Transportiong R/C

Sorry Marty, I drew the plans for my common 5 X 10 utility trailer converstion on a napkin in the coffee shop.

I think for that class car you need something kind of small. Get yourself a trailer kit from (Northern Tools ) for just under $300 and build a box on it for your birds. The measurements on that trailer kit are 4 X 8 which happen to be the same as the measurements of a sheet of plywood. Make sure you get high grade exterior stuff and use several coats of a good water sealer inside and out.

When I designed my trailer, we decided the center needed to be tall enough to handle the rudder on a B-17. So we had bows bent on a curve that was 12 inches high in the middle of a 60 inch span. Those were used for the top which we hinged on both sides (large heavy steel hinges from Granger). For several years we just knocked the correct set of hinge pins out and opened up. Then we put a pair of LONG hinge pins in and provided a lock bracket and now the trailer is locked up. The sides were 24 inch high steel frames that bolt to the existing framework. Everything was covered in V-crimp roofing material execpt the front and back which were done with light sheet metal. 1/8 inch drill bits and pop rivits were used to attach the skin to the framework.

Good luck,

Jim Branaum AMA 1428

Six_O'clock_High Target snipped-for-privacy@Guns.com

-- Marty Hornstein, VE2MH snipped-for-privacy@videotron.ca

I think it's "Northern Tool and Equipment", a chain I know we have here in the South :)

PCPhill

a trailer to carry large 1/4 scale cubs etc??

I think that means it's time to consider the "M" word. Honda makes a nice minivan : - )

You know you're a true R/C'er when plane transporting capability becomes the major consideration when purchasing a new vehicle. As in this picture:

Alan Harriman

Northern Hydraulics is a company in the upper midwest, maybe Minnesota or something, that publishes a catalog containing lots and lots of parts and equipment. You can buy go-carts, log splitters, casters, hydraulic pistons, boots, car accessories, individual parts, and just about anything else you can think of including trailers and trailer parts. My brother used to get their catalogs ten or fifteen years ago. I wonder if they are still around.

for a trailer to carry large 1/4 scale cubs etc??

That's a funny picture. I have noticed in the past that the flying field parking lot usually looks like a minivan convention.

I have three minivans.

Marty,

I helped modify a commercial trailer for a friend who wanted to tow it behind a VW Rabbit. There are a number of companies that build flat-bed trailers you can use as a starting point. Using something with all of the running gear already built saves a lot of design work and welding. We found that there we a couple of issues with the selection of the trailor.

The trailer tongue at the "level" position should be a good match for your trailer hitch. This means you need to explore the available trailers in you area and get a measurement of the "ball height" you will need for the custom hitch you will need to have put on your Honda.

The natural roll center of the trailer should be as low as you can find so that the extra weight and air drag of a custom "box" won't cause a problem. We found a unit at "Lowes" that had a hardwood bed and sockets and fittings along the edges for slatted sides.

The unit should be a little longer than what you think you will need. I don't know if this is a characteristic of all of the trailer frames, but we "test towed" a couple of different designs and found that the longer units had less tendency to swing behind the Rabbit at highway speeds. This may be due to the length of the "arm" between the hitch and the axle.

Karl wanted something other than a big "box" with an inverted "T" to clear the tip of the vertical stab. We decided on a design with vertical sides with a slightly curved front (nose) and a curved "roof". We got a little carried away and shaped the entire assembly, except for the slightly curved front, to look a little like a 1930's hangar. He had visions of doing some "road trips" towing the thing, so he wanted the curved front to reduce the drag from just a "flat plate" front end.

We looked at 1/8" aircraft ply over a formed wood structure, aluminum sheet over formed aluminum members, tin over a steel tube frame, and fiberglass over foam We decided on the glass over foam because of the ease of making the shapes, the strength, and the light weight.

We fabricated the entire custom box from Urethane foam and fiberglass with wood (spruce) members buried in the composite where we needed "hard points".

You can get sheets of Urethane foam in various thicknesses and width x length from Aircraft Spruce or Wicks Aircraft supply. You can get it in various densities from "light" to "rigid". The colors vary by the manufacturer. The stuff we used was brown for the higher density stuff and pink for the "light" stuff. We used the high density for everything but the big chunks of the light density we ordered for the curved nose section (applied over the basic box made from the high density) and some "fancy" cosmetic additions like the two rear corner "towers" that simulated the design of the 1930's hangar. This is the type of foam that you can cut with a bread knife or saw blade- you DO NOT hot wire the stuff. If you hot wire it, the fumes will make your internal organs pack their bags and leave home. It sands to shape very well using "SureForm" files, abrasive paper, or even chunks of the foam itself. You can sand really nice compound curves in the stuff by using a chunk of the foam that you have shaped and then covered with abrasive paper. It accepts resin and fiberglass very well.

We used it to make a "positive" mold structure for the fiberglass. The foam ends up sandwiched between the inner and outer layers of fiberglass. This makes a very light and strong structure. However, you need to spend a little more time with the cosmetics of the final layer of the fiberglass because this is the outside surface of the structure - unlike laying fiberglass up inside a "female" mold.

We first modeled the design at 1/4 scale using heavy Kraft paper and lightweight fiberglass with Vinyl-Ester resin before we started cutting the actual material.

We used the 1" thick sheets of foam for the basic shell and slices of the 2" thick material (at various widths) to form internal stiffening members and the minimal internal frame. We designed the box so that the first 6" of the height of the sides and front of the box were attached to the trailer floor with epoxy and fillets of fiberglass/resin/floxed cotton fiber. These stub walls were made to fit with the sides of the main box with a "joggle" that provided a place to run a compression strip of thin red rubber as a weather seal. The major portion of the box was held to the stub walls with a series of adjustable "over center" latches around the perimeter. We used epoxy to mount 1" wide by 3" tall strips of spruce along the mating edges of the foam between the stub wall and the box walls before the first layer of resin and fiberglass was applied. This provided stiffness and a hard point area for the clamp hardware. We could (would) have built up the entire box on the trailer without the stub walls. However, Karl's wife "suggested" that having the entire upper section be removable would permit the hauling of tall objects - like the antique furniture she finds at auctions.

