trailering enclosed trailer

[Slyfox]

Bj,
I have to admit, I have thought of doing this. what do you do for fuel left in the tanks? do you have a problem with full tanks? do you fly with only half tanks?

Is there any way of taking some pictures? would love to see what you have.

[teamkitfox7788]

Slyfox

The picture of your plane next to your message looks like mine, I had a "How did he get my picture?" moment.

I fly with partial tanks as a rule, capacity 12 gallons per side, we rarely want that much fuel on board.

If I anticipate towing over rough roads or long distances, after I land and put the tail on the small flatbed trailer, one wing gets folded, I drop a siphon into that wing tank, walk around to fold and install the retaining brace on the other wing. By then the first wing is drained and I siphon the remaining wing tank.

The enclosed aircraft trailer has a built in 45 gallon fuel tank, pump, hose and nozzle.

Since I use ethanol free auto gas, I find purgas.com useful. It lists ethanol free gas stations by state, allowing me to fill the 45 gallon tank while touring between flying destinations.

Several red 5 gallon cans are strapped inside the trailer in case I may want to get extra gas. My wing tanks are the old fiberglass tanks that deteriorate with ethanol.

I will present one or more Power Point forums at Air Venture on touring with a folding wing plane behind a motorhome and may set up a display of the plane, enclosed trailer and conversion van motorhome in a non-vendor location. Lots of pictures of set-up, how to do it plus great flying destination photos too. All under discussion with Air Venture planners now.

BJ

[Slyfox]

really want to see. last year I flew to osh, but not this year. so I guess I'm out. still want to see. you going to any of the aopa flyins. there is one here at felts in august and I'm planning on the one in California in September. I take it from your statement of low and slow that you prefer white. that's my rule. I have the short wing with 912uls. a real goer.

My airplane is short wing, 912uls, Ivo medium inflight. I generally fly around with half tanks also. I have the newer tanks so I can put anything in them. 12 on both sides. I also have the electric trim in the elevator, very nice addition. last night on landing I switched off the motor just before landing, makes for a nice landing. start back up as soon as I land. that stuff is way fun.

[teamkitfox7788]

Slyfox,

My old IV has the short vertical stabilizer and rudder, old narrow gear, make believe landing lights and spends much of its time at a location where winds seem never to lay down, so power off night landings are beyond my comfort level. I guess I forgot to mention high pilot chicken level in that mix but that was probably obvious anyway.

I have been thinking of maybe doing a How To Tour by RV with Kitfox Power Point at one or more of the AOPA flyins but have not committed yet. Probably do the light sport fall (September?) event in Mass on way to Maine then head to southwest for rest of fall until November and return to the Fl Keys for off shore superboat races in Key West

(I do love being retired, and on my own spur of the moment schedule)

BJ

[rkdF250]

Hello everyone,
I am looking for some guidance. I am thinking of purchasing a kitfox 5 and will be trailering it. I am considering building a rail system to load and unload the plane from the trailer. I think a winch is to unstable and can lead to problems as mentioned above "Wings hitting the side of the trailer". Has anyone ever done this and if so how well does it work. I am a little concerned about temperatures in the trailer getting to hot for the plane and damaging it. I live in the Dallas Texas area so in August it gets over 100 degrees.

[Dr. Dave]

T J,

The 10 minutes it takes to get the plane out of the trailer, down the road to the airport, inside the airport gate, unfold the wings and be ready to fly is a very short time because of several little tricks.

1. The two rods that go from tabs on the vertical stabilizer to tabs at the wing strut attach points are held in position by small bolts (actually SS clevis pins from West Marine) with spring clips thru holes drilled in the ends of the small bolts. No small nuts to screw on and off and drop in the grass, and no need for pliers or wrenches. Very quick.
2. The same spring clip idea works for the T bolts that connect the control rods from the mixer under the seat to the flaperon horns. Again no nuts to screw on small bolts., no need for pliers or wrenches
3. There is a mark on the top rear of the cabin "glass" that matches a mark on the turtle deck so the turtle deck goes right in exactly the best spot and the turtle deck connectors line up quickly and easily each time it is installed.
4. The hanger/trailer is 9 feet wide. This is a huge advantage. Moving the plane in and out requires very little attention to avoid wing scratching, there is lots of room to spare between the folded wings and the walls of the trailer. I love the 9 foot wide trailer.
5. If the wings look like they might touch the trailer walls while loading it , rather than pull the plane out and realigning it, try using four cheap plastic cutting boards. As the plane is coming in to the trailer, run each main gear tire up on two of the cutting boards. The plane can be slid a bit sideways as the cutting boards slide over one another to get better alignment of the plane with the trailer walls
6. This is a personal favorite. When I land and get out of the plane, I lift the tail onto a small flat Harbor Freight Tools ($170) trailer which has a socket for the tail wheel. Pieces of two by 3 are screwed to the trailer deck leaving a socket or "hole" to drop the tail wheel in. I strap it in position.
&. The small flat bed trailer makes folding the wings easier because there is little downward force as the wings fold. The wings are at a perfect slope to drop a siphon in the wing tanks to empty the wing tanks for long distance towing. The small flat bed trailer has moderately large tires that roll easily on sand, gravel and soft earth or grass when compared to my plane's tail wheel tire.
9. With the planes tail on the small flatbed trailer it is easy to tow out of the airport, down the road and to our house (no interstate obviously)
10. A sixteen inch or so piece of all thread replaces one of the trailer tongue hitch bolts. The all thread makes a good two ended grab handle to pull the trailer around. I am a scrawny old guy but I rarely use the winch in the enclosed trailer to pull the plane inside, I just grab the long all thread bolt thru the small trailer's tongue and pull the plane into the enclosed trailer. The enclosed trailer has a low floor because it has torsion axles rather than springs which means a shallow ramp door angle for easy loading.
BJ

BJ,
I just purchased a Kitfox with enclosed trailer (recently listed on Barnstormers) and I am curious to learn more about the small trailer from Harbor Freight which you describe here (for use in pulling the plane into the enclosed trailer). Do you have a photo or stock number that I could use to inquire at HF to purchase one? Is this the same open trailer you use to transport the plane to the airport, or is that a different one? Some one else mentioned the concern that it might get too hot in an enclosed trailer, I live in the panhandle of Forida, so that I'm considering some venting options. I'm also concerned about the weight of the wings borne by the rear spars, and the tailwheel springs while bouncing down the road. I pulled this flat-faced trailer 400 miles to bring it home, and got poor gas mileage, but otherwise pretty steady at average of 65mph.
Thanks for your help. I look forward to enjoying the some freedom that you have found! Dave

[vetdrem]

I have an enclosed trailer that I use to transport and "hanger" my model 3. I winter in the Tampa, FL area and summer in northern Michigan. I leave the Kitfox enclosed in the trailer in Florida during the summer.

I was VERY concerned about the heat damaging the plane, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had NO ill effects from being stored in the heat.

I installed two manual vents with "MAX-AIR" covers in the roof of the trailer. I opened the vents when I installed them and have never shut them. It seems that all the heat and moisture are able to escape and not cause any damage or mold build up.

I am very happy with my setup and can recommend it everyone.

Louie

[teamkitfox7788]

Dr Dave,

Congratulations on your Kitfox and trailer and I am happy to share what I have learned from towing mine all cross the country every year for over a decade.

I am scheduled to present two Power Point slide forums at Sun N Fun on this topic. Forum slots change at the last minute so I will not post them here. If you attend, you will get a LOT out of either either forum.

Re tail wheel trailer: Go onto Harbor Freight web site, look for the smallest exposed taggable (street legal) flat trailer of several shown. On sale cost is less than two hundred dollars plus tax.

I use this trailer at all times from just after landing, to towing the plane cross country inside the large enclosed trailer to when I unfold the plane at various spectacular low and slow flying destinations.

I also use the this small tail wheel trailer to move the plane on the road out thru our community gate, along the public side road, in thru the airport back gate and to a spot where it is safe to fold and unfold the wings considering prop blast, surface winds, traffic, and the ubiquitous airport policy considerations. Use small relaxed airports.

I move the trailer frame cross member across where the rear of the tongue attaches one station (about a foot) farther forward than the assembly directions call for. Because my wings when folded extend well beyond the planes tail wheel this makes the tongue a little longer and allows the plane and trailer to make sharp turns without wing tips touching the back of my pick-up or SUV. There are predrilled holes in the trailer side frame for the tongue attachment cross member to bolt up without drilling.

