wrote on 3/12/2020 6:26 PM:
The loads and vibration imparted while trailering far exceed flight loads. Bob Carlton has trailered his airshow Salto around the country for years, and I can attest that a simple ten mile trip on the road will peg the G-Meter at +10 and -10 Gs. Side loads are probably not as severe, but we have no method of measuring those loads, simply because the Salto has a "V" tail, and the tail airfoils are removed for transport.

One thing I installed in my 1983 Cobra trailer is a thick foam pad at the top of the rudder box. When the trailer top is pulled down into the closed position, the foam compresses against the top of the rudder, damping side-to-side motion and vibration.

Still, it's a good idea to remove the top mounted tail battery. Gelcoat repairs aren't cheap, but fiberglass work is really expensive. Ask me how I know this.

Typical mechanical G meters used in airplanes are very poor accelerometers. They
are underdamped, and respond to jostling by overshooting and oscillating. They do
a fine job measuring the much lower frequencies encountered during aerobatic
flight, but not the rattle and shake vehicle produces rolling down the road. Take
off from a bumpy grass strip, and you'll see the instrument peg itself.

In fact, measuring structural loads can be very complex. You can be certain that
10 g loads are not being transmitted from the tail battery to the tail boom, for
at least two reasons: the battery is not being subjected to 10 g loads, and the
frequencies of the loads that do exist are high enough that the loads are being
damped harmlessly by the intervening structure.

There is a good reason that none of the manufacturers require the tail battery to
be removed during trailering: it does no harm. Anyone concerned about the safety
of leaving the battery in the tail should contact their glider's manufacturer for
the correct procedures.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1