How do you transport your bigger ships

[Steve Agrella]

I have a a Brodak P40 and a cardinal, I want to take them both to the field in the back of my pickup, any pictures of your transportation rigs would be greatly appreciated

Steve

[Tim Wescott]

If it's a full size bed you could just toss an old carpet in there and set the planes on it.  That's what I'm doing now, although at some point I'm going to make one of those PVC "plumber's delight" racks.

I use bits of pipe insulation on the wheels to prevent rolling, ala the RC guys.

[John Eyer]

d

[wwwarbird]

 Using cheapo lumber from Home Depot, I build custom wooden racks with foam pipe insulation on the wing rests and 2" wide elastic wing retaining straps. I take time and measure out the vehicle first to absolutely maximize the use of space in the chosen "mobile hangar" vehicle. The first photo here is my current vehicle, an '06 Honda Element. Honda probably didn't plan for it, but the Element might just be the ultimate plane hauler. I remove the rear seats every spring and put my plane rack in and it stays there for the season.

 The first photo here shows from top to bottom a 45" Curtiss Helldiver, a 51" Brodak Zero, a 42" Super Combat Streak and a 64" PBY Catalina all in there at once. That's a lot of wing area packed in a small vehicle.
 
 The grey box across the back is the "Stunt Trunk" and is full of handles, lines, props, tools etc., all the stuff that won't fit in the field box but that you like to have along. It's also just built from cheapo lumber and it stays in there for the season too.

 The other photos below are earlier than the first and show a side view of the rack system with different models of 42" to 50" span widths.

[Clancy Arnold]

My KIA Rondo holds my 88 In. Wing Span Taube for traveling if I convert the KIA from a 7 passenger to a 3 passenger van!  The Taube Body is 58 inches from the tip of the Rudders to the AMA Prop safety nut.
The Taube breaks down into four parts Left Wing, Right Wing, Elevator and Body.

Clancy

[Jerry Leuty]

See page 40 of the July issue of Control Line World. T Michael Jennings has an article of using PVC pipe and insulation. I made up a 3 place plane rack for about $25 and it works great. I have it in the trailer that I pull behind my Chevy HHR. The planes stay put and do not get dinged. I hope to pull it to Albuquerque next week for their contest. That is some 600 miles one way.

[Paul Taylor]

I have a hard tonneau bed cover on by Super Crew. I made a single rack to hold one plane and then slide the other plane under it and let it set on the bed. I have enough room left over for two Field boxes. Anything else needed, coolers, chair, shade canopy goes in the back seat along with my Bi-slob.

[louie klein]

Nice setup Mr wwwarbird!---LOUIE 

[Dalton Hammett]

I have to agree, nice set up WWWARBIRD,  I used an Element for three years hauling planes - I miss it now even though I can get 3 or 4 into my old Volvo wagon.   Another new vehicle that is an ideal plane hauler is the Ford Transit Connect, very similar to the Element but a little more room.

Dalton H.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Whenever I buy a new car, (stn. wagon or van) I measure the back.  If it won't hold a 4 X 8 sheet of plywood, I don't buy!  Needless to say, these vehicles will hold 2 or 3 large planes.

F.C.

[Randy Powell]

Yea, I built a rack out of PVC and pipe insulation. Fits in the back of my SUV pretty well. Only two planes but maybe I'll get an Element and have the room for more.

[Allan Perret]

Using cheapo lumber from Home Depot, I build custom wooden racks with foam pipe insulation on the wing rests and 2" wide elastic wing retaining straps. I take time and measure out the vehicle first to absolutely maximize the use of space in the chosen "mobile hangar" vehicle. The first photo here is my current vehicle, an '06 Honda Element. Honda probably didn't plan for it, but the Element might just be the ultimate plane hauler. I remove the rear seats every spring and put my plane rack in and it stays there for the season.

 The first photo here shows from top to bottom a 45" Curtiss Helldiver, a 51" Brodak Zero, a 42" Super Combat Streak and a 64" PBY Catalina all in there at once. That's a lot of wing area packed in a small vehicle.
 
 The grey box across the back is the "Stunt Trunk" and is full of handles, lines, props, tools etc., all the stuff that won't fit in the field box but that you like to have along. It's also just built from cheapo lumber and it stays in there for the season too.

 The other photos below are earlier than the first and show a side view of the rack system with different models of 42" to 50" span widths.

What is the max wingspan that the Element will take across its width ?

[Howard Rush]

From a note I sent to Steve Fitton:

Here is the crude shelf I made to tote my stunt plane in the '95 Plymouth van. It's made out of an old bifold closet door.  It sits on the tops of the wheel housings, located by foam disks that fit into cupholders.  Curiously, the same shelf fit the '04 Honda van without modification.  Picture 520s shows the installation.  I strap it down to the seat back holders with some nylon webbing with Velcro on it.  

