Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

[akndrifter]

I'm wanting to modify my baggage, and was just wondering if anyone has done that without taking off the fabric. How did it go? What would you do different, or wish you had known before you started?

[NY86]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

I'm wanting to modify my baggage, and was just wondering if anyone has done that without taking off the fabric.

OK, couldn't pass this one up...

If you need to cut the fabric to change your baggage, you probably need smaller suitcases....

[akndrifter]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Not sure I follow...
I'm wanting a larger baggage, because the sling doesn't really cut it. Esp with engine covers and whatnot. Not wanting F19 sized necessarily.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

I think Johns joke was to do with removal of the fabric you WEAR while modifying your baggage (suitcases). Kind of a nudist joke. OK, I'm not much of a comedian either, but I thought it was funny. Think asking, "Do I need to be naked to modify a suitcase?".
Serious answer to your question indicates to me you may not have a standard baggage sling. Both my planes have the sling attached to the back of the seat sling and to a wooden frame that runs across just in front of the hat shelf in back and to wooden frames under the "D" windows (if you have them). I can pull my baggage sling in under 30 seconds by just popping the snaps! If yours is more complex than that you may need to modify the whole thing back to original, which is a great time to make the sling a little bigger.
Hank
Be careful what and how you make changes. The feds are getting pretty nasty about changes that aren't documented. The real danger as I see it is a bigger baggage sling could cause an aft CG problem.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

A picture is worth a thousand words.... I agree, do not deviate from Type certificate with out "approval".

[akndrifter]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Boy do I feel slow! I got it now, not really in that frame of mind, its still in the mid 20s on the nice days here.
I'm not sure exactly how mine works, but I think there is some string on parts of it holding it on. I may have seen some snaps too. I'll have to go look at it tomorrow, maybe charge my camera and take some pics, then figure out how to put them on here.

[Arnold Wallace]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Hello Ward,
I looked at a 1946 up at Bradley Field in North Pole the feds had grounded and was for sale. One of the problems they had trying to get an annual was with a baggage area that had been modified with quarter inch plywood on the bottom and 3 sides then attached with tie wraps. It was the complete area from the seat back about 2 ft to the next station/tube section. This was a very minor modification and only one of several more serious problems with meeting airworthiness. Someone with more detailed information on this Fairbanks Area plane may be able to give you a shout about the paperwork that followed this mod.
Just watching the volcanic dust blow around, Buzz

[RichardBoyer]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Doesn't the baggage area change with the Harer STC?

I have no sling and it is a large area with a wood floor and wood "veneer" sides. (really thin wood on the sides).

[VictorBravo]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Although not necessarily approved, I have seen several slightly "stretched" baggage slings of various shapes on Taylorcrafts. Here's how I planned to do it, splitting the difference between the stock setup and the Harer / F-19 setup:

Imagine a side view of the airplane.

Draw a line straight down from the back of the seat, almost to the "floor" of the airplane (the strigers on the bottom and the steel tubes).

Now take that line back about 18 inches. Now take that line upwards until it is level (and 18 inches aft) of the back of the seat again.

Then take that line rearward and upward at about a 30 degree angle, until it reaches the fuselage cross-tube near the trailing edge of the wing. On this 30 degree "incline", sew in some Velcro straps or LIGHT duty buckles to hold your sleeping bags and covers and other light stuff.

LEave the heavy stuff like oil, tools, guns, and water against the front part of the baggage sack, against the back of the seat for balance and safety.

That would, in my personal opinion, be a safe, slightly enlarged baggage sling that would give you room for wing covers, sleeping bags, etc. but without creating an unsafe situation.

The ONLY way the big F-19 baggage is allowed is when you move the engine forward 4 inches. THEN y ou will have a safe situation with heavy loads in the huge wood closet back there, but with no baggage and a light load you are very nose-heavy.

[RichardBoyer]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

ahh. That explains it. I have the extended engine mount on my C85.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Just remember, there is a big difference between "safe" and "legal". What you want is BOTH, what you are allowed to have, MUST include "legal" if an inspector knows what he is looking at.
My 41 had a lot of changes in each category and I have spent a lot of time removing the unsafe ones. Get with a good IA and make it "safe" first and "legal" second (some legal changes are unsafe and down right dangerous, we all REALLY need to identify those!).
If you want to change something you think is safe but not "legal" yet, there are ways to make "legal" modifications that others may want to use to. Documented Field Approvals and STCs add to the value of ALL of our planes.
Hank

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Actually the FAA inspectors ( PMI's) from Cleveland do not address the interior of the ships. The "large" baggage compartment is okay so long as it is placarded to agree with the weight & balance. A Model F-19 baggage compartment placarded at 10 or 20 lbs. no furthur aft than 12 inches does work. One inspector asked what I was going to haul , I told him "feathers".
Leisa Marie was Standard Category and really had no interior. I do like the big windows with a curved piece of wood following it aft from the abck of the canvas baggage sling to the cabin roof , kind of like Bill's description.

[Len Petterson]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Kzu has a metal bagage compartment. The size is about he same as the orinal cloth style. It weighs abot 12 Lbs! ( Calculated )
I dont know if it was in the plane last time it was weigth or not but my empthy weight is 823Lbs.
It also has a airtex interior look nice but it all adds up!
Len

[akndrifter]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric

Thanks for the ideas guys. I've got some food for thought now.

[Dano"T"]

Re: Changing the baggage with taking off the fabric



I had a friend of mine sew this up out of canvas.....I attached a plywood plank to the tubing at the bottom of the fuselage and that gave a "floor" It's nice for me because I like to haul snowshoes in the winter or fishing gear