Transporting water to glider

This is a common problem for us here in Arizona, with several fields we fly
at being dry.

Looking at our cross-country pilots, who fly ballasted most of the time, the
water storage/transport methods fall into the following three categories

1) Tanks of various shapes and sizes (rectangular and cylindrical), usually
mounted in the vehicle or truck bed and with capacities in the 50 to 100
gallon range.

2) Rigid plastic containers. The blue 7-gallon ones (available from
Mal-Wart) are a good compromise between capacity and ease of lifting.

3) Inflatable plastic containers (air beds), usually roof-mounted.

We drive our vehicles carrying the water up to the glider. The most common
filling method is gravity, with 12V electric pumps the second most common.
Most of use a vertical open-ended pressure-relief tube to avoid
over-pressure.

Several pilots evacuate their bags with vacuum pumps prior to filling them.

Hope this helps

Mike

ASW 20 WA

"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:G1Vjc.39485$cF6.1713298@attbi_s04...
I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels

Michael, Kilo Charlie and others, thanks for the info.

It looks like the air mattress is the best solution for me. Kilo Charlie's
tank and bilge pump is elegant but it requires a pick-up truck.

Does anybody have a specific recommendation for a air mattress and any
modifications that it will need?

Bill Daniels

"Michael Stringfellow" wrote in message
news:wqVjc.10615$6L3.3055@fed1read05...
This is a common problem for us here in Arizona, with several fields we
fly
at being dry.

Looking at our cross-country pilots, who fly ballasted most of the time,
the
water storage/transport methods fall into the following three categories

1) Tanks of various shapes and sizes (rectangular and cylindrical),
usually
mounted in the vehicle or truck bed and with capacities in the 50 to 100
gallon range.

2) Rigid plastic containers. The blue 7-gallon ones (available from
Mal-Wart) are a good compromise between capacity and ease of lifting.

3) Inflatable plastic containers (air beds), usually roof-mounted.

We drive our vehicles carrying the water up to the glider. The most
common
filling method is gravity, with 12V electric pumps the second most common.
Most of use a vertical open-ended pressure-relief tube to avoid
over-pressure.

Several pilots evacuate their bags with vacuum pumps prior to filling
them.

Hope this helps

Mike

ASW 20 WA

"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:G1Vjc.39485$cF6.1713298@attbi_s04...
I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will
transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will
fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water
hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels