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Best way to pull RV-9A onto sliding deck truck

T

tailcreek_flyer

Active Member
Tomorrow I have a sliding deck car mover coming to move my RV9A from the home shop to the new hanger. Its a short 15 minute highway haul. Searching thru other posts and pictures, I see lots of aircraft riding to their destination after being loaded but not many details on how to tug the aircraft onto the deck.
Do I attach slings to all three gear or just to the two mains and let the nose wheel find its way?
Whats the best point to attach, right where the main gear bends and turns into the axle or up the leg somewhere. I have left the brakes off to avoid damage if this is where I pull from.
Any advice on this task is appreciated.
Thanks
Cam Andres
RV9A with IO360 C-FTLL
Closing in on final assembly.
 
I used the single winch on the truck attached to the nose gear leg, at the bend just above the castering nose wheel part. I then attached a nose gear fork to the nose wheel so I could steer as the winch pulled. It's a tight fit so watch for binding on each side, which could result in bending the nose gear leg, I suppose.

To hold it in place on the trailer, mainly I used ratchet straps, fore and aft, from the mains, attached down near the wheels. Park brake on, which helped a lot. Then to keep from teeter tottering one strap across top of nose wheel and one to the tail tie down.

35 miles to airport and I also added the transport to my builders insurance policy.

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My insurance policy also covered my move. I left most decisions to the towing company, reasoning that they have far more experience than I do in moving heavy things.

They hooked a soft tow strap around the nose gear leg down low at the bend near the tire. Then they clipped the winch cable to the the soft tow strap and pulled. The airplane went right up the ramp with no problems. The nose gear can take it.

Discuss with them in advance that no chains are to be used to secure the aircraft for transport - only soft straps.

At your destination, a tow bar really helps in getting the plane off the ramp. The plane is going backwards and the nose wheel will try to turn 180 degrees to follow the direction of motion - but it can't because of the rotation limiting bracket you installed. You get up on the bed to steer the nosewheel with your towbar (really just keeping it straight) while the truck operator slowly lets the aircraft down the ramp.

It ended up being far less of an ordeal than I thought.
 
krw5927 said:
My insurance policy also covered my move. I left most decisions to the towing company, reasoning that they have far more experience than I do in moving heavy things.

They hooked a soft tow strap around the nose gear leg down low at the bend near the tire. Then they clipped the winch cable to the the soft tow strap and pulled. The airplane went right up the ramp with no problems. The nose gear can take it.

Discuss with them in advance that no chains are to be used to secure the aircraft for transport - only soft straps.

At your destination, a tow bar really helps in getting the plane off the ramp. The plane is going backwards and the nose wheel will try to turn 180 degrees to follow the direction of motion - but it can't because of the rotation limiting bracket you installed. You get up on the bed to steer the nosewheel with your towbar (really just keeping it straight) while the truck operator slowly lets the aircraft down the ramp.

It ended up being far less of an ordeal than I thought.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the responses guys. It doesn't sound like I'll have an issue using the nose wheel as the tug point. I have known the tow truck driver for years and we discussed the gentle handling requirements. He's an aviation friendly retired engineer who races jet boats, so I have confidence in his ability.
It sounds like I better whip up a tow bar tonight though. Its something I don't have in my tool box right now.
Thanks again
Cam
 
Mine is not the A model and I did not have the cowl on so I ran a strap through the engine mount.
Using the engine mount also seemed like the best place to tie it down while traveling.
 
tailcreek_flyer said:
It doesn't sound like I'll have an issue using the nose wheel as the tug point.






Cam
Click to expand...


Cam the nose wheel strut is elegant exercise caution when using it as a major tug point. I built two ramps and used straps attached to woodblocks at longeron attachments. Watch the tail especially when unloading.










Chief helper the neighbour boy now taller then airplane



 
double secure everything!@

Lots of good pointers here.... a couple more....
I like how Vlad screwed blocks to the deck. If a strap fails, at least it ain't rolling into traffic..... right away!
after using all those old ratcheting straps the tow guy has, use you own new ones. Then add ropes to duplicate what the straps are doing.
( even noticed how many of those things are on the side of the highway, 'cause they let go!?!)

make sure it can't go forward, and because it's a lot lighter than the average load, think about the 'bounce' factor.
add LOTS of streamers to aid visibility to parts that extend off the deck or trailer. People tend to drive where they are used to, not where it's safe.

best of luck! you're almost there!!!
 
Probably not a factor on the two seaters, but with a RV-10, you have to have somebody holding the tail. On the standard length flatbed that is tilted, the tail may hit the ground. I've seen these on three different RV-10s. The good news is that is doesn't take much effort to hold the tail and once the rear wheels are on the flatbed, they can drop the bed to level.
 
rleffler said:
Probably not a factor on the two seaters, but with a RV-10, you have to have somebody holding the tail. On the standard length flatbed that is tilted, the tail may hit the ground. I've seen these on three different RV-10s. The good news is that is doesn't take much effort to hold the tail and once the rear wheels are on the flatbed, they can drop the bed to level.
Click to expand...

I was worried about this with my 9A, but the tail never came closer than probably a foot from the ground on the way up the ramp. I bet with the overall length of the 10 it's a way different story.
 
We moved our 9A to the airport exactly six years ago today. It took about three adults to help push it up the ramps I made for the task. Drove about 5 mph the whole way.

The ramps were 2x8's with 2x4 stiffeners attached to minimize bowing (those kids are teenagers now):
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Definitely a low-tech operation:
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Tango Lima Lima makes the hanger trip

Thanks to all who responded to my question. My moving truck showed up at 5pm, we loaded, made the trip to the airport and I was back home at 6:15. That was way easier than I expected it to be. Used the nose gear as the pull point for loading and unloading the aircraft. Glad I had a makeshift tow bar to guide the aircraft when we unloaded her. Attached a few snap shots of the trip.
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Cam Andres
C-FTLL RV9A with IO360
Final Assembly starts now.
building log at www.tailcreek.com/tcaviate
 
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