New Birth in the neighborhood!

Since June 2005 slow build 9A #90446 has been gestating in the backyard shop. Every day this new baby continued to grow. Sometimes the growth was fun, sometimes not so fun. After 4 1/2 long years of labor in the shop a brand new baby 9A bird was born January 16, 2010.

This was the day this new baby was moved from the womb to the crib! She will spend the remainder of her infancy in her new home in the hangar at the airport. It really feels great to have the airplane in a hangar knowing that the next time she leaves the hangar it will be to take her first baby taxi steps to the runway and eventually to take off into the sky.

Here is the plane loaded up ready for the trip.


And here it is nestled into its new home.


It was such a momentous occasion I could not contain myself. I found myself two days later putting the wings on. It took my friend Clark and I about 2-3 hours total to get them on and temporary hardware bolts installed.

Here she is with wings installed. Wow! She really may fly after all!



Oh, and you may have noticed the 172 (yes that is a 172 tailwheel airplane) next to the new 9A. Just in case someone might be interested, it looks like there may be a very nice 172 tailwheel airplane for sale soon. If anyone is interested give me a call!

Steve,

Do you have a detailed picture of your tie-down rig on the trailer? Did you bolt down the plywood sheets to the trailer? What was the speed while towing? Did you drive on the highway?

Happy Birthday and Best Wishes to 90446 from 91449!

Sorry, I did not think to take any pictures of the tie down rings on the trailer. This trailer has flip-up rings in the bed of the trailer that worked very well. I also used the hooks on the end of the straps to secure them to the edge of the trailer. I used 2X4 scraps screwed down to the plywood to serve as wheel chocks. The plywood was not bolted down. The weight of the aircraft held it in place. The primary purpose of the plywood was to extend the width of the trailer. The main gear were just around 7 feet apart. The trailer was 6' 11" wide. The plywood was 8 feet wide so it worked out perfectly.

I only live about 3 miles from our airport so all the driving was on country back roads at an average speed of about 15 MPH. I would definitely have secured things much better had I needed to go at faster highway speeds.

Thank you Steve. I am still one year from moving but I've already started the research how to. A firefighter on my block has similar trailer and offered to transport my RV. The thing I worry about is that the driving will be mostly highway in urban traffic 50+ miles. I may go with more expensive alternative of enclosed large U-haul truck.

Congrates

Great job Steve, the move to the hangar is an exciting time and a huge milestone. I remember when mine was at that stage. The time will go fast in hind site. And you will be so glad when she is finished. Good luck with it.

Tod W.
N359HW

Vladyspassky said:

Thank you Steve. I am still one year from moving but I've already started the research how to. A firefighter on my block has similar trailer and offered to transport my RV. The thing I worry about is that the driving will be mostly highway in urban traffic 50+ miles. I may go with more expensive alternative of enclosed large U-haul truck.

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Do it at 3 am with a chase car and you can usually go much slower. somedays of the week have lighter traffic, even at 3 am.

Moving day for 90622

Steve,

I took delivery of my tail kit in October 2002. Moving day to the airport was April 27, 2005. The day is documented on my web site at this link:
http://www.n2prise.org/rv9a117.htm#MovingDay

Here is the way the slide-back bed tow-truck was loaded on that spring day for the ride to the Collegedale airport on surface streets in the East Ridge and Chattanooga area.


We finally got on the road around 3 PM. I followed behind with the four-way flashers going and kept an eye on the load. This photo is just after crossing OVER Interstate 75 on US 41, less than a mile from my place. We had previously pulled out of my street onto the street that comes down to US 41, only to stop about 100 yards from the house to check how things were riding before getting out on the busy streets.


We cut through some local streets, past a hospital, then up US 11 & 64 (the Lee Highway), avoiding Interstate 75. The top speed was 35 MPH, but usually less depending on our location. The airport is much further away at these speeds, but it is much safer to keep the load steady on the truck. You can see the nylon slings around the rear of the wing cart, and through the work table legs.

The ride to Collegdale on Tennessee highway 317 is scenic if you like tree-covered roadways in the country.


The first flight was on June 9, 2005 and the rest is history documented on my web site linked at the bottom of this posting.

n2prise said:

The first flight was on June 9, 2005 . . .

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I picked up my partially started kit on June 17, 2005. So you started flying just a week before I started on my adventure! I am hoping to beat my 5 year anniversary. I hope to fly sometime this spring.