In my last post, I mentioned that I was curently off the airshow circut
for a number of reasons. Greatest of which is the issue with the
homebuilt trailer that formerly hauled my plane and equipment. Well,
for those of you that havn't heard this before, here's the whole story.

The trailer was originally intended to make (and last for) one trip
from Covington, GA to Nag's Head, NC and back. Nothing more. It was
also originally designed to be as small, light, and cheap as possible.
My original tow vehicle was a 4-cyl. Chevy Cavalier, and anything
resembling a "normal" trailer just wouldn't work. So I cobbled together
a bunch of cheap junk.

The rolling chasis started with a 4x8 bolt-together kit from Northern
Tool. The kit was then stretched 13 ft. by replacing the factory tongue
with an 11 ga. 2x3" steel box-tube. Add a pair of 12"x4.8" wheels and
tires.

The deck is 4'x18', pressure-treated 2x4s on 24" ctrs. covered with
3/4" pressure-treated plywood. Everything is screwed and glued and the
corners are steel plate braced.

The box was originally 4'w x 4 1/2' h, 1x2's covered with corrugated
roofing steel. This configuration leaked like the Titanic was nearly
unworkable due to the tight fit of the wings inside. I used the trailer
like this for my first show in Raleigh and my second show in Atlanta.
This configuration also proved nearly uncontrollable behind the little
Cavalier, which had neither the horsepower, nor the brakes or
suspension to handle the load.

Following the second show, I tore off the original box using a
sledgehammer. I then rebuilt the box using 26 ga. steel studs for
framing, and 26 ga. steel "5-V" flat roofing pannels. I also added a
45-degree v-nose. The new demensions were now 4'w. x 6'h. x 18'l. with
an additional 2' in the v-nose. I used the trailer in this
confiruration for the remainder of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, towing it
behind a rented Chevy 3500 Dually. It worked fairly well in this
configuration in the light winds of the southeast, and recorded about
5,000 miles.

I upgraded to a 2002 Dodge Dakota V-8 for the ferry-trip to Colorado.
At about the 2,000 mile mark, I encountered a violent thunderstorm just
outside of Byers, CO. Keep in mind that this territory is open plains
with nothing to break the wind. I intended to turn the rig into the
wind if I encountered a storm, since I knew the trailer was good for at
least 100 MPH in tow. But, two lane roads aren't very accomodating and
I had to turn broadside for 3/4 of a mile to reach the shelter of a
truck stop. Of course, as soon as I turned, a 50+MPH gust hit me and
rolled the trailer. Damage was limited to the coupler, left fender, and
left front corner, and 2 hours later I was rolling again. Thank you,
Byers citizens.

Since then, I've experimented by loading the trailer with sandbags. At
its max gross of 1150 lbs., its still uncontrollable in winds over 20
mph. There's not enough steel in the rolling chasis to change axles or
go to a tandem-axle. Since the trailer is currently configured to haul
my wings standing on their leading edges, ther's no real way to just
cut a little off the top. And since ballast doesn't seem to help much,
I'll have to concentrate on lowering the side profile. This means the
wings will now have to be transported flat, rather than on edge. That
will allow me to reduce the side profile by at least 1/2, if not more.
But it also means the new trailer box will have to be about 6' wide,
and the wings will need to ride in some sort of jig that will allow
them to be packaged and loaded as a single protected unit.

I'm currently working on various methods of accomplishing the new goal
without spending too much cash. I think most of the steel framing and
sheet metal can be used again. But I'll have to work out a new decking
system, etc.

Harry Frey
Wright Brothers Enterprises
Specialist in impractical aircraft and cheap junky trailers