provide tie down points for aircraft. In the back, I built a stop to hold a pop-up canopy and one on the other side to hold a couple of chairs. Without the stop, that stuff would always come forward in a sudden stop. I put a couple of chunks of PVC behind that stuff for the tent stakes. I also built by the side door a stop to keep my wings from sliding forward. The yellow thing you see is a lock that was enclosed in 3/4 inch plumbing foam and covered in heat shrink. That keeps the lock from banging and the heat shrink protects the foam. The metal (A/C) tape is to insure the solar panel edges are sealed and in the back to keep the holes I drilled sealed and the wires from sun damage. You can also see the storage system for nuts, bolts, and props I built in the side door. The ramp was primed (white) and coated with grit stuff (grey) from the hardware store. I installed more than one fire extinguisher because I worry about needing one someday for whatever.