Importing a glider

Group,

Anyone ever import a glider from Europe? Care to share your
experiences or difficulties? There seem to be quite a few "deals"
over yonder and wondered if it would be worth the hassle/cost/red
tape/etc.

Gus

Check out back issues of "Soaring". There was an article on this subject
earlier this year or last year.

Ramy

Group,

Anyone ever import a glider from Europe? Care to share your
experiences or difficulties? There seem to be quite a few "deals"
over yonder and wondered if it would be worth the hassle/cost/red
tape/etc.

Gus

I am also interested in bringing a sailplane from Europe to the USA. I
live in Hawaii so regardless of where I purchase a glider it will have
to be shipped. I would be grateful for any comments from any
experience in an overseas purchase.

I assume that if it is in a trailer that it would ship well as a
package.

Will a trailer fit in a container or are they too long?

Thanks
Steve





(RamyYanetz) wrote in message ...
Check out back issues of "Soaring". There was an article on this subject
earlier this year or last year.

Ramy

Group,

Anyone ever import a glider from Europe? Care to share your
experiences or difficulties? There seem to be quite a few "deals"
over yonder and wondered if it would be worth the hassle/cost/red
tape/etc.

Gus

40ft container will hold most trailers. There are ro-ro shipping services
for vehicles over much of the globe, no container necessary and you should
save about 1/2 on the shipping and wharf fees.

Shipped a couple of gliders in 1990's. Nothing recent.

Frank Whiteley

"Steve B" wrote in message
om...
I am also interested in bringing a sailplane from Europe to the USA. I
live in Hawaii so regardless of where I purchase a glider it will have
to be shipped. I would be grateful for any comments from any
experience in an overseas purchase.

I assume that if it is in a trailer that it would ship well as a
package.

Will a trailer fit in a container or are they too long?

Thanks
Steve





(RamyYanetz) wrote in message
...
Check out back issues of "Soaring". There was an article on this subject
earlier this year or last year.

Ramy

Group,

Anyone ever import a glider from Europe? Care to share your
experiences or difficulties? There seem to be quite a few "deals"
over yonder and wondered if it would be worth the hassle/cost/red
tape/etc.

Gus

From an Australian perspective, we found a few gotchas recently when
we imported our DG-1000.

1. Don't rely on the standard trailer packing. Ask the factory to put
extra foam rubber padding between the close-fitting areas, especially
between wing attachment points on the fuselage and the wings alongside
them. Sometimes with all the unusual rolling action on a boat (not
experienced on the road in normal use) things can "wander" more than
usual and the wings might have more of a tendency to lean toward the
fuselage if the trailer is rolled about its axis (depends on which way
they pack the containers into the boat, I guess). Another glider that
arrived in OZ at a similar time to ours had some evidence of "trailer
rash" during shipping.

2. Make sure the glider fuselage AND the belly dolly are well tied
down to prevent, as happened in our case, the dolly from rolling
forward so it wasn't supporting things right.

3. Make sure the trailer is well tied into the container to prevent it
"wandering" around inside. Ours came out at Sydney with a broken rear
clamshell handle and tail light, which thankfully the factory arranged
to get replaced.

4. Make sure you have all your trailer import paperwork up to scratch
BEFORE it ships. We found out, after the fact, that in Australia you
need a permit to import the trailer as an "imported vehicle". No
importation paperwork means it's VERY difficult to get the darned
thing registered. This should also include whatever statements your
local authorities require to register a foreign built trailer (e.g.
trailer standards compliance statements).

5. Make sure the trailer rear axle overhang is within the limitations
imposed by your local authorities. In Australia, the maximum for a
standard trailer is 3.5 metres (nearly 12 feet). But, for gliders
there is an agreed upon exemption of 5.0 metres (just over 16 feet).
Sadly, our trailer came from Germany with a 5.3 m overhang, so we had
to move the axles back by 300mm to allow it to be registered.

As I said, an Australian perspective - your mileage might vary.

Cheers

Jason


"F.L. Whiteley" wrote in message ...
40ft container will hold most trailers. There are ro-ro shipping services
for vehicles over much of the globe, no container necessary and you should
save about 1/2 on the shipping and wharf fees.

Shipped a couple of gliders in 1990's. Nothing recent.

