Trailering Your Ultralight

[LA F2 Flyer]

Hi fellow Badland owner/builders. I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread regarding tips and tricks for trailering.

Since I am getting close to the point of moving my UL to the nearest lake bed to start taxi testing, I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread regarding tips and tricks for trailering.

Some tips are more obvious than others. This is what I've gathered so far. Feel free to critique, question, discredit, or elaborate. And please add any of the less obvious tips I may not have thought of (or learned yet)!

1) Make sure the plane is level on the trailer. The wings should be parallel to the airflow. They should also be properly braced (at the tips at minimum).

2) The tail of the plane shouldn't rest on the tailwheel, but rather a bracket under the fuselage at a reinforced point. The tail spring WILL NOT stand up to extensive highway miles without eventually failing.

3) Be sure to seal the wing spar roots (where they meet the fuselage) when trailering. Airflow would otherwise be forced into the spar and could potentially damage your wings. (Never underestimate the destructive power and pressure of air at 60MPH.) Tape has been proven to work, or a clever end cap could be designed. If you go this route, please share it!

4) Lock your control surfaces.

5) Sleeve and lock your prop to protect it from chips and wind-milling.

6) Try to have your trailer sprung for the weight of your plane as closely as you can. Anyone who has ever towed a high load rated trailer empty knows what I mean. A heavily sprung trailer with a light (or no) load bounces a LOT. Your plane isn't designed to take this kind of a beating.

[Allen Sutphin]

I've hauled my Kitfox all over the place on a trailer along with many other aircraft. You've got the bases covered and shouldn't have any issues. One tidbit of advice is if you use ratchet straps, check them often because they will stretch, give and come loose. Allen

[mrpilotron]

Sounds like a good starting point. I wouldn't have thought to block the wind from going inside the wing.

I doubt you'll find many 20-foot long trailers sprung to carry only 254 lbs so you might as well plan on it being a rough ride. Choose tie-down points that won't rub the paint. EX: Don't run a ratchet strap all the way over the fuselage. Make good use of squishy material like foam sponges and small pillows. If you can allow just 1/4 inch of flex without having it work loose, that little bit of movement will greatly reduce the shock and vibration delivered to the airframe.

A trick my dad always insisted on doing was to plan your tiedowns expecting that 1 WILL fail on the trip and you don't get to choose which one. The load still needs to remain safely restrained no matter which strap fails.

Perhaps the simplest advice of all: Slow down! You don't need to go full speed down the highway.

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

Another tip came from my own experience and seeing others make or making the same mistake. Using the same connecting point on the item being hauled or connecting one strap hook to another which is connected to the item being hauled doesn't provide any additional security. If one strap fails, the second strap that is connected may also fail or at least come loose. Always use different points for the straps to connect to the item being hauled. On most trailers the connection used by the straps to the trailer are typically strong enough to handle multiple straps so the issue there is minimal. Lots of experience hauling my Honda Valkyrie, an 800Lbs street bike and dealing with strap issues. The good part is the ultralight will be much lighter so lateral forces in turns will most likely be less. The bad, the ultralight is also much taller than my Valkyrie was so effect by the wind will be higher.

[LA F2 Flyer]

"Perhaps the simplest advice of all: Slow down! You don't need to go full speed down the highway."

Wow, some serious oversight on my part not to mention this...probably the most important tip! And also probably the hardest to follow, if you are impatient like me, and just want to get those wings deployed!

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

Add on to that (as a funny) - deployed at the airport/landing zone, not on the freeway!

[Antoinette]

"I doubt you'll find many 20-foot long trailers sprung to carry only 254 lbs so you might as well plan on it being a rough ride."

Or, load the trailer as it will typically be used and remove leafs until it is correctly sprung for the weight it will actually be carrying.