trailering enclosed trailer

[teamkitfox7788]

I am interested in comparing notes with others who tow their Kitfox around within an enclosed trailer.

I trailer our model IV 1050 all over the US each year and have done so for over ten years now (without hurting the plane), guessing over 75,000 miles on the roads with plane in trailer. Flown low and slow in some spectacular places.

From having the plane inside the trailer in our yard in the Fl Keys to inside the local airport KMTH) and ready to fly takes about 12 minutes although as little as under 10 minutes. Lots of little tricks make this quick and easy.

Annual hanger rent here is over $6,000 so I guess this is cheap too. Obviously we live very close to KMTH.

I share what I have learned along the way by doing forums at aviation events such as Sun N Fun, Sebring Sport Plane Expo, Copper State, and Oshkosh and usually display the plane, enclosed trailer and Roadtrek motor home that we tow the trailer with and use to drive around while touring by road.

I do not sell anything. Touring with the baby plane and motor home has been so much fun, I feel compelled to share and hopefully learn from others in the process.

Since navigating Team Kitfox is new to me and I do not get on the computer much please bear with me in those regards

BJ

[ken nougaret]

Hi bj,
glad to see you on the forum. My wife and i spoke with you at sunnfun about your trailer. you told me i was asking all the right questions. Im still trying to decide if i should go the 9' wide from mark sorenson. ken
Building model ss7

[t j]

Well, I'm back to trailering again after sharing a T hangar for a year and a half. I came to the conclusion that sharing a hangar, opening stubborn sliding doors,, moving another plane to get mine out, putting the other plane back in, and closing the stubborn doors again is a lot of monkey motion on each end of each flight and isn't even worth a little over 1/2 what hangar rent is in your neck of the woods. Not to mention shoveling snow and chipping ice in the winter. Having My Kitfox at home where I can tinker on it when I want to with all my tools handy is a lot nicer too.

Mine is just an open converted snowmobile trailer and I just tow back and forth to the same airport for each flight so probably not much you can learn from me but I am always looking for tips and tricks to make loading and unloading faster and easier too. My average time to unload and put the plane together ready to preflight is 20 minutes.

[teamkitfox7788]

Ken, Hi!

Hope your build is going well and thanks for the comment. It probably raises a question or two in a few minds.

Why would anyone want to use a 9 foot wide trailer and is it legal.

Most states allow 8.5 foot wide trailers without an annual online permit or trip kit. And most states have laws allowing equipment that is wide and not practical to take apart to move on state roads.

I am one of those guys who tows big sport fishing trailer boats way over 8.5 feet wide and the consensus among folks who do this is towing a 9 foot wide trailer is much like the 55 mph speed limit, no one bothers you with a 9 foot wide trailer if you drive so that you do not look like a danger to yourself or others. Don't go thru old north east bridges that were designed way before current road design specifications, avoid driving thru big cities, use the beltways. All common sense stuff.

At 10 feet wide the story changes.

Next why a 9 foot wide trailer.
A 9 foot wide trailer makes it remarkably easier to load and unload a Kitfox. An 8.5 foot wide trailer DESIGNED FOR A KITFOX is very tight and requires serious attention, to load and unload without scratching the wings on the trailer walls. In the 8.5 trailer that I still own, I would winch the plane in a foot or two, then look down each side wall, then winch it in a little more. At some point I would realize the plane was not lined up perfectly, so I would have to pull it out and try to realign it again. This was a PIA! Add dark coming, storm rolling in or bugs biting.

With the 9 foot wide trailer, I just roll it in almost without needing to pay attention. Incredible difference in ease of loading.

I can use either my 8.5 wide or my 9 foot wide trailer. I love the 9 foot wide and don't even consider using the 8.5 wide (except maybe for long term storage.)

Think about this for a moment. My Kitfox trailer acts a hanger in my yard when we are at the house in the Florida Keys. In ten minutes I can pull the plane out of the trailer, tow it down the road (a short distance) into the back gate of the airport, fold the wings out and be ready to fly. That's right ten minutes. Really quick and easy and no $6,000 per year hanger rent.

