M3220

I am looking for plans for pilot stations made out of pvc that can be moved for mowing the field without too much work.
We now have a fence with wooden posts and plastic fence material. Needs to be replaced post have been in the earth for 27 years. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

52larry52

My Feedback: (1)

A few of years ago I made a couple of portable pilot stations for one of my clubs that was hosting a pattern event. I bought two 8' sections of pre-made PVC picket fence sections from Home Depot, then I cut both sections in half, added hinges in the middle at the cut line (small wood blocks were needed inside the hollow fence rails), added a small foot in the middle to keep it level, and I had two foldable, lightweight, good looking pilot stations without a great amount of work or money. My other club uses sections from a metal cattle feeding ring as pilot stations. A country feed store will carry these. Both of these methods allow for a movable station when it's grass cutting time.

jetmech05

We don't use pilot station guards at my field. We have them on standby for big events made from PVC they're easy to make just measure and glue

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

One idea for you, make one a little wider than the next. Then when you need to move them out of the way, they will nest together and take up much less room.

jester_s1

Did you ever consider putting down some landscape fabric and mulch in the pilot stations so you wouldn't need to mow there? I'm spoiled with the concrete pilot boxes at my field, but I can't think of any negatives of standing on wood mulch to fly instead of trampled grass that's mostly dirt. It would be a big plus after a rain as well.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Problem up here in the Midwest with Mulch, Gravel or any other non solid surface is eventually weeds and grass will grow up through it, then ya have to deal with that constantly,, better off just having the grass and movable pilot stations.

kenh3497

The pilot stations at our feild are a bit on the tattered side. The are just "loops' of 1 1/2" PVC with short legs that slip onto sleeves in the ground. They all have some chain link fence to fill in the hole. They are now falling apart and need replacement.....

I was looking in our local Tractor Supply store at some "Cattle Panels" the other day. They are 50" tall and 16 feet long made out of 1/4 inch wire. I was thinking of cutting one in half (8 feet long) and bending it into a half circle. It would be self supporting and easily movable if needed. $10 a station is pretty cheap too!

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pro...ft-l-x-50-in-h

Ken

ETpilot

That may be doable. First cut a rope 8' long and shape it into the U. Make sure it provides an adequate size station. For the open end of the U panel get some angle iron and weld a, U shaped, support bracket. Weld the wire to the inside of the vertical angle. For the bottom of the bracket weld ithe angle with one side down. This will dig into the dirt and help hold it in place.

Come mowing time, tilt the station and drag it out of the way. Once mowed, drag the station back into the groove made by the bottom angle piece.

May work.

kenh3497

Those panels can be shaped / bent fairly easy. Once bent they will hold their shape. No further support should be necessary.

Ken

jester_s1

Grass will grow though landscape fabric? I don't think I've ever seen that happen.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

No but eventually it grows in the gravel or mulch you put on top of the fabric, that still takes maintenance

jester_s1

Well sure you have to hit the edge of the mulch with a weed wacker every once in a while. That's a lot less maintenance though than moving pilot stations and mowing the area though, not to mention it keeps you from getting bare spots where people stand that turn into mudholes later.

raptureboy

Make rectangular panels out of 1" pvc pipes as stated above. Use the plastic safety fence available at most big box stores to fill in the panels with using zip ties to attach. Connect 2 panels together using heavy zip ties. They fold up easy and weigh very little. We sunk 16" square patio pavers flush with the ground to mark the pilot stations and we just set up the safety stands when we fly. Since our club flys off a full scale strip we are not allowed to have any permanent structures on the runway so we have to move our startup stands and safety stands off each time were done flying.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Well, I disagree, it's not just the edges,, here is my fire pit area, it gets this way every few weeks if I don't pull the weeds by hand or hit it with round up every week,, same thing in my wife's garden ,, the few seconds to move the flight stations back and forth is much less work believe me,


We don't get any dead spots or mud holes in the grass at the pilot stations, Our's are made fro, chain link fence/gate sections with plastic fence materiel,, Plenty heavy enough not to blow over during storms while still being light enough to move around easy