NC43913 Road Trip

[mulwyk]

In October we moved NC43913 to her new hangar, 250 miles away. We used our old 18' car trailer, fuselage facing forward and wings standing on leading edge. The first half of the trip, going east on I-90 with a brisk tailwind, we were able to make almost 60mph, but when we turned north on secondary roads we were fighting a nasty crosswind and barely able to make 40. Gusts would send the trailer skipping sideways and give our towcar a new heading every few minutes. After an hour of that I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. We pulled into the WalMart parking lot in Pierre and took a long nap before continuing. What should have been a 4 hour trip actually took almost 8 hours: it was sunset before we arrived. Next time I'll only go on a low wind forcast.

Hangar construction took 2 years working summers, a couple weeks at a time. The final total for the 30X40 building was $9600. (That's $8 per sq.ft.! gotta love that pole barn type construction) We have a 2000' x 300' strip of native pasture directly behind the hangar that we'll use as a make-do landing strip.

First thing after moving the old girl into her new hangar we lifted the wings onto temporary scaffolds to see if the rebuild wings would fit the fuselage. It was our first chance to test wing to fuselage fit after a 8 year rebuild....and YES! they fit just fine.

[Jim Herpst]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

You are to be commended and revered for your pursuit. Where do you live as a residence ? Is it (I hope not 250 miles away ) near or at your new hanger ? congratulations in any event !! A t craft is made in heaven on a grass strip !!

[mulwyk]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Hi Jim, We live in Rapid City and yes, it's 250 miles to the hangar. A long commute, but there's a comfortable little house out there so it's almost like being at home and we stay for 2 or 3 weeks at a time.
The "grass strip" may be a problem: it is grazed every other year, but has never been mowed. It's rough.

[Windknot]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Is this a normal/accepted manner of transporting a T'Cart?

I'm weighing several different options on airplanes - some that are ready to fly, but on the wrong side of the rockies, others that are much closer, but are under time constraints to move soon and others are in mostly pieces.


Please understand there is no disrespect intended by my question. I simply have ZERO experience moving airplanes.

But if I were to move a complete airplane in a similar manner except use either my 1-Ton Ford Diesel pickup or my 3/4 Ton Suburban would the towing go more smoothly?

Thanks,

Sean

Congratulations by the way on the successful move as well as the completed hangar!!!!

[Forrest Barber]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

I am impressed with Bob's efforts , wow I will never complain about the soggy gravel here in Ohio It takes me 2 mins. to walk to my four airplanes. All is well here , all events are now on www.barberaircraft.com check links too!

[M Towsley]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Sean, I have a guy that lives up in Washington State who can ferry your plane. he flew my L 2 from San Jose to Illinois a few years back. He's cheap and good. He's also an airline pilot so sometimes he can just jump on an airline and get where he needs to be. Let me know.

[mulwyk]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Sean:
I think it's a fairly normal way to transport a project plane. This was actually my second move with the trailer and NC43913. The first was 1200 miles in 2004, transporting the project/wreck home. (picture below) We improved the wing rack on our latest move: we bolted it directly to the trailer bed and used wire braces inboard with the wings on the outside...much stronger.

If you're using this method you'll probably want the heaviest tow car you can find. Or make two trips with the wings laying flat. Also, I have not tried it myself, but I've heard that the whole airplane will fit nicely in a large U-Haul truck.

[M Towsley]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Bob,

Did Forrest give you that second picture of him moving his Nieuport?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

This is how the Kansas City Dawn Patrol guys move their Nieuports today (with an occasional Hun along for the trek). They refer to themselves as the "Trailer Weenies" and claim they haven't missed an airshow since they stopped flying to them. I have had the honor of helping to pull the planes off with them and help assemble them for an airshow and it is a BLAST! We could put a plane together in about two hours (Dick and Sharron Starks can do it in HALF that time without "help"). ;-)

The wings, tail pieces and tools, cooler, beer etc go in the "box" and the fuselage sits on top. Works great.

For moving a Taylorcraft I used a rental truck and it worked fine. You can put the wings in on the sides of the fuselage, but I just made two trips because it was easier and lower risk of damage. There was plenty of room, just get a long enough truck (can't remember what length I used, but you can see how much was left (and the rudder and stab /elevators were off).

Hank

[Pearson]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Hank,

there is an EAA chapter at Independence, OR that goes by the name "Noon Patrol". They said dawn was just too early.

[dejh22]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Here is one way to transport an aircraft! The farmall tractor with snowmobile trailer method.
This is how an Aeronca Chief was brought over for my dad to work on. If I remember right they lived about 5 miles away from us.

[wmfife]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Be advised a 20' U-Haul rental truck has exactly 16' 8" of internal floor length; the extra 3' 4.5" of linear is the "mom's attic" over the cab which is good for tailfeathers and tiedowns and not much else. I know because I recently rented the 17' one to move all my parents' remaining stuff here from another state. A 7'+ antique Widgeon prop did fit neatly into the "attic" for the trip.

http://www.uhaul.com/reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=TT

The T Craft fuselage going by a set of plans sans rudder and elevators and engine and mount comes to right at 16' 6". Close but it will just fit. Width of the truck bed is 7' 3" and a fraction. With an overall width of right at 6' 6" for the L.G. that leaves just at 9" for one of the wings. Find something soft to set it on and keep it raised and it may work. I am not sure about the floor space whether the other could be laid between the mains or not but may go if you raise the tail. Worth a try.

I need to move mine somewhere as the only shop on the field gave up on it years ago and the gear, fuel system and engine remain in pieces in my hangar costing me waay too much.

[Windknot]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

Sorry for the thread hijack.

My plan tentatively is to purchase a flying 'Cart with an '85 and find a project or just a set of wings secondly. Fly the original plane home and then truck the project or wings back home to Michigan. From there, have "spare" wings disassembled, inspected and upgraded with the increased Gross weight modifications and then recovered and painted. Once the "new" wings are on, I'll either just sell the "pull-off's" outright or build them up with the same mods and sell them as "ready-to-mount."

So if it's just a set of wings, the logistics should be pretty simple. If I have to pick up a project, the move may require some/all of the ideas noted above.

Many thanks.

Sean

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

When I moved mine I had the engine on but the tail off and there was more room than that, so I must have been using the next size larger truck than the 20'. I seem to remember the hardest part was when the tail wanted to swing to the side as we pushed the mains up the ramps to the truck bed. We learned on the removal and tied a rope to the tail to let her back down the ramps SLOWLY! I had visions of chasing a fuselage across the ramp like a Soap Box Derby car.
Hank

[wmfife]

Re: NC43913 Road Trip

One advantage of a 20' U-Haul is a floor that's 100% flat with no wheel well humps.
Still I don't think I am really up to pulling the engine & mount and transporting them separately and that is what you would have to do with that size to make it all fit.