I live 60 miles from my site. (It's near the area where I do a majority of my work).

Is there a safe way to transport a trainer in the open back of a pick-up?? The fwy travels above 80 mph. I can put it in the cab, but my work takes me to many bad roads and hazzards.

Are there any shipping boxes or plans for such that I may use?

I was thinking of designing one myself with padding and hard sides.....anyone have any advice?

I transport my Kadet LT40 in two pieces, wing and fuse at 65-75 in back of Nissan PU on hwy with just a nylon string looped and drawn tight around prop shaft to keep it from sliding back and forth. Down draft over truck cab/bed holds everything down. I suppose you can get a spider net, those elastic bungee web nets and stretch one over bed

or do like me, buy a camper shell. That takes care of everything. Turn your truck into a "Plane Hauler"!! :LOL

Believe it or not, the air currents in the back of a pickup will actually hold the airplane in. Unfortunately, due to murphy's Law, and an odd wind gust here or there, it's a good idea to have SOME protection.

A simple rack made from PVE pipe and Foam Pipe Insulation would work well.

Lots of people use them, now if sombody will post a picture of one, I won't have to draw it .

Friends use long home made tubular sand bags. I prefer a topper or cover. Some like the rack made of pvc with straps to hold it on. You could always build a plywood box with padding like you mentioned. That would hold it.

There are some commercial ads in the marketplace for plane racks/stands some as low as $24 im not saying go buy one all you have to do is look at it and get an idea on how to make one. if you have your plane in one of those your problem would be solved. your plane would be ok in the back of a pickup but if you were to drive past a moving semi you could lose it fast (i have seen it happen to a friends plane)

LOL pauluk2w....I would hate for that to happen. I think I may invest in some pvc and make a rack, as MinnFlyer suggested so I can carry two planes and support equipment without the worry. My plywood box idea sounds like overkill, frankly. If I get into the hobby deeply enough, I will just get a trailer like I have seen some of the other guys using. I may need it to sleep in when my wife figures out how much I am spending on R/C stuff.....(just a joke)

Thanks for your help!!

You can make a carrier out of 1/2 in. or 3/4 in. pvc and custom fit it to your plane, strap it down with rubber bands. Whether or not a plane will stay in the back of an open pickup bed depends on the aerodynamics of the cab and how the flow behind it goes, and it will vary with speed, and passing another vehicle on the 4-lane can disrupt the flow around your vehicle.

Last summer I was on the way to the field, had my plane in its pvc"cradle", but not tied down. I was going between 65-70, and pulled out to pass a semi. As I drew past him, and looked behind me to see if I was clear to move back over, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, and glanced in my rearview mirror just in time to see my Rascal 40 do a flip (I had it in the truck bed with the tail against the front of the bed) and the fuse came down over the tailgate and broke the plane in two just in front of the empennage. The control rods were the only thing that kept the tail from leaving for good, and the plane was bouncing around like the whole thing was going to depart my truck for the underneath side of the transfer truck that was now just behind me. I managed to pull off the road without getting run over or losing my plane. The fuse was crunched, but I managed to repair it (rebuild it) and I've had many good flights since. Since then, I have never put a plane in the back of my truck without securing it to its cradle.

I think if you're not going far or very fast, you might get away with it. One of my friends comes out with his GP DR-I just sitting in the back of his pickup, not tied down or anything, but he says he never goes over 35-40, and only lives a couple of miles from the field. I think the "bow wave" of air from the semi disrupted the airstream around my truck enough that the turbulence grabbed the tail of my plane. I had carried it many times before without trouble, I was just lucky.

What would happen if you got caught in a strong rainstorm? A pvc rack for the plane and an inexpensive shell on the back to cover it would take care of that.

Rain is exactly why I decided on my camper shell, not to mention air flow. I can haul planes in the dry and without air flow. As far as inexpensive shell goes, I think those words don't go together! I paid 1100$ for mine, of course it is color matched to my Red Pickup.

I made a wood rack for my shell. I can haul two planes on the bed of my truck, and two more planes on the upper wood rack (rails). Thus I can haul 4 60 size planes to the field at a time. (or 5 40 size depending upon actual size)...

Here's a new one for ya. Just get yourself some inexpensive shower curtain rods...you know the kind you can twist to extend. Simply put a couple of em across the bed of your truck, with some pipe insulation on em. Set the plane(s) on top of em and use a couple bungees to hold em down. Works like a charm, it's removable...in a second...but rain will still be an issue. Me personally, if the weather man says rain, I pick another passtime.

Jim C

Well, although rain has been an issue here recently, most years we get less than 10 inches. I would not drive 60 miles if there was much of a chance for rain. Our club closes the field when it gets wet anyway, to preserve the roads.


I like all of the ideas so far. Thank you guys for the help. I really do appreciate it. The curtain rod idea sounds useful for other loads as well. To keep things from moving around back there.

My Dad made a contraption out of PVC pipe and pipe insulation and it works pretty well as long as you have enough bunggee cords to hold it on.

Always transport your plane with the nose facing forward in your pickup and as close to the front of the bed as possible. A few years ago a friend of mine showed up at the field with his Cub and a couple others in the back of his truck with the back ends facing the front. All three had the back ends completely busted off. He was really hot!. On his way to the field he had to avoid an accident by slamming on the brakes and those planes went sailing into the front of the bed .

It has happened from time to time here when a guy will show up with his plane -not in the same condition he loaded it up in when he left his house. Traffic lights also cause damage by hitting the brakes on one of those bad lights where you wanted to go through it but didn't. Careful on the bungie cord thing. Consider long strips of velcro. The stretch of the Bungie may cause damage

Thank you Dog,

That is useful and enlightening information. I truly appreciate it. I have concerns regarding stops, and bad roads. I will follow yours and other's advice on this subject. I really do want to learn from the experiences of others...it's waaaay cheaper that way.

Thanks again to you all

I cannot tell you how many PVC holders I have made. Seems like once i made one, It always needed improvement or a I saw someone elses that I liked better. Good thing about PVC is that its cheap. You can cut it with a regular wood saw. I then decided to make one that is more universal. Thing is I found something that I also use with the pipe insulation. Pipe insulatin only comes in so thick. Some stores like Walmart or somthing have those thick long foam style tubes that kids use for swimming. They have a hole in them just like the pipe insulation. So, one day you could put a wide plane in your holder using the thin insulation and another day you can use a skinny plan and put the thick type on to keep the plane more secure.

You may go through several versions before you end up with one that works.

When I build a cradle out of pvc, I make a base for it that extends beyond the front and back of the plane, so if it slides around, this base prevents the plane itself from hitting the truck. I've tried facing the planes "into the wind", but it seems to buffet them more, at least in my truck (full size GM). Putting them tail first keeps the aerodynamic surfaces out of the slipstream (except of course when I pass a transfer truck)

im new to this hobby and was paranoid about killing my trainer before i learned to fly it. Just so happenes that if i put the two main gear into the boots i had laying in the back of my truck it stayed put really well. But ive since improved that and spent 17 bucks at menards and ended up with this to hold onto it. cya, Dave

I have made a plane carrier out of pvc pipe that I have put on a plywood board. the pvc is only pressure fit together on between major components and pressed into holes in the plywood. this makes it easier to break apart the setup for changing the configuration for different types of planes be they planes with wings permanetly attached or removalable wings. I use bungee cord that I bought at a marine store and assembled myself so that the cord has very little tentionto hold it on the foam covered pvc pipe. the bungee cord attaches to the fram by using svreww in eyelets on the plywood board. the bungee has a hook on oneside and a loop that I can make a lasso slip knot to put over the eyelets to fasten down the ends. the eyelets also give me tie down points when the plane is to big to stick in a rack. the front of the plywood has a 2x4 in fron with two handlesto slide the board in and out of the truck. I bungee my flight box between the two handles at the front to keep it from slamming the plane. my truck bed is covered with and extang tonneau cover that rolls up easy to protect the plane from wind, rain and prying eyes of who might want to take it when I am not around. my tailgate locks so no casual lookers can see in. the cover remains on at all times and the plane slide out on the board

just a quick add in, if you decide to make a pvc rack which i definatly recommend ive got a neat trick for you. Make it adjustable that way its good for more then just one airplane. To make adjustable take the "T" that you would use for your uprights, put it in a vise and use a hacksaw to cut lengthwise down it. now crimp it in the vise a little tighter and use a 1" spade bit to bore it out. be VERY carefull doing this as your drill may want to catch and jump around a bit. After boreing out use a half round file to smooth it up a bit. There you go a "T" fitting that will slide and be adjustable. To hold mine in place i drilled a few holes on the horizontal pipe and also through the "T" and pin it in place with a pin i found at my local hardware store for a few cents. works great and very adjustable to all planes. In fact mine holds three and looks rather impressive all loaded up. Oh the one inch size spade bit is for useing 3/4 pipe which i recommend for stands.