Retrieving my PA-12 project

Thanks to some good advice from the great people on this site I did buy a PA-12 restoration project, but now I have to get it from South Dakota to Everett, WA. The plane is disassembled to the frame, less engine and prop, lots of loose parts. A truck rental outfit that shall go nameless (but starts with a U) quoted me $2500 one way (about 1500 miles), suggesting that I drive out there, rent the truck, pick up the plane, and tow my Jeep home. Total cost would exceed $3000 for sure.

I could buy a trailor, but at twenty feet long, seven feet wide, eight feet tall, and about 3200 lbs loaded, it would constitute abuse of a good Jeep Cherokee. Other alternatives include moving companies, but they are not always reliable and I have heard stories of folks having to ransome their belongings back. Truck freight is possible, but they will want all those peices palletized or boxed (that's a big box). A container is another option, that way we just wait for a dead heading flat bed coming my way.

I can't be the first guy with this problem; any ideas, stories, lessons learned out there?

Buy a sixteen foot trailer or longer. Take some 2x4s, drywall screws and a screw gun. Rope, carpet, tie down straps, duct tape and thick foam rubber are also a must. I have hauled airplanes from Idaho, Wisconsin, New York, New Mexico and Arizona back to Texas with only one minor blemish to the fabric on the leading edge. I hauled my Super Cub from Bisbee, AZ. to Graham, TX with my 4 cylinder Toyota pickup with a sixteen ft. trailer. I put the firewall of the fuselage on the front of the trailer with the tail hanging off the back. Put lumber underneath to keep from rubbing metal to metal. I built wing racks that bolted to the trailer beside the fuselage and loaded all the smaller stuff in the back of my truck. I have also hauled them with the gear on them with the tail jacked up on timbers and the wings underneath on thick foam. I have a lot of pics but they are not digital. You get lots of strange looks and strike up many conversations at gas stations. After everything is loaded and checked over and over go down the road a short distance and check it again. There are people who specialize in moving A/C but it isn't cheap.

Steve Pierce said:

There are people who specialize in moving A/C but it isn't cheap.

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But They also dont take as much TLC ay you would because its not their Aircraft, I've seen some damaged in Transport, Loading Etc.. Know who you are using.

David.

See if you can find a 4 place aluminum snowmobile trailer at a local rental shop. I have rented one here for about $250 for a week. It should hold everything if you load it right.

Frank

Over the years we've had 19 airplane/airframes and have hauled all but one home. Normally we use a pickup and a car trailer. Our latest one was when we went to MT after our PA-11, and we didn't have access to a trailer so we welded up a ladder rack for my brothers pick up. Only one wing was assembled so we incorporated a cradle for it in part of the rack and put the fuselage on the very top, and the engine in the box w/ a lot of other stuff.

It works well and saves A LOT of space to cram as much as possible inside the cabin, controls, ailerons, tail, struts, prop ect. (if the airplane is uncovered).

Take along everything Steve mentioned, you'll need it, also a hammer & nails, and some wire comes in handy to secure things inside the fuse.

Just have to take your time, and stop often to see how everything is riding.

Everything Steve Pierce does to haul a project is what I do, and R.Johnson's suggestion to stop often to check your load is also good advice. You can haul a cub project better than any professional with these kind of tips. A 16 ft. trailer and a small pick up truck are all you will need. I just hauled a PA 12 fuselage from Texas to Indiana on a 10 ft single axle trailer. If wings would have been with the project I would have found a way to haul them as well. A hauling job like this for a "cub lover" is an adventure. just my 2 cents worth of course.

A couple years ago, I sold a J5/Pa-12 project in Minnesota that went to the Florida panhandle. The buyer came with a borrowed boat trailer, to which he'd added a plywood deck.

The wings went on the bottom, with padding and a top cover. The fuse was covered, but no windows (worst-case, I'd say), and was sitting on the gear. This straddled the wings, and a bunch of 'stuff' went inside the cabin. The front end was wrapped with 6-mil poly, and lots of duct tape.

The rest of the pieces went in the back of his F-150, under the topper.

The trailer he brought was 18-20 feet long; tandem axle. Car haulers are pretty well 'sprung', and you can get a lot of bounce when they're lightly loaded. Weak springs are good. I talked to the buyer after he got it home. It went well, but he needed a bit more tape when he ran into some high winds. The move was at the end of July, in 2001.
My current Champ was moved on a 6-place snowmobile trailer, but only travelled 2 blocks. Prior to this move, it went from Reno to Tucson, to Minnesota. When I got it, it was completely disassembled. The control sticks and rudder pedals were all that were attached to the airframe.

Jon

Steve Pierce said:

Buy a sixteen foot trailer or longer. Take some 2x4s, drywall screws and a screw gun. Rope, carpet, tie down straps, duct tape and thick foam rubber are also a must. I have hauled airplanes from Idaho, Wisconsin, New York, New Mexico and Arizona back to Texas with only one minor blemish to the fabric on the leading edge. I hauled my Super Cub from Bisbee, AZ. to Graham, TX with my 4 cylinder Toyota pickup with a sixteen ft. trailer. I put the firewall of the fuselage on the front of the trailer with the tail hanging off the back. Put lumber underneath to keep from rubbing metal to metal. I built wing racks that bolted to the trailer beside the fuselage and loaded all the smaller stuff in the back of my truck. I have also hauled them with the gear on them with the tail jacked up on timbers and the wings underneath on thick foam. I have a lot of pics but they are not digital. You get lots of strange looks and strike up many conversations at gas stations. After everything is loaded and checked over and over go down the road a short distance and check it again. There are people who specialize in moving A/C but it isn't cheap.

Click to expand...

Is it better to have the wings vertical in a rack, or horizontal? I am only going 35 mile all country roads, so 2 trips is no big deal, as I can get the big parts separately. The wings are aluminum, so prone to dents... how thick of foam, firmness? Details are important to me, as I am a bit ocd with this kind of thing.

Thanks

larrym said:

Is it better to have the wings vertical in a rack, or horizontal? I am only going 35 mile all country roads, so 2 trips is no big deal, as I can get the big parts separately. The wings are aluminum, so prone to dents... how thick of foam, firmness? Details are important to me, as I am a bit ocd with this kind of thing.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Vertical suspended in an old wide piece of carpet from two locations.

I have carried my wings many times on a wood rack bolted to my 1965 convertible Mustang bumper attach points. Lately I have graduated to a pickup truck with a metal rack. What is important is having a 2x4 bolted both to the lift strut attach points and the but rib spar area.

Also important, if the truck is one of the larger pickups now in favor, is four tall guys to help.