On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 2:45:06 PM UTC-7, Rob Brown wrote:
On 2014-08-11, shkdriver wrote:

Does anyone have any opinions about the relative benefits of an
"alligator" style opening trailer vs a full opening top?

Please forgive my reopening an old topic, and for that matter, my
general ignorance on the topic for that matter.

When I was last involved in the sport 25 years ago, most of the trailers
at our club were simple long tubes with a big door at the back, and
maybe a small hatch at the front. (Was "Minden Trailer" a brand in those
days?) As a sometimes helper during rig and de-rig, it did not seem
to add much (or any? my memory is hazy) difficulty to the operation.

Yes, you have to bend over to enter the trailer, but I'm not sure how
often you would have to do that. Why is it worth the extra expense, weight
and complexity (especially in a homebuilt) for a top-opening trailer?

To the extent there was a problem with tube trailers, it's that they were too small in cross section. If the builder had added as much as 12 inches to the width and height, it would have been noticeably easier to get gliders in and out of them. Then too, no one ever worked out a really good rear door design.

Tubes are inherently stronger and lighter than cam-shell types and probably cheaper to build. Any additional aerodynamic drag incurred with a wider tube probably costs less in fuel than the extra weight of a cam-shell.