Old RC Aviator

My Feedback: (9)

Would any of you have a set of plans or pictures of a field bench? I've seen one in some pictures that looked sort of like a weight lifting bench in a T shape. Has uprights to hold the plane while you start the engine. Anything would be appreciated.[8D]
Jay.

KW_Counter

Do a search on Merokee.

Good Luck,
KW_Counter

ckangaroo70

My Feedback: (51)

Here are a couple starter bench pics taken at my club field.

swede5

My Feedback: (1)

Hmmmmmmmm ...............I'll bet that you don't receive too many complaints about engine noise from the "neighbors"[sm=52_52.gif]

Just too good to resist...........

And the Merokee site has downloadable plans and instructions. They build quick and do a great job.

ckangaroo70

My Feedback: (51)

Yea...our deceased neighbors are the best. They help to insure that our flying field will be around for years and years. I mean..who wants too build a sub division next to a cemetary? We don't fly when there is a funeral out of respect, but other then that we view having dead neighbors as a big plus.

Skratchbilt

My Feedback: (6)

If you're looking at something you can carry with you, and you don't have giant scale birds, here's an inexpensive idea: [Photo attached] Also, I have made uprights for a folding walker that is very light a very portable... you can find those at about any flea market for 10 bucks.

Joystick TX

You can check out another style of starter bench in my gallery. I have pics of one for the field and also a portable one for transporting and starting small planes. They are very easy to build.

KW_Counter

Joystick,
Very impressive!
I have built 2 of the Merokee style and 2 flat tops.
I prefer the flat tops as they are adjustable and it is
easy to put a lower front shelf on them.

I like the simplicity and light weight of yours.
I would put a small lower shelf on the front of it and probably put a 1x4
brace from front to back legs. We have cattle who like to use
them as scratching posts so they get more stress than most.

Thanks for sharing,
KW_Counter

Crash Campbell

Hi,

I'm not so sure that a "canny" developer won't see the potential in land adjacent to the "dead centre of town". Sorry couldn't resist.

Cheers,

Colin

Joystick TX

D

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

http://www.meroke.com/safetybench.htm

Here are the plans.

Joystick TX

bolar,

The link you provided is to the plans for a different bench. We used that type for several years at our field, but we had problems with them tipping forward with the more powerful planes and there was no good place to put the transmitter or field box if it did not have a handle.

I designed mine to use only one size of lumber (2"x6"x8') as the main building stock with very little waste, to be easy to build, to resist tipping forward when high thrust engines were used (up to 30 lbs), and to have plenty of room for a field box, starter and transmitter.

I could not upload the files for my plans eariler because they were in an MS Word format which is not supported by this forum and I had some problems converting them to the pdf format. I just tried the pdf conversion again and it seems to be working now, but some of the shading is absent.

The pdf attachment with the plans is located below the pictures in the post above.

Joystick TX

KW Counter,

I'm not sure what you would put on the lower shelf in the front. If you turn the front brace 90 deg. you could use it like a shelf. I actually did that on the last mod to the benches, but for a different reason.

You're right, these benches would need some mods to withstand cows. We move them forward and backward when we mow and they do okay, but they don't like being drug or pushed sideways.

KW_Counter

Joystick,

The shelf is a great place to put starters, starter batteries, ignitors, etc.
Yes, turning the brace horizontally will work well.

Thanks for sharing your plans with everyone.

Good Luck,
KW_Counter

Joystick TX

Still not sure if the lower shelf would get much use. I am too old and fat to bend over that far. The top has an enormous amount of room, almost 12 sq ft of space.

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

Just an observation.

I see folks, mainly older gents, putting larger airplanes on these starting stands and it makes me cringe every time they lift them off with the engine running. Usually they lift the front of the plane over the uprights. One false move and they will have a meat cutter in the face. Also I notice people reaching down to the lower shelf to put the starter away and get their head within a few inches of the prop.

Someone earlier mentioned the tendency of their starting stand to tip when the engine is a full throttle. If the engine is that big and strong, it needs to be on the ground.

wattmeter

joystrick
I like your Field Bench and do you think I could get a copy of your plans also.
Thanks
[email protected]

Joystick TX

Good points, we don't want to make things worse from a safety standpoint.

The easy way to get the plane off the stand is to use two hands and move the plane straight back; not sure why they would try to lift the plane over the uprights. I am 6'-2" tall and that is not handy for me to do. If someone is doing that, I would let them know that there is an easy and safe way to get the plane off. The one-hand lift is not good either, that is a big no-no.

So far, I have never seen anyone put anything on the lower brace (not really a shelf) with these stands. It is only 4" off the ground and not very handy. The side wings have so much room it is hard to believe that more space would be required for anything.

I had the Meroke style bench tip forward with a .70 four-stroke engine on a Telemaster. I know someone else had the same problem. I think it only took 6 to 8 lbs of thrust to tip it forward. Charlie Meyer did a great job with his design and it has been in use all over the world for many years. Unfortunately, people can make almost anything unsafe. Part of the problem with our Meroke style benches was the material we used. Our club used untreated lumber (untreated lumber is not recommended, it is too light). Also, the weight of the flight box used can make a big difference, especially if it is not placed in the "recommended" location on the bench. Our club was not using the benches in the manner recommended by Charlie. I don't think anyone knew what the correct location for the flight box was. We put the flight boxes on top of the side arms; that along with the untreated lumber created a bad CG problem and allowed the benches to tip forward very easily. The club solution was to tie a concrete block to the rear post of the bench. The rope holding the block was broken on the bench I was using, but I did not know that til it was too late.

It will take about 30 lbs of thrust to tip this bench forward, even if light-weight or untreated lumber is used. Also, the flight box weight and location on the bench will not cause a major CG shift.

I have had many requests to scale up the plans so larger planes could be put on the bench. There is some magic point at which it will be better to leave the plane on the ground, but I have no idea what that is. I think the current size is good for about 98% of the planes in use today. I did change the length slightly from the Meroke design. I think Charlie had the right length to start with, but our average plane size seems to have gotten larger over the last 8 to 10 years.

Joystick TX

The plans are in the pdf file attachment on the post above that has the bench pictures. Let me know if you have any problems.

Joystick TX

Here are some pictures of my Portable starter bench or cart. I used a Harper model pjdy2223A convertible hand truck for the cart.

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

Steve,

Interesting design you have. I built the Meroke bench a number of years ago and if you try to sit on it, it will tip. I have never seen a problem with it tipping with an airplane. We don't fly very big stuff, nothing larger than a .91 FS...so far. There has been some talk about making another bench for our field, maybe will give this design a try. Too bad we will have to wait until spring [:@].

wattmeter

[size=3]Bolar
I really like your tot car that pretty sharp, what did you use?
wattmeter[

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks, it's a Sig Field Boss (heavy) with some Harbor Freight wheels (even heavier now) stuck on. I pull a trailer to the field so I don't worry about traveling lite.

Joystick TX

The Meroke design should not have a tipping problem if it is built and used correctly. My biggest complaint was the lack of space on the top. My transmitter fell off way too many times.

KW_Counter

Joystick,
We built little pads/boxes on the outreach arms to hold transmitters.
If I had a picture I could show it better.
It was about 8" square with a 1" high lip around it.

Many of us leave our starters and ignitors at the starting bench.
When someone else wants to use the bench they just put them on the
lower shelf. Much better than the ground.

KW_Counter