RV-12 Trailer Animation

Since the news from Vans is pretty sparse I thought I'd amuse myself by playing around with a few trailer concepts. I posted a couple 3D animations at http://www.box.net/public/2kjtn56l6b.

Please, no disparaging remarks about my RV-12 model! I know the cowl looks like a Pinewood Derby car. It's hard to create a model when you don't have all the dimensions or a 3-view drawing.

My first trailer model was massive, to clear the large tail surfaces. So I added the nose wheel ramp. This brought the tail down, making room for the wings & allowing me to lower the roof. Then I narrowed the trailer, adding two side extensions for the stabilator. The trailer is still large, but manageable.

A few other ideas I might try:

• Front access door
• Winch, to pull the plane into the trailer
• Keeping the fuselage horizontal & adding a fin clearance extension on the roof
• Strap-on wing wheel, so you can move it around like a wheelbarrow

What do you guys think? I'm taking suggestions for Trailer Concept #2.

RV-12 Trailer

KThorp...

Very nice idea. I think it has legs and may generate plenty of discussion...

Great job!
Can't view the animations with Kaffeine/FIrefox/Linux though.

InsideOut said:

Can't view the animations with Kaffeine/FIrefox/Linux though.

Click to expand...

I saved them in Windows Media 9 format. I can also save as an Apple QuickTime, if that'll work better for you..

Great idea!

That looks cool! I was thinking about this a few months ago... a Vans trailer kit - pre-drilled of course! Some room for a tool bin would be nice - perhaps use the room under the nose gear ramp, accessible from outside door. Great job!

mikehoover said:

Some room for a tool bin would be nice - perhaps use the room under the nose gear ramp, accessible from outside door. Great job!

Click to expand...

Why not just mount a box on the trailer tongue? You could also carry fuel containers there as well.

I would suggest wheel sumps built into the floor for the mains to ride in as a way to assure proper positioning. Recessed tie-down rings for securing would also be a nice touch!

It would be cool to have the trailers pre-built so that builders could order the entire -12 kits at Vans and then you could pick up the kit loaded in the trailer at the same time.

Very nice job. Some things I like to see in my "dream trailer" would include:

- Protected sleves for each wing with rollers so the wings easily slide into the sleve. The sleve should be padded on all four sides, and the rollers should drop below the padding for transport.

- A power wench at the front of the trailer so the aircraft doesn't have to be pushed into the enclosure.

- Since there will be fuel in the trailer, there should be roof vents.

- Wheel "drop-ins" so to easily locate and secure the main and nose gear.

- Some kind of wing trolly so one person can remove/install the wings and easily place/remove them from the trailer.

Of course, the items I mentioned are small detail items that wouldn't be shown at the scale of your drawing...but give it some thought as you are drawing up my...er...your plans.

Cool animations. What package did you use?

Here?s something to think about adding based on my experience of having had a rustic ?hangar? out in the country.
It was mostly a shelter from the elements and those are all the things I wish it would have contained.

If I were to have a hanger/trailer might as well add all the stuff that will make me feel at home.

? A fueling station and tool box with oil, parts and cleaning supplies. Something like a 40 gallon tank and fuel pump depending on where it is mounted.
? Pressurized steel tank for compressed air source, maybe even pressurize the fuel tank to feed fuel.
? Rails to help guide the airplane and finally lock the wheels in place.
? An awning may be a cool way to make the trailer serve as shelter during the day
? Build basement or attic (low or high) doors on the trailer to store chairs, a grill, etc. The sort of stuff you would find in a hangar.
? Possibility of a marine potty in case the facilities are far from the parking place
? A 20 gallon Water tank with a sink or faucet to wash hands, parts, etc.
? An electric generator may be handy too.

As you found out, the most difficult thing to engineer for is the rear stab. I reckon sailplane trailers don?t have landing gear and a horizontal tail feather to think about in the design of trailers. That helps to keep them narrow and short.

At 96 inches in width, it will force to build a trailer that can be up to 9 feet wide. The design with the rear pocket is clever but the gear width or the airplane will determine the placement of the trailer wheels and wheel wells. That placement will determine the height of the trailer floor. I still have the 8X18 trailer I used to move my plane from Texas and it is big to lug around. In my trip from Texas I removed the tail feathers to help in transport.

One thing that would simplify the trailer design could be the rear stab being removable too. If that were the case, the only limiting factor would be the landing gear track.

JB

Where is the best place to attach a winch strap? The prop hub? Main gear legs? Spar pass-thru hole?

Sign me up!

KThorp,

I like your concept drawings. The easier this can be made to pack and unpack, the more likely it will be used. I, for one, appreciate the innovation and enthusiasm surrounding the whole RV-12 concept. The others have hit on some of the main points to facilitate the setup/breakdown. The main points of consideration (I think) are:

Toolbox with easy external reach.

Fuel transport (4 five gallon jerry cans are fine, but a 20 gal tank w/ pump would be the cat's meow)

Slide in/Slide out wing trolley and harness makes getting the wing in and out of the trailer a snap.

