SUV Airplane Transport.
 

Normally I just take one airplane to the club airfield. This weekend I need to carry two to the airfield. Thinking about how to easily transport them I came up with this solution. A wing rack in the center with the airplane fuselages on either side. With careful maneuvering I can work the fuselages in n out. The rack is assembled but not glued. Just in case a change needs to be made. It still needs some cushion material and Velcro. My folding chair fits under the wing rack. A parts and tool box fits behind the field box. Cooler and drinks up front on passenger side. I think I'm all set.

I have a new Dodge Durango and I am impressed with how much you can pack in there. This was for our club fly-in/show-and-tell but I can easily pack in two planes. I had a 2-meter EF Vanquish, a 48" Vanquish, a T-Rex 700 DFC, and a Smoothie XL with all my flight gear packed in. I need to devise a better way to handle a more normal load, one, maybe two, planes, in a way that won't cause hanger-rash though.

Pappy you did a good job packing. It is amazing what you can do with little space and lots of thought. Keeping the hangar rash down is the important part. The main thing is not to over pack. I'm happy with my 2 plane setup. I've added the cushion material and wings are now velcroed in place. I wish I did not have that spare tire inside the cabin.

Those both look good! I need to come up with something for my Plymouth Grand Voyager. The rear seat has been removed.

I have an Astro van and have been thinking of a net to hang the wing(s) from the ceiling, or maybe the driver's side wall. I have a bungee cord holding the toolbox to the wall (on my PT Cruiser), as I have lost fuselages to them moving around. Egg crates to stop the fuselages from rolling.

That appears to be the key to efficient use of space - a lot of it appears unused above the stuff in many cases - can't be critical as I currently load the same way. Was thinking a subfloor above the vehicle's main floor would allow twice as much stuff to be loaded. Of course, if visibility out the back window is a concern, this idea becomes a problem... Also thinking one-piece airplanes could be cradled nearly vertically like this: //// rather than like this: _ _ _ _.

This is how I solve the problem. I can get 3 planes secured, with canopy, ice chest, chair, tool boxes, charging box, field box,


Right now it kinda looks like the second pic. Over loaded?

This week got busy. Never made it to the event I was going to, Cancelled due to weather. On Sunday the front struck our area. It didn't take long for me to lose power. I was without power almost 24 hours. It was time to set up my generator to keep the cold stuff from spoiling. On Monday I get a call from a friend at the airport. Damaged done there including my hangar. So I drive to the airport to check things. The whole town and area without power. No gas no food. People trying to find gas. I keep gas on hand for there situations.

At the airport I find the hangar next to me had 1/3 of the roof blown away. Somehow the wind managed to lift a portion of my roof. It snapped some 2x4's and lifted it about 3-4 inches so I have an open gap. More damage in other areas of airport. I haven't done anything with the hangar. At same time my truck water pump decides to leak. I had to change that. Getting back to normal again except for the hangar. Not sure how I will fix that. A few months ago a system came thru and lifted a whole hangar off its foundation and rolled it off the airplanes. Surprisingly no damage to any airplane. The weather for this area seems to get worse as time goes by.

Anyway back on topic good info on packing a SUV. Giving more thought to my set up I'm going to try just one center post to which the wings are velcroed. This will open up more of the side areas. I'm also going to look at maybe a hanging rack where I can slide the wings in and have the bottom area fully open.

New day for RC event is this Saturday. But I may miss it and get started on that hangar damage. Do the repair before another front comes by. Buying some supplies today.

Aaaaaauuuugggghhhh!!!! MY EYES! MY EYES!