Transporting an RV-7A project

Has anyone bought a complete non-flying RV-7A before and had to transport it home? How did you do it? Any Tips? Horror stories?

Are the wings on or off?

I rented a 24 foot enclosed truck to haul my -7A but it was in QB state with no wings or landing gear installed. Wings were in a cradle and fuselage was on a wooden frame though the spar with a saw horse and padding under the tail.

Also try this company:

Partain Trading Company Inc
541-330-0828

The wings are off but the tail is still attached. How hard is it to take the tail off?

Trailer

I used a flatbed trailer to take my -6A to the airport from home with the tail on. Yes, it was a little wide but did not get ticketed. Same with my -12 too. Nose first so the elevator and rudder fair when you get to speed. No gust locks....

How far do you need to transport?

If very far at all, rent a 24-26 truck, take the tail off and it fits in there pretty nicely. If you can get a truck without interior wheel wells it makes the loading a bit easier but it isn't that tough.

Put the wings up against the walls- one on each side (supported and very well padded). Fuse can go in either way and a lot of the tail feathers and other parts can be strategically placed under (if on gear) or in the extra space.

You can't have enough padding and blankets, and I'd recommend at least 3 guys to load and 4-5 makes it less stressful.

I've moved my projects 3 times because of moves, but I think (hope!) the next move is under it's own power.

n6233u said:

The wings are off but the tail is still attached. How hard is it to take the tail off?

Click to expand...

Remove rudder and elevators = 30 minutes
Remove vertical stabilator = 30 minutes
Remove horizontal stabilator = 30 minutes

bret said:

Are the wings on or off?

Click to expand...

It is very easy to take the tail parts off. 2 hours max.

I transported my RV-9A from NC to Gladwin MI on my 20' car hauler. The width of the tires on the gear fit over the trailer fenders so I built ramps and supports out of 2" X materials. I had a small electric winch on the front of the trailer to winch it up. Then I built a wood crate for the wings and winched that up afterwards right under the plane. Took a lot of planning and building ahead of time before pick-up but it was worth the effort and time. My old van towed it with no issues and electric brakes on the trailer really came in handy going through the mountains on the way home. For a short distance, the flatbed roll back wrecker I used for my RV-10 worked great!
[/url]20638899_10209132921260198_4580464348683668580_n by David C, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]IMG_0027 by David C, on Flickr[/IMG]

David- Sorry to hijack the thread, but can you share with me why you built/sold a 10 and are moving to a 9?

I ask because there are parts of my brain starting to think a 10 is going to be started shortly after the 7 is flying.

Just trying to talk myself out of a 10, but they seem like such a great plane.

Thanks
dan

Has anyone used an enclosed trailer to haul an RV7a? I have a 24ft car hauler and wondered if it would fit inside w/o the tail...

dreed said:

David- Sorry to hijack the thread, but can you share with me why you built/sold a 10 and are moving to a 9?

I ask because there are parts of my brain starting to think a 10 is going to be started shortly after the 7 is flying.

Just trying to talk myself out of a 10, but they seem like such a great plane.

Thanks
dan

Click to expand...

I thought I was done with aviation but was wrong. Biggest mistake I ever made was selling my beloved RV-10. The 9A will suit my needs now for economy of ownership and usage.

5 or 6 years ago. Now gravity is different.

Need Help to move 9A

n6233u said:

Has anyone used an enclosed trailer to haul an RV7a? I have a 24ft car hauler and wondered if it would fit inside w/o the tail...

Click to expand...

Hi Jim,
Would you be willing to do transportation of a disassembled (wings, tail, engine off) 9A?
Can you PM me?
Thank you.

Thanks David! I lust after the 10's. Rob Hickman (Advanced) was over in Bend a month or so ago in his and I think I was caught drooling.

Hoping that'll be the next build

n6233u said:

Has anyone used an enclosed trailer to haul an RV7a? I have a 24ft car hauler and wondered if it would fit inside w/o the tail...

Click to expand...

I have a 28 ft car hauler I will be moving my -7 to the airport with this summer. With the tail off it will fit in the rear of the trailer. I am going to carry it towards the rear of the trailer on the dovetail, tail to the front. It needs to have some weight on the tail end to hold it down good and be tied down real good.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. I was worried the main gear wouldn't fit between the wheel wells.

Has anyone measured from the main wheels to the front of the spinner?

Here's an update - we were able to fit everything in a 24' V-Nose trailer but with these key issues:

> There wasn't enough distance from the wheel wells to the back door to clear the mains to prop, so plane had to be put in forward first.

> The back door is not as wide as the inside of the trailer so we had to remove one cable from the back door retraction system and lay a board along the door to let the 2nd tire roll up. We then "walked" the mains inside the trailer one side at a time.

> The main gear was too wide to fit between the wheel wells so a way had to be developed to get one main gear over the wheel well internal cover. We tried just rolling it but hit the ceiling of the trailer before the tire would clear the wheel well.

> The trailer wasn't tall enough for the main gear with tire to roll on the wheel well cover so we had to remove one wheel to fit it in. Luckily I deal in salvage racecars all the time so I had special 4x4 wooden chocks that I use to hold transmissions and they came in handy for the spindle without a wheel.

With copius amounts of foam boards and Harbor Freight cheap blankets we were able to get the whole plane home after an 8 hr drive. Now all I need to do* is reassemble and test the systems.

*90% done with 90% to go!