Hey all, just wanting to know/see how you guys send jets around the country, if you have pictures Id really appreciate it!

I figure on building a wood box, but the best way to secure the model inside is where I want to make sure its safe.

Thanks!

Hi John
I always make two saddles out of styrofoam to lay the fuse in and then attach a couple of 24 inch zip ties to the bottom of the crate . Lay some foam rubber where I will place the zip ties around the fuse and cinch it down , that way it stays in the center of the crate .

Charlie

John,

I went to my local car upholstery guy and bought some thick foam. I used some 3m 77 spary and tacked it to the bottom. I then made 2x4 blocks on the bottom of the box and wedged some 2 inch velcro between to pieces. I then velcroed the airplane to the bottom of the box. It worked great. I used three straps and it wasnt going anywhere. did not move during shipment.

Pete

John,

I crated a few jets and found the best way to do it is with 1x2 strips and either a hard card board outside or some verylight paneling.
All which i picked up at Homedepot. Roughly spent about $40 but very worth it. Not to mention somewhat of a piece of mind when shipping. I try and shy away from the cardboard outside in fear of shippers (fedex ground, UPS) using a forklift and going right through the box. Just my opinion. This crate is 65x16x16. weighs about 22lbs without anything in it. I'll be shipping this one to FL for roughly $40 FEDEX GROUND 3-4Day

Mike

Thanks guys for the idea's!

I went to the lumber store today, bought 3 sheets of plywood/cdx, and some 2x's and a sheet of foam board, $100 Maybe Ill check into how you did it Mike.

Hey John how are you doing?

Woody made his traveling case out of 6mm coroplast and aluminum angle corners from home depot. Very sturdy and the 6mm coro is very strong. He also uses lots of foam on the inside to cushion the parts. It's a little expensive for a one-way ship but it is very sturdy. Woody has shipped the same crate back and forth to the mainland from Hawaii at least 4 round trips!

I made mine very similarly to Mike's but also used little stub spars made from aluminum from home depot to hold the airplane in the crate with some cross braces. Learned that one from Ali and his crew from the UK.

We have found these things now after going to 4 jet meets from Hawaii.

1. Take out the dense items. Like turbines, and batteries.

2. Use Air shipping where possible. More expensive I know, but they seem to treat your stuff better. If you have to go ground I have heard that Greyhound is good.

Guys build COROPLAST combat planes a lot here, so it just seemed like the most logical medium and in the end, pretty flexible, cost effective reusable and ultimately UPS/FedEx box smashing gorilla resistant. It comes in a dozen different colors to boot.

Purchased at local hardware store:
2- 4' x 8' sheets 6 mil "coroplast"
6 - 8' lengths of 1"x1" anodized aluminum L-angle stock
2 - 8' lengths of 1" flat anodized aluminum stock
2 - 50 ct. boxes of 3/16" x 3/8" to 1/2" grip aluminum pop rivets
1 - 50 ct. box of 3/16" x 1/16" to 1/8" grip aluminum pop rivets
3 - 50 ct. boxes of 3/16" aluminum back-up plates (like a washer but sized for pop rivets)
8 Stanley decorative cabinet corners
10 1-1/2" x 3/8" lag screws

Total cost for the parts was around $120 bucks or so...should be a lot cheaper at Home Depot on the mainland of course.
Other stuff on hand or to buy: Good quality pop rivet gun, drill, 3/16" drill bit, 1 roller cutter with extra blades....not necessary but works really good on coro., enough pieces of scrap 1" exterior/marine grade plywood to make 10-12 2"x2" squares, lots of any kind of packing foam or bubble wrap, etc.

I considered many different designs including hinged and clam shell before choosing a simple top over bottom screwed together design. Since coro here comes in max 4x8 sheets and I wanted to make all joints folded vs. spliced for strength, I made my box 1'x2'x6', but you can easily go as big as the dimension of the coro if you choose to and just use the aluminum angle to connect edges of the box without compromising much, if any strength. If you're in doubt, get some cheaper, thinner coro or even cardboard and practice the design first, before tackling the thicker, more expensive stuff. Coro is very easy to use once you get the hang of it and it's very durable.

My F-22 was shipped using the coro-cradles in the pics, and the F-5 was shipped nose-off with 4" ****r-pedic foam pads lining top and bottom with some styro on the sides and in-betweens (box weighed 90-95 pounds each shipment with transmitter, charger, small tool case, etc. packed in perimeter). Zero damage to box or contents (a frikkin FedEx miracle!) on either of 2 shipments to/from Florida from Hawaii via FedEx Second Day Air and the box should last for many, many more such shipments. I'm sure it would cost you extra if taking along on airlines, but at least it would be with you when you get to the show/home.

PM me if you'd like more info or pics. Aloha, Woody.

Hey Duke!
doing good man, Im still going to make it over there one of these years

Thanks for the tips, just want to make sure everything is safe.

Here you go...Just opening the box...It survived Las Vegas to Florida and back to Las Vegas without a scratch. Do not put the Styrofoam directly on a painted surface.

Ted

Thanks Ted, that was the line I was thinking of going

John, another technique I came up with in addition to the above, take a large garbage bag, cover the nose and tail with the bag close. Don't stick them "in" the garbag bag. Now take a can of good stuff expandable foam and fill the gargabe bags around the nose and tail section. It will custom form around and harden and keep those areas safe if that makes sense.

John Boy,


Sent ya an e-mail



Johnny Hernandez

Way overbuilt and heavy, but it survived a cross country journey with DHL which is a feat all in itself, 1x2 frame with 1/4" plywood all around.

Thanks Jer!

Hey, what on the average is it costing you guys to ship these babies? Using forward air?

Hi jeremy,


how much did it cost to send that crate with DHL if you dont mind me asking ?


Johnny Hernandez

PS. Maybe I can save you a trip John to Seattle

I shipped a Big Yellow Twin F-18 to San Fran and it was $214.00 insured for $18,000.00 That was a Monster of a crate.

I recently Sold my Giant SU-27 Aviation Design shipped it to CA as well and it was $400.00 Insured for $25,000.00 Biggest crate I've ever handled weight was 520 Lb.

Forward Air will charge you by Dimensional Weight.

Johnny Hernandez

[8D]

Here is how I shipped my F-15 out when I sold it. Once I got it crated up, I fired up the laser cutter and made some easy to see stencils. Greyhound was scared to touch the crate!

Chris

Johnny,
I believe it was around $190 or something (canadian). That was DHL ground, they were the only company other than FedEx Freight that would take it due to the size. It was 76" x 30" x 18" if I remember correctly, weighed 96lbs total, but man, it would have survived almost anything!

Chris, what did that cost to ship? Looks like a HUGE box!

RIght now, the box I made is 93.5"Lx44.5"Wx20"tall Its huge, I wonder what its gonna cost

It cost about $75 with max insurance through greyhound. I don't remember the actual dimensions, it was about 72 x 20 x 36 and weighed about 50 lbs, somewhere in that range. It had a Top Gun F-15 with 2" of clearance all around.

Chris

John

try central transport also. I shipped my Yellow Twin Hornet through them and had them drop it off at the customer's house. $300ish with $12k insurance

cheers

buck

ok, thanks for the info guys

Just FYI for those that are interested... I called forward air just to check the price difference on box sizing.. width makes all the difference!

94"x45"x20" is $156 plus insurance, not bad!!

BUT

94"x24"x20" is $83 Pretty interesting!

Thanks all.

Shipping my F-15 forward air was 63 bucks and I paid an extra 20 in insurance.