Kingsley Hurst wrote:
> Since the aircraft will be travelling backwards, if I were you, I
> would build a device on the trailer itself that restrains rudder
> movement.
I would caution *against* that!
The airplane will move a lot during travel, it sits on its own
suspension and rubber tires which allow quite some twisting and sideways
movement, and the tail of the airplane consequently moves as well. If
you restrict the movement at that point, you will use the tail as a
lever to restrict movement of the airplane, not good in my opinion, as
it is not designed to take such loads.
One option would be to restrict the airplane on multiple places (I tried
that), but then I discovered that the trailer, being of metal, will bend
and twist by itself. If you secure the airplane like that, you will use
the airplane to make the trailer more rigid, not a good idea either.
Apart from the problem that there are very few places on the airplane
suitable for securing the airplane like that anyway.
My solution to these problems: I put a winch on the trailer with a nylon
band, and use that to tow the airplane onto the trailer. I leave it
connected during the travel. At the same tail position, I connect two
straps to it, connected via two metal springs to the trailer. This will
form a triangle, restricting movement of the tail in all directions, but
due to the springs trailer movements won't jerk on the airplane. The
trailer is thus allowed to move a little bit under the airplane. A
second benefit of this is that the airplane can use its own tires and
springs to deal with bumps in the road, in addition to the suspension of
the trailer. This will be better for your gyro's, if you have them.
Frans
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