The Big Move
Moving my kit from Hawaii to Tennessee
Really wish the main spar wasn't on yet!
Unfortunately, I was forced to take some time off from building my kit, due to a sudden and unexpected medical issue. Even more unfortunate, I learned that healthcare in Hawaii is bordering on being at the level of a 3rd world country; therefore, I was forced to move back to the mainland. We decided our new paradise was gonna be Chattanooga Tennessee; and while it may not be a true paradise, it has been much better than Hawaii!
The timing of the move, in terms of kit completion, was a mixed bag. Had I not installed the main spar yet, moving the kit would have been super simple! Just load it into a shipping container, like how I received it originally; unfortunately, it was too late for that. There was good news though; I was fast approaching the point where I would attach the top of the fuselage; however, I had not attached the fuselage top yet. By having not attached the fuselage top yet, it meant that there was still the flange running around the edges of the fuselage top and bottom. This flange made it much easier to attach bracing when I eventually got it up onto a trailer, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
...The decision to move had just been made.
I quickly figured out the kit could not fit back into a shipping container, with the main spar already installed; there is also no uninstalling the main spar either.
From there, it was quite obvious the only option was to put it on a trailer and ship it as rolling stock to the port in Los Angeles and drive it the 2,500 miles the rest of the way. Fortunately, we already owned a truck capable of towing the kit on a trailer. The bad news was that U-Haul, and the other moving equipment rental companies, do not allow taking their vehicles off Hawaii; therefore, the only option was to buy a trailer.
My first thought was one of those cheap utility trailers Home Depot is always selling. The kit really doesn't need much trailer deck space; however, it does need a very long space between that deck and the hitch. The large Home Depot trailers would have put the nose of the plane within about 1 or 2 inches of the tailgate of the truck, which would be fine, if I could make it without turning or going over any bumps. Obviously another option would have to be found...
Then I found this uniquely perfect trailer. It is an old 18' boat trailer someone converted to a utility trailer. It had a deck plenty big enough, and a really long empty piece of trailer and a long tongue wich made for plenty of room between the kit nose and the truck. Obviously, it was too rusted out to hold a boat anymore and the deck is only capable of holding 900lbs, but that was more than plenty for the Velocity kit, even with all the parts and pieces.
I had some work cut out for me though...
The previous owner, who converted it to a trailer found out 900lbs was the max load the hard way, and had severely bent the back of the deck.
With proper supervision, I used a couple tiedown straps and a floor jack to push the deck back flat.
I actually had to go quite a bit past flat before it stayed flat when tension was removed.
Before long, the trailer deck was plenty flat enough!
Then just to completely replace the lighting and run new wires, and the trailer was ready!
Next was the hard part... How to arrange the kit on the trailer.
After talking to Matson Shipping, it was obvious that the only option was to put the kit at an angle, so it was not wider than 8'; otherwise, my cost to ship would go up about 10 times!!! Fortunately, the height limit was high enough, on their ships, that I wouldn't have to worry.
I also decided two points about the arangement:
1) The back of the kit would not extend beyond the back of the trailer. Just in case I backed into something, or someone rear ended the trailer.
2) The spar would be angled so it would fit within the width of the trailers wheel wells. If I drove too close to a sign, or other object, I wanted to hit the wheel well, not the spar!
From there I had to figure out what angle to put the kit, so that it would be at the correct angle to be narrow enough, but not too tall.
So I came up with an angle of 58 degrees and the center of the fuselage 4' 2.5" above the trailer deck. I'm sure there are much easier ways to have gotten this online, but I learned trigonometry, so I might as well use it from time to time.
There's also some extra math I did for billing purposes with Matson. They billed the trailer separate from the fuselage, which saved me several hundred dollars than billing it as one piece.
Fortunately, the 4' 2.5" above the trailer deck, was higher than the fuselage carriage it was already on anyway, so I just needed to put it at an angle.
I devised making two giant check marks out of wood, and placing them between the carriage and the fuselage, to get it to sit at the correct angle.
Here's one finished "check mark" angle mount. I mostly used 2x10 lumber, so it would make a large stable surface with plenty of support.
The finished mounts next to where they would go.
Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the process of getting the kit on the trailer, as it was completed very quickly without brakes.
The plane was removed from the carriage, and stood on it's own legs for the first time. The carriage was then placed on the trailer, measured to where the spar would be inside the back edge of the trailer deck, and screwed down to the trailer deck. Then the angle mounts were secured to the top of the carriage and the bottom of the fuselage placed on the angle mounts. I was able to get the fuselage bottom up and on the trailer with only one helper, but at least 3 would have been much better. Two of us really struggled and toiled to get it up there, where 3 or 4 people would have no problem. Lastly, I used 4 small pieces of scrap plywood to place on the inside of the fuselage bottom and screw through the fuselage skin into the angle mounts; While this seemed overkill, again 2,500 miles on freeways and I wanted the fuselage attached to the trailer as secure as possible.
