loading plane in shipping container

I am currently in the process of selling our RV-4 to a gentleman in Germany. I reluctantly agreed to put it in the shipping container for the journey across the pond. He sent me a few pictures of how another guy did it, but I'm still not sure on how to secure the plane to the floor and load it while the container is on the truck. Also I want to build a wing box that will slide between the gear legs under the plane, not build a wing stand that is upright. Anyone with this knowledge would be greatly appreciated. I also don't want to have to remove the horizontal stabilizer. The vertical and rudder is ok. I'm trying to keep disassembly and wire cutting to a minimum.

Contact Craig Vincent-------he does this all the time. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/member.php?u=4499

Might be worth your time to contract with him to do it for you?

Some SNAFUs that will cost ya

The shipment will fit easily into a 20' container. The floor is wood, so screwing fixtures to the floor is very easy.

Pack the container for ROAD USE - and remember that most roads are not so smooth.

MAKE SURE you replace the bolts that attach the tailwheel spring to the #12 bulkhead before tying things down. It gets very expensive if you don't do this one task. it might be best to remove the tail spring too as increased insurance against any aft fuselage damage.

The stab will have to be removed - too wide for a container.

Tie the wings nose down to the container wall. Use plenty of padding (nose, wall, between the wings, under the straps), and tie tight enough that everything hardly moves.

I would remove the engine as a QEC and ship it upright on the mount. Tie it in a corner securely. Drain the oil first, of course.

See if you can get your hands on 1-2" foam sheets to pad everything. You can cut those up and roll pieces to pad various items.

DO NOT put any loose items inside the fuselage except the seat cushions - and maybe not even those! Put loose items in a box (screwed to the floor).

We shipped ~180 F1s from the CZ Republic using 20' containers - we could cram 4 units per container easily. No damage to any units. We ended up with a LOT of foam!

Let me now if you need any further help. You're not that far away, ya know.

Good luck!

Carry on!
Mark

To get the airplane into the container building a ramp from long planks may be the only way. Screw some 1" strips to the outboard sides to stop stuff rolling off. It may be necessary to buy a winch - or get some mates and buy beer. At the top you may have to lift the tail. I would also put the wings on a cradle, nose down. Container renter will tell you to screw nothing to the floor, but no-one checks ... Use 2x4s to stop wheels rolling. I would leave engine in, and probably prop, and strap tail to floor in a cradle with plenty of foam. It will take longer to pack the container than you think - could be 2 days - and its quite hard work, the truck is a way off the ground. At the other end it is possible the unloading will have to be done quickly to minimise additional charges, so don't be too smart!!
Pete

Yeah, I spoke to Detlef who is coordinating the paperwork and logistics. He said that the truck driver shows up and waits for the loading. So we have to do it in one day. I agreed to do this for a little extra fee, but I believe that's not going to come close to actual cost if I have to rent a forklift. I know about securing the tailwheel spring so it doesn't destroy the rear formers. I've seen pictures of the results of not putting the bolts back in. I've also checked with Craig Vincent on paying to have it done, but haven't heard back from him. Mark (F1Boss) if you are following this thread, I may need your help/advice

Craig Vincent sent this RV-4 to the UK:

I've loaded lots of 16 foot sailing dinghies into containers for transcontinental trips. I also brought an RV-4 (HAh!!!) in from Idaho in a 20 footer.

If at all possible get the container off the truck - it makes life MUCH easier. (Some trucks have the capability of moving the container off sideways).

If you have to use a forklift be (obviously) very careful about where the lifting force is applied (crush damage to rear fuselage......)

You know about the tailspring mount issue - you will have to take the tailplane off I'm pretty sure. If you take the tailspring itself off then lots of padding and maybe a little custom mount to secure the back end safely? Screwed to the floor. Also wheel chocks screwed to the floor?

Assume that the container will be slung around a lot, probably dropped, etc etc. Get everything very well secured so it cannot possibly move, but remember that the straps/rope or whatever can also be a source of damage.

There will be a goodly number of tie-down points within the container, but you will probably find most of them are not quite in the right place. With the boats we made custom-frames that wedged in top. bottom and sides, which worked really well - never had any damage.

I'd also drain all fluids - drain the tanks fully. I'd also drain the brake fluid. Not sure about engine oil - the inside of the container will be hot and very humid....

Can't believe you are selling that lovely RV4 you've done so much work on!!!!

Cheers

Chris

Thanks Chris, we didn't intend on selling but he contacted me first (cloud dancer) it wasn't exactly what he was looking for but a friend of his really liked it and made me an offer. Everything has its price. Plus we decided that a side-by-side would better suit our needs. Since it's going to Europe, at least we won't have to see it sitting on the line at Sun-N-Fun or Oshkosh wishing we hadn't sold it.