The wheel detents are a great idea!

The only thing i would suggest is making it a dual axle trailer, to improve stability and smooth out the ride a bit.

Keep up the forward thinking guys!

Solar panel trickle charger!

Put a solar panel on the roof that charges a set of deep cycle batteries capable of topping up the A/C battery while it's packed up.

I also like the idea of drawers for the wings and a rig of some sort to make removing and installing the wings a one person operation with minimal risk.

Width

Is the horizontal removeable?

Most states have an 8 ft. vehicle width limit - the Duster sailplane I built came with a fixed center section that was designed at 96 inches to keep within this limit.

If the horizontal does remove (a couple of bolts?) then your trailer could be made much narrower and easier to tow....

UPDATE

Some states are at 8 ft. max width, but the more general number is 8.5 ft. - still below the 9 ft. width quoted earlier... and this is the absolute exterior dimension, not the inside trailer dimension... some allowance needs to be made for the wall thickness and "wiggle room"

Data here: http://www.wecamp2.com/size.html

gil in Tucson

bump..bump...

Make sure the plane can "move" with the bumps using the gear as shock absorbers. It'll need some room to move around. If the tail is touching the floor, a severe bump would force the entire tail cone up causing damage.

The tail also can't be tied down (unless you use a bungee).

RV6junkie said:

- A power wench

Click to expand...

I must get myself another one of those. The one I have is getting old.

Stab clearance

Does anybody know the actual width of the RV-12 stabilator? It's 8' on my 3D model, so I made the trailer 8 1/2' to keep it legal it most states. 3" is not a lot of wiggle room.

Maybe to reduce hangar rash I can show sliding or swing-away panels on the trailer stabilator extensions. So at least you'd have plenty of clearance for loading/unloading. Or maybe those extensions could be thermo-formed from a relatively soft plastic?

If the stab was removable that would be yet another thing to have to bother with (and worry about) each time you flew (mounting bolts & nuts, control linkage, trim linkage).

tvlawyer said:

I must get myself another one of those. The one I have is getting old.

Click to expand...

Good catch

Kevin, you do not want to attached the WINCH to the prop. I'm not sure where I would attach it. If the aircraft has a provision for a tow-bar (I doubt it does) that would be the best location. Otherwise I would fabricate an attach point at the firewall with a tab that stuck-out below the cowl.

I've always loved the twister and it's trailer. It incorporates alot of design elements that have been suggested here and more - I especially like the tilt up design so you can actually get in there and access the plane.

WEBSITE PICS

I had never heard of Pacific Aero Sport or their Twister. But I found out they have some great videos of a guy disassembling the plane & putting it into a trailer:

http://www.pacificaerosport.com/twister.htm

I especially like the wing dolly. Simple and functional! The plane is a little lighter than an RV-12 (550 lbs. vs. 750) but the guy doesn't seem to have much trouble pushing the various pieces around.

KThorp said:

Since the news from Vans is pretty sparse I thought I'd amuse myself by playing around with a few trailer concepts. I posted a couple 3D animations at http://www.box.net/public/2kjtn56l6b.

Please, no disparaging remarks about my RV-12 model! I know the cowl looks like a Pinewood Derby car. It's hard to create a model when you don't have all the dimensions or a 3-view drawing.

My first trailer model was massive, to clear the large tail surfaces. So I added the nose wheel ramp. This brought the tail down, making room for the wings & allowing me to lower the roof. Then I narrowed the trailer, adding two side extensions for the stabilator. The trailer is still large, but manageable.

A few other ideas I might try:

• Front access door
• Winch, to pull the plane into the trailer
• Keeping the fuselage horizontal & adding a fin clearance extension on the roof
• Strap-on wing wheel, so you can move it around like a wheelbarrow

What do you guys think? I'm taking suggestions for Trailer Concept #2.

Click to expand...

Really cool stuff man, thanks.

New Trailer Animations & Images

I posted some new stuff in the same folder: http://www.box.net/public/2kjtn56l6b. All the new animations & images have "2" in their file names.

This concept keeps the fuselage horizontal in the trailer. Note the door up front and plug-in wheel for moving the wings. But I actually like the 2-wheel wing dolly shown at http://www.pacificaerosport.com/twister.htm better. Depending on the chord of the RV-12 wing it might be impossible to swing it down flat inside the trailer.

I envision permanent wheel chocks with swing-down clamps securing the tires. Maybe I'll model those next...

Nice animations!

That avi file is very cool.

How about channels for the wheels? With the tight clearances, it would make it easier for 1-person loading - keeping everything exactly where it needs to go. Use a wider - angled opening at the rear to "funnel" the wheels into the tracks.

The front of the channel would be boxed to form the front chalks, and a pin could be inserted through the channel, behind each tire to serve as the rear chock. Small ratcheting straps could also be used in lieu of the chalks. Run these front to back over the top of the tire, and the plane would be locked in, but still allow the suspension of the gear to absorb shock during transit.