Frank Whiteley

"Steve B" wrote in message
om...
I am also interested in bringing a sailplane from Europe to the USA. I
live in Hawaii so regardless of where I purchase a glider it will have
to be shipped. I would be grateful for any comments from any
experience in an overseas purchase.

I assume that if it is in a trailer that it would ship well as a
package.

Will a trailer fit in a container or are they too long?

Thanks
Steve





(RamyYanetz) wrote in message
...
Check out back issues of "Soaring". There was an article on this subject
earlier this year or last year.

Ramy

Group,

Anyone ever import a glider from Europe? Care to share your
experiences or difficulties? There seem to be quite a few "deals"
over yonder and wondered if it would be worth the hassle/cost/red
tape/etc.

Gus

"Jason Armistead" wrote in message
om...
From an Australian perspective, we found a few gotchas recently when
we imported our DG-1000.

1. Don't rely on the standard trailer packing. Ask the factory to put
extra foam rubber padding between the close-fitting areas, especially
between wing attachment points on the fuselage and the wings alongside
them. Sometimes with all the unusual rolling action on a boat (not
experienced on the road in normal use) things can "wander" more than
usual and the wings might have more of a tendency to lean toward the
fuselage if the trailer is rolled about its axis (depends on which way
they pack the containers into the boat, I guess). Another glider that
arrived in OZ at a similar time to ours had some evidence of "trailer
rash" during shipping.

2. Make sure the glider fuselage AND the belly dolly are well tied
down to prevent, as happened in our case, the dolly from rolling
forward so it wasn't supporting things right.


I've looked inside a lot of trailers and I don't understand why such poorly
secured fittings are used. Perhaps it's just that the owner never sees what
is happening to the glider inside the trailer as it rolls down the highway.

Ocean shipping can't be as bad as the pounding the glider gets on an average
USA highway. Most of the time you can't see the road surface further than
100 meters ahead since the view is blocked by the next vehicle, hill or
turn. Unexpected "whoop-de-doos" can launch a trailer to horrifying
heights.

I've seen a meter of air under the wheels of a glider trailer when it
encounter an unexpected bump. That HAD to hurt something.

Bill Daniels

In article ,
says...


I've seen a meter of air under the wheels of a glider trailer when it
encounter an unexpected bump. That HAD to hurt something.

THat must have been one HELLUVA a bump. How come the driver didn't see
it coming? And how much air did the tow car get?
--
!Replace DECIMAL.POINT in my e-mail address with just a . to reply
directly

Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

In article ,
"Bill Daniels" wrote:

"Jason Armistead" wrote in message
om...
From an Australian perspective, we found a few gotchas recently when
we imported our DG-1000.

1. Don't rely on the standard trailer packing. Ask the factory to put
extra foam rubber padding between the close-fitting areas, especially
between wing attachment points on the fuselage and the wings alongside
them. Sometimes with all the unusual rolling action on a boat (not
experienced on the road in normal use) things can "wander" more than
usual and the wings might have more of a tendency to lean toward the
fuselage if the trailer is rolled about its axis (depends on which way
they pack the containers into the boat, I guess). Another glider that
arrived in OZ at a similar time to ours had some evidence of "trailer
rash" during shipping.

2. Make sure the glider fuselage AND the belly dolly are well tied
down to prevent, as happened in our case, the dolly from rolling
forward so it wasn't supporting things right.


I've looked inside a lot of trailers and I don't understand why such poorly
secured fittings are used. Perhaps it's just that the owner never sees what
is happening to the glider inside the trailer as it rolls down the highway.

Ocean shipping can't be as bad as the pounding the glider gets on an average
USA highway. Most of the time you can't see the road surface further than
100 meters ahead since the view is blocked by the next vehicle, hill or
turn. Unexpected "whoop-de-doos" can launch a trailer to horrifying
heights.

I've seen a meter of air under the wheels of a glider trailer when it
encounter an unexpected bump. That HAD to hurt something.

Bill Daniels


I forgot about a particularly rough railroad crossing while towing my
glider trailer one night. My van, trailer, and glider survived the short
"flight" and subsequent rough landing. Unfortunately, one of my varios
was trashed and had to have the meter movement replaced. My ASI was
damaged as well.

I wonder how many of us ever bother to have a trailer wheels balanced?