Plane rack for pickup
 

From what I've learned about R/Cers, you are all a bunch of pretty innovative individuals....so I've got a no brainer for you.

Has anyone come up with a good way to carry a plane in a pickup (with a canopy on of course). So far I've been putting the fuselage section in the thingies on top of my field box and that stay's put OK, but the wing is kinda left to it's own defences.

I imagine that with a case of ale, a pot of dark roast and a little time I could dream something up, but I figure someones been there done that already.

Hmmmmm...how about something that would lift out of the truck to hang directly on the wall in my garage.....

Your thoughts?

Plane rack for pickup
 

Here's a good thread on Plane Stands

Some pretty creative folks:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...t=plane+stands]

Plane rack for pickup
 

Some bedliners (Leonard made mine) have built in pockets that will hold 2x4's spanning the length of the bed. These notches allow you to carry sheets of plywood in the bed, and are at the same height as the fender indentions. Cut the 2x4's to length, wrap them with indoor/outdoor carpet (not astroturf), and use velcro tie wraps around your landing gear to hold the fuse in place. I do this with my magic, and dont even have to take the wing off. You can also epoxy a couple of pieces of furring strip (1in x 1in in the aluminum channel of your cap, with enough clearance for a long piece in between to span the upper portion of the bed. Just screw a piece of furring strip into one of the pieces with a single screw on either side of the bed, so it can rotate over the span piece and hold it in place. Wrap the span piece with carpet, and you now have two levels for holding planes. The top level comes out easily for large planes, or the dreaded non-rc activities.
Using that system I was able to get 9 planes of various sizes (.10 up to a 42% bipe and a 1/4 scale extra) in the back of my truck at one time, plus 6 gallons of fuel and other misc stuff. (and its a regular bed Toyota)
For my U Can Do 3d, I am making some PVC U shaped channels that will slip into electrical conduit retainers on my 2x4's. Two will hold the fuse (70 inches long), and two tall yet narrow ones will hold the wing (65 inches). Use some pipe insulation on the pvc, and will save a bunch of hangar rash. The PVC retainers will just slip into their "sockets"(retainers), and can be removed when hauling other planes. My main goal is to be able to transport the UCD on the lower level (in two pieces), and the magic (1 piece with the wing bolted on) on the top level. Field box and fuel on the floor, bungee corded down, along with room for a couple of fold up chairs.

One more great tip is to run a 12 volt power lead directly from your battery to the back of your truck. Put a 30 amp fusable link at the battery end, and connect it to a Radio Shack 3 outlet cigarette lighter unit. Use a pair of Tamiya battery connectors for an RC car so you can take the power station out if needed. I also added two pairs of female banana sockets within the cigarette lighter unit. Use at least 12 or 14 gauge wire for your feed, and tie wrap it up out of the way under your chassis. This gives you a convenient place to put a field charger, cell phone charger, spotlight, or any other 12 volt device. I have used mine to fuel and start a plane when my gel cell died in my field box.

Good Luck,

Steve

Plane rack for pickup
 

I've got three words for you...

P V C

You're options are unlimited. And it's cheap!

Mike

Plane rack for pickup
 

I have seen many PVC hangers / Holders it is a cheep way to go and easily modified. for the next plane.

Plane rack for pickup
 

I ended up puttong padded boards in the "boarholders" in the bed-liner. After talking with the folks that built my canopy, I am also going to make some brakets that I can attach near near the canopy ceiling to hold flat/light things like wing sections. turns out that I can just back a ccouple of the screws out that hold the window flange in, mount a flat metal bracket, and run the screws back in. Neat and tidy and gives me a THIRD level of racks!

Plane rack for pickup
 

I have a unique problem with regards to my truck/working/flying. I am a network consultant and I have to carry quite a bit of tools and materials in my truck, and it can sometimes be a huge pain in the butt to unload to go to the flying field (and yes, I do have a canopy on my truck). I went to wal-mart and got shower curtain rods that screw out to adjust. used no-skid foam draw liners from office depot to wrap the rods with for cushioning. now when I go to the field I put on set of rods at the top of the truck bed walls (bottom of the canopy) and one set above the window in the canopy. screw them out tight and they stay put with no problems. you can adjust the placement of the rods fore/aft to fit the plane of the day. and the great thing for me is that it hauls my planes to the field and I still have all my work tools riding underneath the planes.

works for me.

Plane rack for pickup
 

David: Check the April 2002 issue of Radio Control Modeler magazine, page 22, for a design that worked for me. Bill Beardsley

Plane rack for pickup
 

Yep, shower curtain rods are the way to go. Cheap, reliable and quick and easy to remove when you need to haul something else in your pickup.

The only thing I do different is I use pipe insulation instead of the non skid drawer liners for cushioning. I also use a couple of bungee cords to tie everything down because my pickup doesn't have a topper.

PVC Rack
 

I transport three planes in my OPEN pickup like this. I store them like this using the floor space of one plane to store many. I have only gone four high ,as shown, so far and it is still very stable.

Plane rack for pickup
 

Jim, neat idea. If you wanted to get to say the third one down how hard is it to separate the stand at that point?

Ed M.

Plane rack for pickup
 

PVC is really a great way to go and you can lift it out of the truck easily. Also it doesn't hurt to get wet so you can leave it anywhere. I use a bottom frame glued together and I added some small eye hooks to strap the different planes down. I added "T"'s (4 on each side) and added padded uprights stuck in them to handle the wings of the larger planes. Don't glue these in as they get in the way of the smaller planes. I carry them with the main wing already secured to the fuse.

If you want to run 12V power from your truck battery to the rear, make sure you add the 30amp fuse as was previously mentioned. Wires can rub under the truck and leave you stranded when they knock out your electrical systems. Also don't skimp on wire size. You will need 10 ga wire to start those bigger engines. Solder everything to eliminate future headaches.

Plane rack for pickup
 

Bentgear:
Each plane has it's own stand and they just lift apart with a little wiggeling. (You can adjust fit with sand paper.) When I get to the field I diassemble the whole rack and carry each plane with stand to flight line.

Plane rack for pickup
 

I like to use bungi cords (strap down elastic) to carry my wing. I stretch one across the back of the bed, one acros the front of the bed and then attach two in the middle (connected to the other two) This pulls an houglass shape in the cords. I then place wing across the cords and use two small cords across the wing and attached to the other cords, on both ends to hold the wing down. very smooth ride for the wing.

Plane rack for pickup
 

Thanks Jim, I may just have to borrow that idea..........Ed