Then I filled the fuselage with all the parts and pieces I could and sealed it up by putting on the fuselage top. To keep the fuselage top attached, I drilled holes through the flanges on the fuselage top and bottom and used 25 small bolts with nuts and fender washers. That was probably overkill, but going freeway speeds for 2,500 miles, made it worth spending a few extra dollars for probably double the bolts as needed. Then I sealed it up as best as possible with ducked tape, particularly the seem around the flanges and the landing gear openings. 3 weeks at sea and a cross country drive would be sure to see some rain.
At this point the kit was on the trailer, but it wasn't very stable. It probably would have made it across town like this, but for such a long journey I wanted it as secure as practical.
This is where having the fuselage in half still really helped out...
I used the fuselage flanges, where the top and bottom met, as a ready made attachment point for 2x4 bracing. Again I'm sure I went overboard, but it was very difficult to be sure how much was needed, so I just kept bracing till it felt like it was one with the trailer. Finally, I through a few tiedown straps over it, and it was ready to go!
Here's the kit, on the trailer, when I arrived at the port of Hilo, HI, ready for transport to L.A.! Everyone at the port was very curious about this load.
Fast forward a month... The kit arrives in LA (port of Long Beach) and is ready for pickup!
From rainy Hilo to sunny LA. Now my part of the journey begins...
The first day of driving saw me slowly increasing towing speed, as I got used to how the trailer handled freeway speeds. Without any kind of suspension, it really didn't like bumps, but didn't mind freeway speeds at all!
Other than Google maps sending me off in "strange" directions, way out of the way, to go through toll routes and Palm Springs being so hot the truck thermometer errored out, getting out of CA wasn't too bad. I made it out of CA and into AZ, just past sundown of day one.
Then about 11:30pm I went through Phoenix... There was some road construction in Phoenix, but at this time of night no body was working and there was very little traffic. After going over some rough pavement and grooved pavement, I say a car in front of me make a very pronounced bounce down... I immediately hit the brakes, but it was a HARD bump; it felt like the freeway surface went down 4" with zero transition. It was a really hard bump and had me a bit worried. Once I got just past Phoenix, I decided to turn in for the night; I had started my day at about 3am Phoenix time, when I left Tennessee.
One brace was disconnected, with all 4 construction screws sheered off! 2 Tie down straps had also broken. Fortunately, I was prepared, and in one of the storage boxes attached to the trailer, I had stashed a cordless drill and a whole box of screws.
Further inspection revealed a few cracked braces, so I mended them with a few screws to keep them together too.
Filled up gas, and grabbed some gas station breakfast and I was back on the road.
Welcome to New Mexico!
I entered Arizona after dark, so didn't get a picture of that sign.
I drove long and hard, only ever stopping to get gas. I used the restroom and grabbed food at the gas stations.
By the afternoon of day 2 I was in Texas!
Somewhere in the West Texas desert at sunset, I happened to drive past this embankment, and catch this picture of the shadow of the truck pulling the kit.
Somewhere in the night I stopped at Big Springs, TX for the night, a couple hours from Fort Worth. I had hoped to get passed Dallas that day, but I didn't factor in driving trailering speed and having to slow down every time the freeway got a little rough.
Every time I stopped for gas, I also checked all the tie down straps and bracing.
I quickly learned to keep a few extra tie down handy, as the fiberglass was murder on the tie down straps!
That evening I made it to Lafayette, LA. I remember this city particularly well, because the freeway was SO bad, I had to slow down to 35 and put my flashers on! By far the worst stretch of road across my 2,500 mile trip.
Late on the night of day 3 I made it to Meridian, MS and called it a night.
I had hoped to make to Chattanooga by the end of day 3, but I was going too slow with the trailer and being forced to go even slower in horrible cities like Lafayette, due to bad roads.
I wasn't able to get a picture of the Alabama welcome sign, but before long I was through Alabama and into Georgia.
I was only going through a tiny little slip of Northwest Georgia, so entering Georgia meant I was almost home!
About 2pm on day 4 I was in Chattanooga!
The awesome Jasper, TN EAA club made super quick work of unloading the kit into a local hanger, and we even had time for pizza and beer afterwards!
The kit only spent a couple months in the hangar though, it was too far away, and flooded every time it rained. A couple months later, the awesome Jasper, TN EAA chapter helped me move into my new garage, where I could work on it any time I wanted.
After a 2 year break from building, I was healthy and ready to get back to work on the plane!