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Just a thought on long range towing with the mono trailer.
My fabricator makes from 1/2 to 3/4 inch nylon a set of tapered spacers
that drop in the carrier and hold the tire very snug to prevent side to
side leaning. The wheel bearings and wheel are very strong so I expect
it to hold the aircraft. A six ply sidewall on a 7 inch tire flexes
very little. Only a small amount of taper is required to get the tire
wedged in. Then the trailer ramp/arm is raised to hold the gear channel
in position and if that is a bit loose, shims of phenolic were added to
get a snug fit.
Here at Custom Flight we use ratchet straps to pull the gear leg into
the trailer ramp hard and will modify the two adjustment arms if they do
not bring the ramp up snug. Then we strap the wheel down hard to the
trailer with crossed straps.
To prevent rocking back and forth if the tire loses pressure, we use
bolts and a fake spar through the fuselage to hold the fuselage from
leaning too far. Yes the wing will get in the way, so we run a strong
strap from the trailers metal brace horizontally and hook down into
those hooks. Miserable, tight and dirty to get between the fuselage and
wing but doable. I have also seen folks use a strap over the fuselage,
but I am not keen on that as the gear bounces so if you pull down tight,
pad it well and check often.
Photo's attached of an aircraft that did not have the main wheel
strapped:
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Operator only strapped swing arm to trailer and aircraft bounced
out.
Remember the gear takes the load, any fuselage strapping puts force on
the fuselage or other attachments. So as soon as the fuselage begins to
lean, stop and readdress. I pulled a mono kit with no engine from Utah
without any difficulty except trailer tires and the foam wing cradles.
If your trailer still has the foam inserts in the wing rack, replace
them with strapping or fiberglass and pad them as they are notoriously
bad about breaking down over time.
As for pulling the mono backwards, we have a tow bar set up similar to
Raimo's.
For mono trailer loading and unloading, we just pick up the tail and
move the plane. Lift the tail over the main wheel cradle and get it in
the track and added a rope winch to the trailer to pull it aft. Easy to
do with a young strong assistant. Be sure to strap the tailwheel down.
I have a 22 foot flat bed for my trigear and an electric winch that
hooks to either the tow bar or around my nose gear pivot shaft housing.
One guy can load the fuselage. Wings are still hoisted. Flip up wheel
pants allow for a quick strapping using a cable over the brake disk and
three ratchet straps (one for each cable and one for the nose gear leg,
holds the plane marvelously secure.
Regards,
Bud
----- Original Message -----
From: GRAHAM SINGLETON<mailto:grahamsingleton@btinternet.com>
To: europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 1:38 PM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Electric winch or hand crank?
Hans
is right. The sring in the main gear allows the fuselage to bounce
around on the road so it really needs to be tied down at the front. I
used a long luggage strap over the fuselage just in front of the
windscreen which worked well and prevented the rocking that Hans noted.
Graham
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
From: Hans J. Danielsen <hansjd@online.no>
To: europa-list@matronics.com
Sent: Wednesday, 31 August, 2011 16:20:37
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Electric winch or hand crank?
<hansjd@online.no<mailto:hansjd@online.no>>
Martin:
The few times I've pulled it onto the trailer I have had good
assistance from bystanders. You could make a couple of ramps to sturdy
the outriggers/wings during this prosess. To measure the hight lift the
tailwheel onto the rail, wings level, measure the distance between
outrigger wheel and ground, add the small hight up to the mainweel
platform and you have the ramp hight. These ramps are also great when
removing the first wing as it sturdies the rest of the assembly without
too much rocking sideways. (But you do need help to pull the wings and
place them on the trailer anyway!)
Remember, the main landing gear frame is locked to sturdy the fuselage
when the ramp is pulled up and enclosing the wheel, but for transport
I've always used ropes to tie the fuselage sideways to the trailer
structure. Otherwise, the main landing gear frame will be subjected to a
lot of strain from sideways rocking of the fuselage.
Hope this helps.
Hans
.----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Tuck"
<MJKTuck@cs.com<mailto:MJKTuck@cs.com>>
To: <europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 3:53 AM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Electric winch or hand crank?
<MJKTuck@cs.com<mailto:MJKTuck@cs.com>>
>
> Hi Hans,
>
> I couple of other e-mails also indicate that it is safe to pull on
the tail-wheel axle so I think that is how I will go. You mentioned you
have a hand crank - which has you at the 'working end'. How do you
stabilize the wings if no-one is there to help?
>
> Martin
>
> On 8/30/2011 2:38 PM, Hans J. Danielsen wrote:
<hansjd@online.no<mailto:hansjd@online.no>>
>>
>> Hi Martin.
>>
>> A little late, but here goes: I use a hand crank to pull the
airplane onto the trailer. The winch was pulled from an obsolete boat
trailer and mounted just in front of the tailwheel rail - close to the
attach-handle. Made a short piece of wire with an eye at both ends to
fit around the protruding ends of the tailwheel axle. I hook the winch
wire on to this small loop and simply crank the airplane home. Works a
treat.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Hans
>>
>>
>>
>> ---- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Tuck"
<MJKTuck@cs.com<mailto:MJKTuck@cs.com>>
>> To: "Europa Builders Forum"
<europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>>
>> Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 2:10 AM
>> Subject: Europa-List: Electric winch or hand crank?
>>
>>
<MJKTuck@cs.com<mailto:MJKTuck@cs.com>>
>>>
>>> Hi Folks,
>>>
>>> I think I asked this question before but I couldn't have kept the
responses.
>>>
>>> Someone recommended a electric powered winch to pull my monowheel
onto its trailer. I've read some reviews on Amazon but there are
diametrically opposed views on how good a job they do. The main
complaint being how slow they are or not very well built.
>>>
>>> Ideally I would want one with a remote but I can't seem to find
one with a wireless remote, some have a wired remote but the cable seems
too short as I want to hold onto the wingtip to keep it level while the
winch does it's thing.
>>>
>>> Alternatively I could keep it simple and use a hand crank - but
the wings will need to be kept level. I have made some attachments which
help some but once the tipping momentum gets going on side or the other
my hinged spring legs give way. You guys that use a trailer all time
must be using something. It takes me a good 30 mins to get everything up
on the trailer and seemingly a lot of physical strength - not good when
temps are in the 80s and 90s.
>>>
>>> Also, when cranking what is the best thing to attach the cable to?
Cable round the axle on the side opposite to the brake came to mind. Not
sure I would want to pull on the tailwheel although that seems an
obvious choice.
>>>
>>> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>>>
>>> Not much flying this summer - we have had 45 days of 100+ F temps
in Wichita so far this year. The record is 50 days. Today was 106 deg F.
Phew!
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Martin Tuck
>>> N152MT
>>> Wichita, Kansas
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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