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Securing glider trailers in shipping containers



 
 
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  #11  
Old August 12th 14, 10:27 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
son_of_flubber
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Default Securing glider trailers in shipping containers

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 9:06:36 AM UTC-4, Mark628CA wrote:
I totally DISAGREE with S_O_F about putting your glider on springy supports and lashing it down with shock cords. Allowing ANY movement will result in a glider "shaken, not stirred" on a long bouncy trip.


2G's plan to remove the running gear means that the normal function of the tires, torsion bar, and shocks will be absent. Likewise the hitch will not be floating on a ball and therefore not have the benefit of the suspension and tires of the tow vehicle.

Assembled gliders get bounced around in turbulence all the time, and it hardly matters. It's the hard jolts of the container being set down at high deacceleration on top a stack of containers, or bumping a corner, that would be the biggest risk. (The damage caused by jolting came up recently on RAS in a discussion about shipping gliders by rail.)

The means of attaching the glider to the trailer could (and perhaps should) be rigid, extra strong and unyielding, but the attachment of the trailer to the container should have some elastic flex (with common sense secondary restraints to limit the maximum movement).

My remarks are for entertain purposes only. And as others have pointed out, I have never loaded a glider trailer into a shipping container. Sure, using coil spring mattresses and shock cord is 'a crazy idea', but the prevailing faith in a 'strong as hell and as rigid as possible' mounting scheme puzzles me. No structure likes to be jolted.
  #12  
Old August 13th 14, 02:15 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Mark628CA
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Default Securing glider trailers in shipping containers

Flub-

It would be best if you left this discussion to those who have experience in this situation. Your off the cuff suppositions are just introducing random "maybes" into what is a fairly straightforward problem and solution. Unless you have some experience (and not just opinions) with the loads incurred during shipment, your ideas are merely confusing the real issue of safely transporting a glider and trailer overseas by commercial carriers.

I agree that the problems with rail shipment eliminate that option from consideration (not to mention the fact that rail transport is not possible over the ocean), but the problem there is the violent fore/aft slamming as rail cars pound into and away from each other. Also, if you ever had to ride in a rail car with a flat-spotted wheel, you would rather be riding a jackhammer.

Proper packing and adequate straps to restrain movement would be sufficient to take all excessive loads involved in container shipping. "Jolting" is a minimal occurrence as the container is transferred from point to point. That's not to say that it is insignificant, as I have already expressed my disdain for the shipping industry's casual behavior with stuff that is just one more piece of s#*t to them, but a valuable commodity to the owners.

The actual roll/pitch found on a ship is relatively benign, but you don't plan for the optimal "easy" journey. You plan on the worst case. OK, the ship sinks- you cannot plan for that. You cannot plan for the container being washed overboard, except by looking carefully at the documents from the shipping company explaining their liability (watch out for phrases like "act of God," "Force Majeure" and so on).

Properly researched insurance that protects the owner of record (buyer or seller, depending on when ownership is actually transferred vs. packing/shipping/receiving dates) may be more expensive than it should be, but insurance companies don't have a lot of actuarial data to work from. A policy that covers shipping damage will probably save you money if something happens. If nothing happens, you will look at as a waste of money. The buyer/seller should agree on the terms and premium expense prior to delivery to the shipping company.

Essentially, this problem boils down to two issues, which are similar in scope:

Secure the glider in the trailer to restrain unwanted movement. Trailers designed for movement on highways are somewhat adequate, but not perfect. Even with a pretty good trailer suspension, the "G" meter in the Jet Salto is pegged in both positive and negative after even a short road trip. Add some padding and additional restraints to the components that might shift.

Secure the glider trailer in the container as well as you can. Even if the trailer has no running gear or suspension, it would be dumb to introduce an improperly considered "bouncy house" that might exacerbate wear on straps, with a potential to fail one or more restraints due to wear caused by the ship's roll and pitching movements 24 hours a day for possibly weeks at a time.

That's what I know about this. I will let the other know-it-alls like Flub take over from here.