The Kitfox folding wing and wide trailer plus a bunch of little tricks acquired over years of using a trailer make protecting the plane from the elements, kids and critters simple, quick, easy and cheap. These also make touring the US by motorhome with your plane very easy and huge fun.

Now for the flip side. A guy/gal who has limited big trailer towing experience will have a learning curve with either an 8.5 wide or 9 wide trailer.

By the way, almost all car trailers have rear ramp door openings that are too narrow to use for a Kitfox.

BJ

[tommg13780]

Bob,
We talked at Sun N Fun and I also went to your slide show. I'm planning to travel this season with a fresh built enclosed trailer and model 4 speedster. The trailer is done and ready to go. The Speedster project is in final assembly and will be ready by summer. I've been trailering with an open trailer since 2007 with a small assortment of Kolb and Kitfox airplanes. For me the convenience of bringing an airplane and ground transportation to a flyin is the only way to go. So far my travels have been limited to about 4 hours driving but this season I'm planning to expand the radius to about 5-600 miles. Of course the trailer is also a satisfactory substitute for a hanger which is some what difficult to come by in my neighborhood. After the Phase 1 flyoff is completed I may be offering demonstration rides and perhaps transition training for those interested in early model Kitfox time. There may be an upgrade to motorhome for tow vehicle in the future in which case I would finally be keeping up with the Jones's.

[t j]

KITFOX TRAILERING CHECKLIST

Master & mag switches off
Fuel off
Radio off
Intercom off
ANR headset off
GPS off
ELT off

Airplane documents secure
Check for loose items
Doors latched

Pitot tube covered
Flaperons bungeed
Wing lock back braces installed
Tail support in place
Elevator secured
Rudder secured

Wing support braces installed
Wheel tie downs secure
Chock blocks in place
Exhaust plug in
Prop secured

Ramps secured
Tilt pin secure
Winch locked
Tongue jack up
Rudder cushions loaded
Turtle deck loaded

[Peteohms]

Seems like you'd need a rear camera to see in back on a wide trailer.

[teamkitfox7788]

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

[SkyPirate]

When I was hauling over sized loads,..anything 10' wide or wider required a permit and NO WEEK END hauling,..but the one advantage of a 10' wide load,..I did not need an escort,..12' and wider I did..16' and wider required 2 state approved escorts and 2 highway patrol escorts,
Just to cover any legal issues, that could leave stuck on the side of the road somewhere, I would stick with 8'6" wide trailer, just my 2 cents worth

[t j]

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.

[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.:D

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

[cgruby]

I don't have an enclosed trailer, but still have to deal with the misalignment problem while winching the plane onto the trailer. I used to have to unload and reload as you described, but later discovered, just unhitch the trailer from the car and move the hitch end to align the plane and winch away.

Cheers,

[Paul Z]

Brett, & Chuck,
Go look at the Photo Bucket, in the quote just below Brett's. When you first go to the Photo Bucket you'll get nothing. Look on the Left side you'll see a folder for Albums, under that see Kitfo Trailer select that. There is a photo at the second row from the bottom, that shows how it is used.

Also, there is a folder called Kitfox Tail Wheel, it showing the actual trailer set up and how it works. There is also a photo showing Aluminum Angles used to guide the plane in while whenching the plane into the trailer.

Also, I have one of the Flyers from the Business that build the trailer. I have an email with the PDF of his brochure I could email you today.




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?
Brett


SkySteve and Paul Z

I posted a couple of batches of pictures on Photo bucket some time ago.

to get to them copy and paste the following into your browser. http://s1205.photobucket.com/user/N154K/library/Keys%20N154K%202013

There are several sets of photos,click on one, if it opens, click on a photo to expand it and see notes for the photo, then click on an arrow next to the photo to go to the next photo

I am not good at this stuff and a couple of the files did not load photos so you will not get anything if you try to open those, sorry

BJ Kitfox IV 1050, Rotax 912, Roadtrek 190 motor home
bjones@dmv.com

[teamkitfox7788]

Guys,

The small tail wheel trailer is used both to tow the plane from house to local airport AND when loading the plane into the enclosed trailer. The plane stays on the tail wheel trailer when I strap it down and go across the country touring.

As mentioned it takes less than 8 minutes to unstrap the plane, pull it out of the enclosed trailer, swing the wings and be ready to fly. I will mention two things that make this so quick and easy. One is a nine foot wide enclosed trailer. Two is torsion axles giving a low floor and SHALLOW rear ramp door. These two things make loading and unloading the plane incredibly quicker and easier than with my old 8'6" wide trailer.

There are a bunch more little tricks that make loading, strapping and unloading quick and easy. Maybe another post. (Don't obsess about the nine foot wide trailer being "illegal". Your trailering skills are far more of an issue. Minor trailer width overage is a minor solvable concern.)

BJ Kitfox IV Rotax 912/80

[Paul Z]

Guys,
I will mention two things that make this so quick and easy. One is a nine foot wide enclosed trailer. Two is torsion axles giving a low floor and SHALLOW rear ramp door. These two things make loading and unloading the plane incredibly quicker and easier than with my old 8'6" wide trailer.

There are a bunch more little tricks that make loading, strapping and unloading quick and easy. Maybe another post. (Don't obsess about the nine foot wide trailer being "illegal". Your trailering skills are far more of an issue. Minor trailer width overage is a minor solvable concern.)

BJ Kitfox IV Rotax 912/80

BJ,
I like the idea of the 9 foot trailer, but Looking at the State Regulations how do you "solve" the Minor Trailer width overage?

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/trailer-dimensions/

[t j]

What are the plastic cutting boards under the tires for?

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

[bbs428]

Thanks Paul on the photo reference, must have glossed over it. The pic's explained it all.

Nicely done. I can see now the difference in the 8.5 vs 9 ft. wide trailer. I really like that rig. Well thought out.

Don't know if our troopers could tell if it's 5" over in width. Agreed if you go strictly "by the book", 9 ft in most states is not legal. So for some, it's a no go situation. It's far more likely you'll get pulled over for a light out, an illegal turn or whatever.
Now, If you go shooting off at the mouth, the officer might pull out the measuring tape, impound the trailer, and write a big expensive ticket just to make a point. :eek:
Honestly though, in all my years towing the 5th wheel, I was never stopped and measured but tbh, it doesn't make it right.

I Wonder... if you wrote to the fed's, they would grant a special trailer waiver... :rolleyes:

[Paul Z]

With the Trailer and Camping, I wasn't sure if it was a camping equipment. I thought they were making sure they didn't forget the cutting boards for the BBQ. Just joking!

Furniture skidders, aka Airplane Skidders good idea.

[Paul Z]

I have a brochure from the man that sells these trailers they are offered in 8'6" or 9'. I like the Camping tent on the side, better than buying a motor home to go with the trailer!

[teamkitfox7788]

Regarding a 9 foot wide trailer. I think I have done this type of post before but here goes again.

1. The really important concern is your ability or skill as the driver to handle the long, wide trailer well. Next is quality of equipment such as brakes, brake controller, (high capacity tires), ability to stay focused on distance between you and traffic ahead, always making sure you have a way out if another driver does something stupid, it will happen, using good judgment such as not towing inside cities, on small back roads, during rush hour around an unfamiliar really busy beltway, in the dark while its raining and winds are gusting with no shoulders to escape onto in an emergency braking situation. Oh, avoid old northeast bridges that are too narrow for wide vehicles and parkways that prohibit commercial vehicles, trailers, trucks. This is all just common sense and mostly dealt with in the traing online thru the application for an online annual blanket permit for over size loads.
2. Have good equipment that is within rated capacity, that is loaded and balanced properly with load leveling and sway control equipment that all works together and handles nicely in emergency maneuvers. You actually have to test this by GRADUALLY making increasingly hard stops while making increasingly hard turns, in a safe area to see if a surprise might be waiting to rear its ugly head in a real hard core emergency situation where you could lose control.
3. Most states have regulations that allow for towing oversize loads when they are viewed as impratical to break down to a narrower load, such as farm machinery, construction equipment, boats, office trailers etc. You see it all the time.
4. Realize that 8'6" is 102 inches and 9' is 108 inches so about a 5 percent difference. Doing 60 or 64 in a 55 mph speed limit zone comes out to about a 9 to 15 percent difference. This may help give you some perspective.
5. If you are uncomfortable with the very idea of towing an oversize load maybe you should not even consider it, Too much mental discomfort is not worth the bother.
6. Most states allow you to go online, take a bit of rules and common sense training, and get a blanket oversize permit for the state good for a year. If you got stopped and told not to move your trailer you could probably do that with your smart phone and be legal to continue on fairly quickly. In decades I have never had to do this.
7. I am an old construction equipment hauler and in the last decade or more I have also towed lots of personally owned sport fishing boats up and down the east coast. (Florida Keys to Long Island, as well as the Kitfox trailer Maine to California to Fl Keys every year) These boat rigs are always a good bit wider than 9 foot and easily twice as heavy as my Kitfox trailer rig. I compare notes with other guys at gas stations about their boats, big diesel pickups and towing permits. Years ago we used to get the online permits for overwide loads but the consensus is now that there is no need to bother unless you get close to 10 feet wide or look like you are a danger to yourself or others.
8. Discussions with insurance agents come up with comments like if we denied claims every time someone got a ticket in an accident we would never pay claims and word would get around putting us out of business quickly. However, if you cost us too much money the insurance underwriters may up your rates or not renew your policy next time, that is the way they handle it.
9. Oh, the business Maine Trailer, says they have no problem getting a trailer registered in Maine as 9 feet wide. And, If you look around lots of horse trailer, car trailer and utility trailers are tagged, titled and registered in Maine because the costs are lower than in most states by a long shot. Last I heard there were not inspections, and no sales tax if you already paid sales tax in another state. Guess what the state of Maine gets your tag and title fees and you may never drive on their roads so you cost them nothing and they get revenue. Check this for yourself. I have 14 trailers and most are long term (ten year) tags so I have not talked with Maine Trailer recently.

The real question is do you have the skill, attention to serious driving and can you apply common sense regarding when, where and under what circumstances to tow vs not tow. If you have the skills, can consistently pay close attention to driving and exercise good judgement, it can be done. Otherwise maybe it is not for you.

Hope this helps those who might be interested.

[Flybyjim]

What is the web site for these?

[teamkitfox7788]

Paul,

If I were going to spec a new Kitfox, Just, Avid, Aerotrk enclosed trailer I would definitly talk with Mark Sorenson, whose brochure you posted. He has done a bunch of plane trailers for folks including tall and very wide trailers for Just Super STOLS.

Mark (located in Georgia) has had 8'9" trailers built for customers also and if they have thin wall studs, (I would try to get 1" or 1 1/4 inch studs), plus gussets at the junction of side walls studs and roof structural cross members to prevent wracking and weld cracks I think the width would be fine for loading and unloading plus might not look quite as wide as a 9 foot wide trailer.

Aerotrek deals with a plane trailer shop in Indiana that might be worth talking to as well, for someone interested inb buying a folding wing plane trailer.

Thanks for the photo by the way

BJ

[teamkitfox7788]

For Mark Sorenson try googling Captain Mark Sorenson, Aircraft Custom TRailers or maybe ARISING Trlailers and ask the manufacturer for Mark's phone number. He also does air shows but I don't recall the business name for those.

Google Aerotrek and ask them for the name of the aircraft trailer shop in Indiana that they use.

I think John and Debra McBean at Kitfox have also used Sorenson so they may have his contact info.

[Paul Z]

If anyone is interested, send me a Private Message. I can send you a PDF of their Flyer with Contact Info. He has got all kinds of Options widths, lengths, lights, Air Conditioner, etc