Aircraft Transport thread.

[Curly]

AK...l would not face the fuse' backwards if the engine is fitted. You need the weight forward of the axles to put a bit of load on the towball. Without that you can get a dose of the dreaded "twitches" where the tail starts to wag the dog! Can be dangerous and at the very least you will need a clean pair of underpants.

[Steve Pierce]

One of my ex-employees pulled a Pacer with the wings removed backwards. He didn't loose directional control but he did loose the control lock on the rudder which put a nice hole in the fuselage. I have lost control with an aft trailer CG and was not fun. I got very lucky.

[Tp109]

Does everyone have that experience? Trailers should have a warning, "MAKE SURE CG IS FORWARD OF AXLE"

I had a 68 Firebird that hadn't moved in 20 years, no engine or transmission and trunk had some old wheels and other parts in it, pushed it up on the trailer and got on the highway and hit about 60 and the tail started wagging the dog LOL, scared the crap out of me, thought we were going to lose it. Stopped and popped the hood of the firebird and without the engine those steel wheels and other parts from the trunk fit just right into the engine compartment and shut the hood and the trailer was fine after getting the cg forward of the axle.

[AKJurnee]

AK...l would not face the fuse' backwards if the engine is fitted. You need the weight forward of the axles to put a bit of load on the towball.

Right. The engine will be off, it's at home anyways. I'm putting it tail first because my trailer I don't think is wide enough for the landing gear up front. Plus I might not have the windshield installed due to time crunch and don't want the front filling with air. The doors I will rope closed so the don't open.

Now I'm trying to figure a mount for the wings to lay flat under the fuselage. Trying to come up with a design so the top wing doesn't touch the wing under it. The bottom wing mount seems easy to make, the top May need more thought.

[pmanton]

AK...l would not face the fuse' backwards if the engine is fitted. You need the weight forward of the axles to put a bit of load on the towball. Without that you can get a dose of the dreaded "twitches" where the tail starts to wag the dog! Can be dangerous and at the very least you will need a clean pair of underpants.

I was using a borrowed trailer and I had to load the plane backwards. I had 1600 miles to go and had a terrible time. I bought 4 sacks of concrete and loaded them on the trailer tongue to make the trailer manageable. Had some rain and 4 bag shaped concrete blocks to deal with when I got home.
Paul
Salome, AZ

[Jeff J]

I think if a person was to look at the documents for the vehicle and/or the trailer they would find a note about ensuring weight on the hitch. I know my 20 foot dovetail has a "caution" sticker near the jack concerning it. I am pretty sure the manual for the F150 gives an actual weight range for the hitch but I am not going to go look it up now.

[Bruce]

I use 10% of gross trailer weight up to the rated capacity of the hitch for tongue weight.

[Jeff J]

I use 10% of gross trailer weight up to the rated capacity of the hitch for tongue weight.

That isn't a bad rule of thumb. The manual for my F150 states 10-15% of the loaded trailer weight. The high side for mine would be a tongue weight of about 375 lbs if hauling a shortwing (1035 lbs if loaded to gross). I usually just load the trailer slightly forward of balanced using the attitude of the tow vehicle as a guide (I rarely know what the load weighs).

[Gilbert Pierce]

. I usually just load the trailer slightly forward of balanced using the attitude of the tow vehicle as a guide (I rarely know what the load weighs).

X2. When my hitch drops 3/4" I know I have tongue wt. right for a good tow.

[Russ Canter]

I have a converted boat trailer that I use to haul airplanes. The main gear sets in a saddle and I can pull/slide it up the bed. A little tricky getting it over the trailer wheel fenders. The bed will also pivot down to the ground. I need to re-deck the frame this coming year. I'm thinking of cutting the axle mounts and replace the carriage with a two axle system. It also have DB Beaver wheels and tires. I have one spare and I'd rather switch over to regular trailer tires. Safer and cheaper...
i also have some wing frame brackets for storing the wings under the airframe. So far I've moved about five airplanes, mostly Tripacers. It also holds about 35 bales of hay... Lol. I finally picked up a hay wagon at an auction this year.