The airplane wheels go into chocks with pegs on them for rubber bands.  If you have wheel pants, you might need to do something fancier.  I have multiple sets of chocks: one for grass gear and one for pavement gear with the fuselage going mostly sideways and the stooge loop fitting into the holder shown in picture 220, and a third set where the wing goes mostly sideways and the stooge loop attaches to a 1 x 2 sticking out the back of the shelf.  This orientation allows people or combat planes to fit in front of the shelf. I used Gorilla Glue to attach the chocks, the 1 x 2, and the stooge-loop holder to the finished shelf.  You can probably use Gorilla Glue to attach the foam pieces, but I used carriage bolts with ample washers (there ain't much structure between the door skins) for the foam disks that fit into the cupholders.  

I didn't put much effort into this, because I built it as I was packing the car to go to a contest.  I recommend relocatable chocks.  Even if you only have one airplane, whenever you change a tailwheel or something, you need to move a holddown.

[Howard Rush]

Here's the other picture.  It didn't fit in the above post.

[Howard Rush]

If you try, you can fit a full-size stunter in a pretty small car.  Here's the Prius installation.

[wwwarbird]

What is the max wingspan that the Element will take across its width ?

 Allan,

 With my setup shown above I have the planes in the rack with the wings running exactly straight across from side to side. With them in there that way the max wingspan varies a bit depending on what level, or height, of the rack you use. If you use the height where the wingtips would actually sit just into the side window recesses the max would safely be about 52"-53" and still allow the leadouts to hang freely, maybe just slightly more.

 With the PBY being 64" span I put it in as shown with the passenger seat full forward and it just fits between that with about 2" to spare at the tailgate. On that model I measured the truck before I designed the plane.

[Fred Cronenwett]

I have a pickup truck with a camper shell (7 foot long bed) and I put a 1/2" thick sheet of plywood on steel angles that creates a upper and lower zone. I can put models on the top deck or the bottom. I put a hook on the top deck with shock cords and lash down the tailwheel with the shock cord, that is the only restraint I have on the model. I do have wood rails that keep the main wheels from sliding to the side to side. I also have a wing rack that allows me to carry two wings up to 80" long without any damage. The bottom has a board that slides out, you load the models on the board and then push the board underneath the top deck. Then once the lower board is pushed all the way forward there is room to put my two field boxes.

I can put the following models in the truck at one time (6 total)

80" camera plane, take apart, wing goes into the wing rack and the fuselage sits on the top deck
80" cub, take apart, wing goes into the wing rack and the fuselage sits on the top deck
MO-1 carrier model - one piece model sits on the top deck
F7F tigercat - bottom board, one piece airplane
Spitfire, 39" span, take apart, fuselage and wing go into blocks that fit the model
Corsair, 43" span, take apart, fuselage and wing to into blocks that fit the model

I also have carpeting on the bottom of the bed, saves the knees.

This setup took a while to make and I custom make the mounts on the bottom board and tie down points on the top deck to match the airplanes that I fly. After I had a flight box tip over and crush a wing I decided it was time to do it right. I can also load the truck in less than 5 minutes with this setup.

Fred C.

[Bill Heher]

I have an '04 Silverado Extended cab, and can fit 2-3 planes in the back seat, and have the whole bed left for other stuff. The attached pic shows 2 S-1 Ringmasters, a Ringmaster Jr, Lil'Stuntin, and baby ringmaster ( 2009 Worlwide Ringmaster Fly-in day). I have also had my TF Score, a TF Nobler, and a couplw 15 size planes in the back seat at once.

I have also hauled a twister, an S1, and field gear plus an overnight bag in a C5 'Vette, and a Twister in a Nissan 350Z.  I had a Chevy HHR rental that I used to haul planes / camping gear to a contest in Oregon- it was OK for hauling but i didn't like the way it drove. My wifes Toyota Sienna mini-van will haul a bunch, and the Astro Van I had before that had tons of room.

I like keeping the planes locked in the passenger compartment, other stuff in the back for easy access when dragging everything into a hotel room, or out to the flight line when you get to the field.

[EddyR]

I can put  my Juno in my Explorer and the wing tips just touch each side window. But putting it in the Mustang it takes 10 minutes and one wing tip is next to the gear shift and the other is in the top boot. Next time I will remove the rear seat.

[larry borden]

I have a 2004 Dodge Ram Quad Cab. To transport the Ringmaster 1000 to the roundup this year, I placed some lattice in the bed of the truck and tied the wheels down with zip ties. I also have a tonneau cover, the other two Rings rode in the back seat of the truck.

[Air Ministry .]

If you walk , particularly with newish or large ships , they tend to get paw prints and ripples from all the grasping .

Decent rack on the bicycle carrier would be better .

[bob branch]

Hey Frank Carlisle! Post a pic of your LA Heat in the Pickup!

bob branch

[EddyR]

In the early 50's I transported two planes and equipment on my bike. I could ride for blockes never touching the handlebars. Small planes
Ed

[Steve Agrella]

Thanks for the great idea's

Steve