Next thru bolt a sturdy piece of plywood onto the top of the trailer frame. On the top center of the plywood I thru bolted a three inch high four sided pocket, that the tail wheel sits in. Pin or strap it down. This pocket is directly over the axle which allows very balanced handling. My tail wheel can break free and caster so moving the rig in tight spaces by hand is easy. The tail wheel trailer tires are big enough to make moving the rig on soft or rocky surfaces very easy. An 18 inch long bolt goes thru one of the trailer hitch to tongue bolt holes. This long bolt makes an effective handle to help when moving the rig by hand. I am not a big guy but can almost always pull the plane, on the tail wheel trailer, up the rear ramp door into the large enclosed trailer using this handle.

Regarding heat inside the enclosed trailer. Our home is in the Florida Keys. The plane has lived in one of two enclosed trailer for about 15 years. I also initially worried about heat build up in the trailer. My current favorite trailer leaks air pretty significantly and has roof vents that I leave closed. The other trailer had typical roof vents that could be cranked open and closed but few other air leaks. I would leave those vents open. However, now I actually have come to worry more about the horribly corrosive salt air, humidity, and strong winds right off the Gulf than the trailer's oven characteristics. We live right on the gulf. EVERYTHING IS EFFECTED BY SALT AIR AND HUMIDITY in our location.

Kitfox, Avid and I guess Aerotrek as well as Just are subject to fuselage kinking (BAD NEWS) just ahead of the vertical stabilizer if, 1. the braces between the vertical stabilizer and wing strut are not attached (they redirect at least a small amount of the load of the wing when bouncing down the road past the thin fuselage ahead of the tail to the stronger tubular steel structure in the tail), 2. fuel is not "siphoned" from the wings, eliminating maybe as much as 200 pounds from the wings. 3. The enclosed trailer suspension is not soft. Soft suspension translates to a soft ride

You have your trailer but for others who might read this if I were to spec a new enclosed trailer I would go with 3,500 pound axles thus 7,000 pound gross capacity trailer rather than 10,000 pound gross and I would spec torsion axles which I find give a softer and less bouncy ride. A 7,000 pound trailer will likely weigh about 3,500 to 4,000 pounds empty, and your plane comes in at probably between 600 and 850 pounds so there is a lot of capacity left as useable load with a 7,000 pound capacity trailer.

There are a ton of little tricks that I use to make loading and unloading the plane, trailering on the tail wheel trailer, strapping the plane down inside the enclosed trailer so as not to break the plane while bouncing on our nations "roads" but so that unstrapping is easy and quick. Too much to go into here.

EAA Oshkosh light sport and publication folks who have seen my set up for touring the USA with our motor home and plane in a trailer were quite complementary, enough to request that I do forums and display the RV, trailer and plane at aviation events, so i have been doing forums at Air Venture, Copper State, the NELSA Expo, Sebring Sport Aviation Expo as well as a few others, should you be interested. No sales, just a local EAA chapter guy sharing his version of fun flying.

(Oh, under 8 minutes from stopping on a ramp at a new airport to having the plane out, unfolded, ready to start the engine, this includes unstrapping, a short preflight but not adding fuel.)

Have fun

Dr Bob

[Paul Z]

The plastic cutting boards under the tires and the small trailer under the tail wheel are great tips.

There is a storage unit place across the road from my airport. I have thought about looking into renting one of those but loading the plane to move it over there was still a deal breaker. I will have to investigate the small trailer idea. Towing the plane just a couple 100 yards I wouldn't think the wing spar braces would be needed either.

What are the plastic cutting boards under the tires for?

[bbs428]

Heya BJ,

Interesting subject on trailering. Thanks for posting. Some great info kicked around. Having your "hanger" with you at events would be very handy indeed.
I see a decent 28-30 ft enclosed trailer in my future. To justify it, it must be a multi-tasker, serving as a classic car hauler, pilot/driver lounge and possible
sleeping quarters. We also participate in several car events a year. At the moment, we only go to events that are close by that we can drive to.

I am concerned about "hanger rash" and unintended damage hauling the plane around. Agreed that with care, those problems can be minimized or eliminated.
Any thoughts on supplemental insurance coverage on a trailered plane?

Having a hard time visualizing the harbor freight trailer in use. Any pictures? Do you use this only at home, or is this the one that folds up so you can take it with you?

Hope to catch your brief sometime in the next few years. All the best,

Brett