Why not transport your fully assembled aircraft to the field?
I finally solved the problem of transporting, assembling and disassembling an aircraft at the flying field. This method also gets a lot of thumbs up from passerby’s while on the highway
Roger
The cradle is held in place in the truck bed by four lashings on each of the four corners of the cradle, the lashings are connected to the tie down points in the truck bed. The cradle also has forty pounds of weight attached to it for extra security (flat cinder blocks).
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The plane is held in the cradle by two lengths of ½” hardwood dowels covered with ¼” thick foam. Each dowel is designed to fit into a clevis at each end of the cradle. The two dowels straddle the top of wing and thisis what actually keeps the plane held in the cradle. The cradle is padded and is designed to allow the plane a slight amount of wing roll movement; ½” up and ½” down. The Velcro straps seen in the photos keep the two dowels from popping out of the clevises during wing roll movement.
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Stress on the flight control surfaces is not a concern due to no power being applied to the flight controlservos during transport; therefore the flight control surfaces are free to move up or down if subjected to air turbulence over their surfaces. Flight control surfaces are subjected to much more stress during actual flying due to the servo’s deflecting the flight controls in the air stream.
Roger
unsafe....
Unsafe, then explain and enlighten me as to why you think this transportation system is unsafe?
It does look like your wings stick out a little though, that would be my only concern.
I'm just finishing a 1/4 Se5a and planned to transport it in my trailer on an angle, it will fit.
But thinking about it, I like to check all the servos, fuel system, batteries and pull cables before each flight so it will probably still be assembled at the field.
You could always teach a squirrel how to fly and get him to transport it there for you
The model flies faster than the 80 kmh that I get to going to the model field, The control surfaces are neutral so there is minimum load applied to the unpowered servos.... what is happening during the trasportation of the model that would be any different to the flight loads?
The only drama I could see on ForcesR's setup is that the outboard sections of the wing are in the airstream and therefore producing lift, which will be adding loads to the wing mid and root sections.... other than that, Can't see all fuss???
Thanks
Dave
Roger,
The only concerns I would have are the wings as things get kicked up from the road. My windshield has some comments on that one.
The other thing is people following me to my house to get a 5 finger discount later when I'm at work.
Either way, I wouldn't tell you you're wrong, do what ya gotta do!
Tim
I also don't want anyone to know what I am transporting to and from the field.
Can't tell what that is? A trailer? A box on the bed of a pickup?
I built a 4-Star 120 with an 81" wingspan. I figured the wing would fit katty-korner in the back of my Nissan Frontier (72" long bed with a camper shell on top). WRONG!!! Doesn't fit! The only way it fits is to stick the last 6 inches out the back with the camper shell door partially open.
I know, I know - shoulda built the wing in two halves.
I will just continue to carry mine in pieces and assemble at the field.
There have been people killed from dodging couch cushions, mattresses, aluminum ladders, plastic buckets that fly off the back of vehicles. Can you live with that?
Thumbs up from passing motorists is false accolade! THINK. BE SMART! It's not worth a thumbs up to transport a balsa framework like this. It's a lose/lose proposition!
The trailer frame was built from 2" square tubing, and has a final dimension of 4'x8'. It is 43" tall inside.
I've been thinking about doing an article on the trailer - anyone interested? I took pictures as I built it...
That was until one day he showed up at the field, and got out of his truck cussing up a storm...he then pull what was left of the wings out of the cab(he had stopped and picked up the two pieces....welll 2 big pieces anyways). He then pulled the fuse, (which at this point looked like a limp noodle) off the mount.
He said everything was fine, then it just started wobbling in its mount and then kinda exploded out of the back of his truck before he could even get it stopped...
good thing was, that the wing did'nt really hurt the car behind him that it hit(the wing).[:@] (and they didnt crash trying to avoid it.)[:'(]
Casey
Wow, the net nannies are all over this one.
Have any of you even been in the back of a truck while it barrels down the road?