How big a trailer to build a plane in?

Kiddo's Driver

Kiddo's Driver

Pattern Altitude
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
1,526
Location
Somewhere in the Southeast
Display Name
Display name:
Jim
If I were to use an enclosed trailer as a fabrication shop to build an RV or a Sonex how big would the trailer need to be to assemble all the sub kits before final assembly at an airport?

Assume no tow vehicle restrictions. I tow with a diesel F350 dually, so there should be no practice issues.
 
How much other stuff do you have (workbench, bench tools)? Where will you store finished parts - do you need room for the wings and the fuselage at the same time (plus room to walk around and work)?

My shop is about 12 by 22 and it's tough to stick a wing in the middle and still work because of all the other stuff taking up floor space, but more than one airplane has been built in a one car garage.

Check this shop: http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/4080-my-shop/&do=findComment&comment=33531
 
It depends. Are you storing completed sub assemblies in the same trailer after they are done or do you have somewhere else to put them? Are you only doing assembly in the trailer or are you doing the fabrication there as well? If you are only going to have minimal tools and can store completed subassemblies somewhere else then 10x25 would probably work. Anything shorter than 25' and you will have to open the door or roll under the fusealage to get from one side to the other. The fusealage is about 20' long. There was one guy who built a xenos in a 3 story townhouse in New Jersey. I know another guy that built small parts in his basement and did most of the assembly of his sonex under a tarp out on the back deck of his house. Being in Connecticut he didn't get much done during the winters but he still made it work. The point is that when there is a will there is a way.

Keith
Sonex
#554
 
So basically as big as I can afford.

I was thinking about selling my 40 foot park model RV, buying a slide in camper for the truck and buying an 8.5 by 20 enclosed trailer. I've also considered selling the big camper and buying a longer enclosed trailer, then putting a bed, fridge, and microwave in the front. That would leave the rest as a shop.

Just kicking around ideas now, but it is driven by the need for an enclosed trailer to move stuff from Kansas to Tennessee.
 
this could work.....

TrailerStorage.jpg
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
I know I said no tow vehicle restriction but come on!
Click to expand...

You can actually pick up semi trailers pretty darn cheap... Park it where you need to and when it needs to be moved, just hire a local semi driver to reposition it..... Probably cost ya 200 bucks if less then 50 miles......

Then, when you are through... Sell it for what you paid for it...
 
As to what stuff goes into the trailer, I don't know! That is kind of why I am here asking. I've never built a plane. I've done some lacing and fabric work. I've done some riveting. i have some tools. What I don't know is what it takes to build a Sonex (for example)?
CherryMax rivets won't be a problem, but will there be a bunch of hard riveting? That will not fly in an RV park? (Pun intended.) Don't these things pretty much come as pre cutout kits that need to be set in a jig and riveted together? If so then there won't be much "fabrication", more assembly.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
As to what stuff goes into the trailer, I don't know! That is kind of why I am here asking. I've never built a plane. I've done some lacing and fabric work. I've done some riveting. i have some tools. What I don't know is what it takes to build a Sonex (for example)?
CherryMax rivets won't be a problem, but will there be a bunch of hard riveting? That will not fly in an RV park? (Pun intended.) Don't these things pretty much come as pre cutout kits that need to be set in a jig and riveted together? If so then there won't be much "fabrication", more assembly.
Click to expand...

I have only built my Zenith 801.... Back when I bought my kit, there was no such thing as a predrilled. pre punched fast build kit so I had to drill all 14,210 rivet holes...

Nowadays, you can just cleco a pre punched kit together... Remove a cleco, install a Avex pull rivet,. Rinse and repeat 10,000 times and you have a plane....

Key is a perfectly flat 4' X 12' table...
 
I can't say what the absolute minimum is but after working out of my basement shop room, 2-car garage, and ultimately my hangar IMO anything smaller than a one-car garage is going to be a royal PITA for the larger assemblies like the fuse or wings.
 
I've worked on my long term project in some pretty tight spaces...

IMG_0091.JPG

Basically, I built all the pieces I could that was able to be mailed back to the States in my various rooms. Now all I have to do is put these smaller pieces onto larger pieces.

I would discourage traveling with large sub-assemblies, unless you can complete them before moving again. You really don't want those pieces to be bouncing around as you go down the road.
 
11 ft x 15 ft is the minimum,
Wings, one at a time
Ailerons and flaps
Rudder and vertical stabilizer
Elevator and horizontal stablizer
Fuselage without firewall forward

Some assembly required . . . .
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
An 11 x 15 trailer won't roll down the highway.
Click to expand...

Not on a regular basis. For the occasional trip you can pull an oversize permit. I don't believe 11ft needs an escort vehicle in most states.
 
FWIW, this is what my shop ends up looking like with a wing in it (I'm bubbling out the fuel tank before I grind on it) ...
1913242_237655413071686_8717990516148042039_o.jpg
 
Maybe I should just keep the 40 foot park model RV, clear out the dining room and couch, and turn the middle slide out area into a shop. The only problem would be getting completed assemblies out of the RV...
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Check this shop: http://www.avidfoxflyers.com/index.php?/topic/4080-my-shop/&do=findComment&comment=33531
Click to expand...

I ran across this there and laughed out loud.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456566737.717519.jpg

Kiddo's Driver said:
Maybe I should just keep the 40 foot park model RV, clear out the dining room and couch, and turn the middle slide out area into a shop. The only problem would be getting completed assemblies out of the RV...
Click to expand...

Sawsall should do it. RV walls are thin. :)

More seriously, the slide out does come all the way out, if you're serious. Check it out sometime how they work on them when they're damaged or the track/cables/whatever movement mechanism one has, needs service at an RV dealer.

I was amazed watching them pop one right out of the hole in a unit one day while I was waiting outside to pick my fifth wheel from their service shop.

They set up some jack stand type things and some cribbing to slide it onto, and out it came.

Figure out some way to move it out of the way after that, and you'd easily be able to remove big stuff through that hole where the slide out once was.
 
Something that no one has pointed out yet, is that a trailer is not stable enough for any kind of jigging required for any assembly more than a couple of feet long. Unless you are going to rigid jack and level the trailer, just walking around in it will be enough to flex everything out of position. Tape down a corner laser some night, turn off all the lights and walk around and watch how badly the beams bounce. To get it rigid enough, you are talking a couple of dozen jacks and tightly bolting it to a slab.
 
I have a 24' enclosed trailer and I have built a plane. Starting on another any day, too. Truth is it's all the trailer can handle just transporting a Cub airframe from point A to point B. Not for weight but space. No way you could work on airframe or wings effectively in such a limited area. Airframes and wings require rotating to work on them. Doing that requires fixtures to hold them and space to move around. A 2-car garage would be a squeeze fit.
 
Another question, is how often would you be moving jobsites? If you are working for months in a area, some of the larger towns and cities have DIY garages for rent by the month, most of the time they also have power. Another consideration would be renting a mini warehouse and using a little Honda generator for power. The little 2k units are very quiet and fuel efficient. I used to talk with a guy that built an RV-3 in his 34th floor condo in the middle of downtown Honk Kong, so where there's a will, there's a way...
 
Well I bought a used 8.5 by 20 foot enclosed trailer. It is 6 ft 6 inches tall inside. It will do the job of moving us back to our house in Tennessee. Past that I'll either sell it or start down the sub assembly fabrication route in it. Too small for wings or fuselage, but ok for the rest of it.

If all works out right I won't be doing anything on the road anyway. I'll be working from home with trips to the home office, the site I support, and our contract engineering company in Texas.

I'll just do like Anymouse and build all of the little stuff to start with, then go from there.

Anymouse said:
I've worked on my long term project in some pretty tight spaces...

View attachment 44171

Basically, I built all the pieces I could that was able to be mailed back to the States in my various rooms. Now all I have to do is put these smaller pieces onto larger pieces.

I would discourage traveling with large sub-assemblies, unless you can complete them before moving again. You really don't want those pieces to be bouncing around as you go down the road.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top