Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 14 of 14

Thread: Fold wings and tow?

  1. #11
    cluttonfred's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    World traveler
    Posts
    457
    First off, I agree completely that the idea towing your plane to the airfield every time you want to fly is less interesting in para rice than in theory. There are even a few designed to be towed on their own gear without a trailer. When that gets old, however, there is still something to be said for folding wings if they allow you to bring your plane home for maintenance or seasonal storage or allow you to share a hangar.

    I am biased, but let me humbly suggest Eric Clutton's FRED as an option if you are looking for a low-and-slow single-seater.

    Cheers,

    Matthew
    www.cluttonfred.info
    Last edited by cluttonfred; 10-30-2011 at 04:49 AM.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    WA
    Posts
    1,205
    I take my Grob G109 to the airport for the summer and tie-down on the grass.
    Bring it home for the winter. I like this, winter flying is rainy and windy, it is fun to come back in the spring.

    Takes two hours to assemble. I like this as well. People come by to talk. Usually they offer to help, in that case it takes 3 hours.
    Bill

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    WV
    Posts
    9
    I've been there/done that and find folding and going less than ideal. OTOH my only experience was with the Spezio Tu-holer ser#1 when I owned in in 1981. It would take about 1 hour to fold alone but I really needed help to avoid "hangar rash". I suppose it depends on hangar cost/availability? Here in WV my hangar is $50/month.

    I just completed another Spezio ser#399, N92JM. While the wing folding remains I hard bolted controls and deleted quick change fairings. I do have the wing hold brackets and I could easily tow or trailer with only a bit over an hour to assemble . If one had a heated shop at home it would be nice to be able to bring it home to work on over winter etc. but to tow/fold every time I wanted to fly is to me not possitive.....Glad to have cheap hangar.

    FWIW

    Jack

  4. #14
    I felt compelled to reply to this thread, as I have been trying a long time to find the right folding wing setup.

    Every time I found a plane with folding wings, there was something else that didn't work, such as plane too long to store in the space I have available, plane too tall to store in that space, can't be towed on an open trailer, folding procedure too complicated, etc. It was always something. Then I came across the Spacek SD-1 - http://www.sdplanes.com/sd1a.htm . This video shows how easily the wings are attached: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKOrmETgMkM

    So for me, this solves the "wing folding" dilemma.

    Tom

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •