How to transport a Rans S-6?

Chrisgoesflying

Chrisgoesflying

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Chrisgoesflying
I need to take my Rans S-6ES on a little road trip from the east coast to the west coast. What's the best way to get it across? Transport companies are super expensive and since I'm driving anyways, I could give it my best shot to haul it myself. Have you hauled a plane before? Any advice you can give to someone who's never done anything like that? Also, how long should the trailer be at a minimum? The plane is 20 ft long but I assume I wouldn't need a 20 ft trailer, right? How to transport the wings on an open trailer without damaging them?
 
I did it once but over a much shorter distance. Hauled a unairworthy Bellanca Scout 200 miles. No brilliant advice to offer... We used gust locks, put the airplane on a trailer facing forward and strapped down the main gear and tailwheel securely. We had a medium sized flatbed truck along, so we strapped the wings down on the bed of it. Had no issues. I would just plan on strapping the wings together with moving blankets between them and finding a reasonable place on your trailer to place them.

I have hauled cars on open trailers for long distances including back and forth to Alaska from the lower 48. It is very common to get damage from flying rocks. But you have to be very careful with installed covers because they can flap in the wind and wear on the paint. I see some car dealers using shrink wrap; that should work well. Good luck.
 
Personally, I wouldn’t let the tail hang past the back of the trailer...I’d rather have the trailer protect the airplane from being rear-ended than the other way around.

depending upon what you’re using for a tow vehicle, building a frame to carry the wings on top of that might be easier than getting everything on a trailer.
 
150 without the gear...at 5:10 are some pictures of the fuselage and wings tucked away... you could do similar with gear on.
 
U-haul van or ?
 
Enclosed trailer. Hang the wings on the walls. Secure everything well. No big deal.
 
Personally I would fly it and then fly back and get the car. Or transport the car I am sure transporting the car would be cheaper than the plane.
 
Transporting the wingie dingie - one would need a larger than 4x8 trailer to do both wings and the fuselage...
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You need 24 feet of deck to haul it folded up. Not very many cars today will safely and comfortably tow that size trailer cross country. Fly it across and take commercial back for the rest of the stuff. Safer and easier on the airframe.

I’ve hauled Stinson L-5’s before, but it’s a bit of a goat rope to get one ready to move and packed on the trailer.
 
If you fly it across the country, you have the added benefit of having flown across the country!
Seriously, someone else may do it for you if you don't want to.
 
Some glider trailer are designed for this.
I have towed gliders like the photos below many 1000's of miles on open trailer.
while enclosed is better for a one time trip I would think a flatbed trailer would be fine.
Strong winds can be an issue on lighter trailers, and of coare avoid hail storms, but hauling on an open trailer should be fine.
I recall the S-6 is fabric wings so about the worst that would happen in this configuration is having to do small fabric repairs. I never had an issue. I have also seen some power airplanes transported with the wings laid flat underneath the fuselage.

Brian

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I vote for flying it if it's airworthy. I would bet even a ferry pilot would be cheaper and better on the plane than hauling it.
 
Craig said:
You need 24 feet of deck to haul it folded up. Not very many cars today will safely and comfortably tow that size trailer cross country.
Click to expand...
If you get a typical flat bed - yea, the trailer empty weight will be pretty high. Probably not going to find a one way rental either.

If you want to trailer on a regular basis, custom trailers / modified boat trailers seem to be the ticket for similar aircraft.
 
Transporting a plane on an open trailer beats on it. For a hundred miles or so, maybe, or if it's a project that's going to be rebuilt anyway, but 3000 miles with a flyable plane isn't a great idea.

I moved my Starduster 100 miles home on an open trailer and the guy who bought it did the same for over 1000 miles, but it was a project needing rebuild. We laid the wings flat under the fuselage and as many small parts as would fit inside the truck.

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I towed a grumman tiger over 2000 miles. I rented a drive over fender flatbed trailer because the gear was 8.5 feet wide and I didnt want to make it any harder. for me the hardest thing is securing the wings. I put them flat on the trailer under the airframe. The thing is that the are like coke cans. you cant strap them down very tightly or you wil crush and chaffe them all up. It can be done but its not easy or fun. the trip wet well. I put the plane in my driveway and worked on it until it was ready to go to the airport and a tree branch fell on it and put a small dent in the tail. figures. 2000+ miles with no incident and a branch falls on it in my yard !
 
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Here's how I hauled a Challenger II for 150 miles. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have flown it. No major damage but I did bend one of the plexiglass doors.
 
I hauled my skybolt project from Denver to Atl in a 16ft penske truck. had to remove motor mount and tail to fit in the truck. It had no wings but if its in nice shape I would do something like this. Just rent a bigger truck if you need more room.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I ended up getting a really decent quote from a transport company who had experience hauling LSA. It arrived with just a small transport rash on an elevator. To all of you who suggested flying it. Would have loved to do this, however I'm up north and it's winter. Sounds like a lot of weather delays to me, the heater isn't the warmest, and I wouldn't want to be on the way for a month. It only cruises at 90 mph and is very basic VFR. The longest x-country I did was 500 SM, but it was summer and really pleasant weather.
 
glad you got it done without issue. a little rash has to be expected.
 
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