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Moving an A-model

koda2

Well Known Member
Anyone successfully transport an A-model without removing the wings?

My 6A is still not completed but nearly so and the wings are on and "pardner, they're not comin off."

Anyway to transport a complete plane? I once saw a Piper Tomahawk get loaded with a crane and straps onto a tractor trailer rig and it went several hundred miles that way.

Dave A.
 
Transport

Ummm, maybe push the throttle in and pull back on the stick after a few seconds.

Otherwise, I'd think the wings are coming off one way or the other. Either by removing the bolts, or by knocking on some light poles.
 
It can be done, just costs lots of $$$.

Many years back four A-4 Skyhawks were moved to our Airpark from near the D-M boneyard (about 25 miles) and they came on flat bed trucks. The had the wings on and a span of 26.5 ft. They were moved in the middle of the night.

The -6 models are around 21 ft without wing tips on so it can be done.

A lot depends on your state's over size load rules and how narrow the roads you need to travel. If the Texas Flip and Move guys on TV can do it with whole houses, a RV-6 should be easy, just send money... :)
 
It all depends on how far, and how much you're willing to pay.

If you intend to do it legally and legitimately, I think you'll find it's going to be considerably cheaper to hire an A&P crew to come pull the wings for you, and put them back on, and then buy everybody a steak dinner afterward. Overwidth permits on the highways can get ugly in a hurry.

I pulled mine 3 miles down a county road from it's nest to a cropdusters paved strip for its first flight, behind a Polaris with a pickup in front and one in back with flashers - but that's a little different than what you're talking about I'm guessing.
 
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As someone familiar with moving aircraft (think f-18, f-4, a10s..) it can be done depending on routes..etc
The cost would be enormous- permits, escorts, trucks, cranes, and a jig to hold the plane at an angle on the trailer (nose down, tail up, with the wings inline with trailer length.)
Add in the risk of damage during loading/transport and it makes taking the wings off an easy decision. It's a simple job, is there a major reason why you don't want to remove them?

Mike
GIII
Rv8
 
It's been about a dozen years ago now but Larry, with the hanger across from mine, moved his assembled 6A from Clovis CA to Reedley CA (about 25 miles) on a flat bed. I forget how he had it positioned, but it was tilted in some way. He said it really wasn't a big deal.
 
Perhaps if you put the plane on a flatbed or similar with the nose pointing to the side, then lower the nose/raise the tail. Wings would be fore and aft on the truck. It might take a special jig to hold everything.

Basically an extreme nose-down position.
 
Why not remove one wing and load it diagonally on one of those flat bed car haulers. I bet you could get the width down to 8' that way. John
 
It’s not that simple to remove a wing on a 6A. The wing spar is Bolted to the gear leg brace and can’t be removed without supporting fuselage in the air, removing wing and then putting in some sort of false spar and rebolting it up to the gear leg mount. It’s a lot different than a 7A wing which can be removed without affecting fuselage integrity. I did this to my 6A to move it off airport to have it painted. Don’t think I would want to do it again.
 
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It would be easier to remove the prop and engine than the wings. Maybe even throw in the tail feathers and wingtips. That would certainly shorten the fore and aft dimensions. Then angle the plane sideways on a flatbed.

I would have to do the math to see what that would be and I don't have a place for it yet. Still working on it even on "black flag" days and night shifts when I can.
DA
 
hang it from the prop?

Get a truck with a crane and hang it from the prop?

white-isuzu-flatbed-truck-yellow-260nw-497393428.jpg
 
Moving a 6A with the wings on

I helped my friend move his 6A with the wings on in '96. He built it at his house and wanted to move it to his hangar about 20 miles away. He, being a retired NASA engineer, said he would never take those wings off and put them back on again. We did a "trial run" the week before with a couple of cane poles taped together the length of the wing span so we could measure for interference with mail boxes, sign posts, utility poles, etc. He had planned the route for back-country roads, and because it involved two counties here in Alabama he requested escorts from the sheriff's offices. He also planned on an early Sunday morning transport, but for some reason, we moved it early on a Saturday morning. I would not want to move it in heavy traffic.

We moved it on his son's flatbed trailer pulled by a Ford F250 pickup. Getting it up on the trailer was no small feat. One thousand pounds does not sound like much in terms of aircraft weight, but we could have used better winches, etc. We moved it nosewheel first on the trailer, with the wings just like you'd fly it, straight into the wind.

We had several cars to lead and follow the caravan, and we used radios for communications.

Moving a 6A with wings on can be done, but plan carefully. We were extra careful when crossing major highways and at known "tight spots" (from our trial run the previous week).

I didn't ask him about a "wide load" permit, but looking back, I would guess we were probably supposed to have one. :eek:

Good luck.
 
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