We used "West System" resin with 3.74 oz "plain weave" glass for the flat surfaces and "crow-foot" weave for the curved front and "roof".

The entire rear section of the box was made removable as a section. We used the same "wood at the edges" technique where the back panel mated with the box. Because of the curved shape of the "roof" we bent and then laminated strips of 1/6" aircraft ply together to use as the mating wood inserts for the rear section of the main structure and the removable back of the box (the back of the box is actually the "front" of the hangar with fake doors painted).

It looked really neat when we finished - after two months of some after work and all-day Saturday efforts. The upper structure was so light that one man could easily hoist it over his head, step up onto the trailer, and lower it into position. Yet, it was strong enough that his 105 lb daughter could sit on the roof. The final dimensions of the "hangar" (not including the height of the trailer floor from the road surface) were: 8' long by 5'

6" wide by 4' 6" tall. We would have made it wider, but we were constained by the spacing between the inside surfaces of the slightly inset tire fenders. This gave him plenty of height for his largest aircraft's vert stab and the width needed for fuselage stub wings- plus all of the "support" equipment he needed. You can adapt the size to fit your needs.

I have often thought that this construction method would also work to make a custom hangar (topper) that would fit the bed and side rails of a full-sized pickup truck. The foam/glass construction would lend itself well to making the front fit over the truck cab's roof line for drag reduction and cosmetic effect.

After using it for awhile, Karl added a "false floor" on aluminum extrusion rails so he could lash the aircraft fuselage to the floor and then slide the entire assembly in and out to form a ramp. He also added some long wing boxes to the inside wall and mounted a "RV" power socket so he could run an extension cord to the trailer and charge his batteries while it was parked next to his house. As it turned out, the extra work to make it "road worthy" paid off when he had to relocate to a different part of the country. He also added some shielded vents to the roof and some screened air inlet slots along the bottom to provide for ventilation on hot days. The original finish was done with white automotive enamel paint over a white primer.

This was a LOT more work that a simple "Inverted T" shape box on a trailer. But, the results were "cool". If I was in a hurry, I would uses the same construction materials to make a simple, non-removable "T" box on a wood floor trailer. If you used 1" thick sheets and rounded over the edges where the sheets meet (outside corners at interior and exterior joints) - the crowfoot glass would follow the radius without lifting. The "inside" corners are filled with a fillet mixture of the resin and micro-balloons before the glass is applied. The foam/fiberglass system is very strong for the weight. However, it is a lot more expensive that just 1/8" or 3/32" aircraft plywood over wood.

Karl, if you happen to spot this post, please post the construction and finished product pictures of the trailer in one on the binary newsgroups and then post the location here. Also, send me your email address. Thanks.

Anyway, if you have a spot to securely store a covered trailer, they are real handy. If it is "dry", vented, and you don't live where the sun will make the interior temps get to the bread-oven point - you may find that there are times when you will leave your aircraft and support equipment in there between flying sessions rather than houling the stuff in and out of the house.

The point is: It is a hobby - have fun.

J

"Marty Hornstein" wrote in message news:XS94b.62338$ snipped-for-privacy@wagner.videotron.net... I drive a HONDA 4 door Sedan and would like to know if anyone has a design for a trailer to carry large 1/4 scale cubs etc??

Ed, you and I usually agree, whether you realize it or not! ;^)

Or, is that like the saying: all great minds think alike!

If you decide on a trailer, make sure you build shelves that slide out. You can tie the models down with Velcro and then slide the shelf back into the trailer. Or build a lift up lid on the trailer. I had a trailer that I could not easily get into the front and it was a real PITA

Regards

Tom Watson Sydney Australia

I have a small single axle utility trailer that I'm considering using ( I drive a Volkswagen Jetta), but the ride is too harsh. I'd be worried about "shocking" my aircraft to pieces. I really don't want to remove any of the spring leafs to try to soften the ride. Any ideas?

Ha ha ha... sounds like my rig, a 22-year-old Toyota long bed pickup with a $50 used camper shell on top!

That is one thing about small trailers that I learned the hard way. I built a pickup Toyota bed trailer with a topper on it etc. When I used it to take the planes 100 miles or so, I got there I found my flight box had vibrated apart. Even those small trailers will bounce a lot if they are light. I plan on putting shocks on the thing one of these days, but I don't use it that much now since we have vehicles that will work to haul stuff instead.

Personally, if I was just hauling one bigger plane, I would make a rooftop carrier, that way I am not dragging a trailer all over.

-- Eric Kler Fubar Hill -

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Northern Hydraulics and Northern Tool and Equipment are one in the same. Actually, Northern Hydraulics evolved into Northern Tool and Equipment.

Another source of trailers is Harbor Freight. They have a nice 4x8 trailer on 12" rims that won't burn out the wheel bearings if you drive over 25MPH. Those trailers with the little bitty tires are murder on wheel bearings because they're spinning at MACH 2.7 when you're driving at highway speeds

Gotta agree w/ Paul on this... Af ter using my trusty ole '83 Caprice wagon for many years, I sold it and picked up a creampuff '94 Grand Voyager... This old mini beats the heck outta the new ones for hauling models, because of it's basically rectangular shape... Not too pretty, just an efficient box on wheels....

Bill

they have lots of fun stuff

-- Chris W

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania