Heli-Davidson
08-05-2007, 03:19 PM
Happy Mentone Sunday, guys,
When I picked up The Hulk from its builder, I was unpleasantly surprised by the amount of weight that was sitting on the rear wheel, which was mostly due to the lack of the weight of the rotor head/blades/prerotator parts forward of the main gear, but, part of that would still have been offset toward the rear if a prop were installed. The length of the longitudinal spar was also problematic when I was loading the RAF onto the trailer, because of the very shallow angle that the aircraft can tip back such that the nose gear is as high off the ground as possible (i.e., the rear wheel is on the ground), to aid in getting the front of the aircraft up on the trailer. The ramps I had available were fairly standard six-footer steel type used to get ATVs up into the back of a pickup truck, but, they were way too short for getting the RAF up onto my trailer, the deck of which is about 15 inches off the ground. Fortunately, the trailer is a fairly light single-axle job (only used for local jockeying - long-distance trips will be done in my double-axle, heavier-duty trailer), so I was able to tip it back to lower the back end and make it possible to get the RAF loaded. It appears that a spar mod that raises the vertical stabilizer (and horizontal stabilizer, which will be coming) might help alleviate this problem - does the rear wheel get moved forward to just forward of the upward bend in the spar, when this kind of mod is done?
I'd be interested in seeing what others do to get their RAFs on/in trailers, as well as the trailers themselves. My RAF is going to be living in its trailer when I'm not working on it (or, someday, even flying it! :) ), since the real estate costs for everything here in SillyCon Valley are so stratospheric (including/especially hangars and anything else that make people think you're another SillyCon Valley bazillionaire). Having the RAF close to home in a trailer also makes it much more likely that I'll actually get something done more often than not (especially every time I discover yet-another thing that has to be replaced/repaired). I need to come up with an easier way to get it on and off the trailer, though, especially single-handed.
Please post photos/links that show off your RAF trailers, or any you admire, particularly anything that demonstrates how to deal with the shallow climb angle necessitated by the rearward protrusion of the longitudinal spar. Also, anything that shows how you secure the nose gear to the trailer (and/or pushes up on the back of the longitudinal spar) to keep the aircraft on its three forward "feet" in transit, without damaging the nose gear fairing, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, as usual, and All the Best,
Jim
When I picked up The Hulk from its builder, I was unpleasantly surprised by the amount of weight that was sitting on the rear wheel, which was mostly due to the lack of the weight of the rotor head/blades/prerotator parts forward of the main gear, but, part of that would still have been offset toward the rear if a prop were installed. The length of the longitudinal spar was also problematic when I was loading the RAF onto the trailer, because of the very shallow angle that the aircraft can tip back such that the nose gear is as high off the ground as possible (i.e., the rear wheel is on the ground), to aid in getting the front of the aircraft up on the trailer. The ramps I had available were fairly standard six-footer steel type used to get ATVs up into the back of a pickup truck, but, they were way too short for getting the RAF up onto my trailer, the deck of which is about 15 inches off the ground. Fortunately, the trailer is a fairly light single-axle job (only used for local jockeying - long-distance trips will be done in my double-axle, heavier-duty trailer), so I was able to tip it back to lower the back end and make it possible to get the RAF loaded. It appears that a spar mod that raises the vertical stabilizer (and horizontal stabilizer, which will be coming) might help alleviate this problem - does the rear wheel get moved forward to just forward of the upward bend in the spar, when this kind of mod is done?
I'd be interested in seeing what others do to get their RAFs on/in trailers, as well as the trailers themselves. My RAF is going to be living in its trailer when I'm not working on it (or, someday, even flying it! :) ), since the real estate costs for everything here in SillyCon Valley are so stratospheric (including/especially hangars and anything else that make people think you're another SillyCon Valley bazillionaire). Having the RAF close to home in a trailer also makes it much more likely that I'll actually get something done more often than not (especially every time I discover yet-another thing that has to be replaced/repaired). I need to come up with an easier way to get it on and off the trailer, though, especially single-handed.
Please post photos/links that show off your RAF trailers, or any you admire, particularly anything that demonstrates how to deal with the shallow climb angle necessitated by the rearward protrusion of the longitudinal spar. Also, anything that shows how you secure the nose gear to the trailer (and/or pushes up on the back of the longitudinal spar) to keep the aircraft on its three forward "feet" in transit, without damaging the nose gear fairing, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, as usual, and All the Best,
Jim