  #13  
Old August 13th 14, 04:00 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Securing glider trailers in shipping containers

There goes our U.S. fleet of gliders! I shipped my 24 to Israel from Michigan in an ocean container over road, rail and boat successfully. You may not know, but the container will have a oak floor just like a house. This makes securing things easy with screws, and is not frowned upon. As mentioned by others, and suggested by a soaring buddy formerly in the shipping business, everybody shipping cars uses 4x4s screwed to the floor to block the wheels. I secured 4x4s in front, back and outside each tire using long expensive hardened hex screws from Home Depot used for Deck Beams (about #12?). Pre-drill the 4x4s. When I screwed the 4x4s down, I placed ratchet straps underneath them to run over the top of the tires per my friend's suggestion. This worked great, but I didn't consider Mark's warning about a flat tire, luckily mine were new and survived the trip.
Not many shipping containers have tie down hoops along the sides, but some do. I told the shipping company that it must have these or I'd refuse it's delivery. It came with steel loops every two feet and was brand new, so straps were easy to attach. Made me feel bad about the screw holes in the floor.
The other thing I did in case the straps broke, was to use short lag bolts to screw the safety chains to the floor in a "Y" shape leading away from the tongue. I placed the tongue hard against the back wall of the box so the chains held the front of the trailer firmly down and forward against the wall.
Your requirement to remove the road gear makes some of the above challenging, and was also a requirement in Israel (can't import a trailer). My buyer removed the road gear at the port in Haifa before Israel customs did their inspection. This way he had the complete trailer eventually.
Hope it works out for you.
  #14  
Old August 13th 14, 04:00 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Securing glider trailers in shipping containers

On Tuesday, August 12, 2014 10:00:16 PM UTC-5, wrote:
There goes our U.S. fleet of gliders! I shipped my 24 to Israel from Michigan in an ocean container over road, rail and boat successfully. You may not know, but the container will have a oak floor just like a house. This makes securing things easy with screws, and is not frowned upon. As mentioned by others, and suggested by a soaring buddy formerly in the shipping business, everybody shipping cars uses 4x4s screwed to the floor to block the wheels. I secured 4x4s in front, back and outside each tire using long expensive hardened hex screws from Home Depot used for Deck Beams (about #12?). Pre-drill the 4x4s. When I screwed the 4x4s down, I placed ratchet straps underneath them to run over the top of the tires per my friend's suggestion. This worked great, but I didn't consider Mark's warning about a flat tire, luckily mine were new and survived the trip.

Not many shipping containers have tie down hoops along the sides, but some do. I told the shipping company that it must have these or I'd refuse it's delivery. It came with steel loops every two feet and was brand new, so straps were easy to attach. Made me feel bad about the screw holes in the floor.

The other thing I did in case the straps broke, was to use short lag bolts to screw the safety chains to the floor in a "Y" shape leading away from the tongue. I placed the tongue hard against the back wall of the box so the chains held the front of the trailer firmly down and forward against the wall.

Your requirement to remove the road gear makes some of the above challenging, and was also a requirement in Israel (can't import a trailer). My buyer removed the road gear at the port in Haifa before Israel customs did their inspection. This way he had the complete trailer eventually.

Hope it works out for you.


Virtually all our new and used glider purchases from Europe arrive here on Roll-on-Roll-off ships meaning the trailer is pulled onto a vessel that normally transports new cars to this country. Don't know how the trailer is secured on the ship but I have not heard of damage when the new owner goes to Baltimore for example to pick up the trailer. Obviously, the forces on trailer and glider en route are minimal and well managed by that configuration. Can't imaging that "trailer in container" would impose magnitudes of higher damage risks. Nailed chocks and proper tie-downs to secure the trailer relative to the container (no flex, SOF)should do the trick.
  #15  
Old August 13th 14, 04:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Papa3[_2_]
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Default Securing glider trailers in shipping containers

On Wednesday, August 13, 2014 11:00:30 AM UTC-4, wrote:

Virtually all our new and used glider purchases from Europe arrive here on Roll-on-Roll-off ships meaning the trailer is pulled onto a vessel that normally transports new cars to this country. Don't know how the trailer is secured on the ship but I have not heard of damage when the new owner goes to Baltimore for example to pick up the trailer. Obviously, the forces on trailer and glider en route are minimal and well managed by that configuration. Can't imaging that "trailer in container" would impose magnitudes of higher damage risks. Nailed chocks and proper tie-downs to secure the trailer relative to the container (no flex, SOF)should do the trick.


The problem with containers isn't so much the ride once the trailer is safely tucked aboard the ship (leaving aside heavy seas and being dropped overboard). It's what happens when the crane operators and truck drivers get hold of it. I did a small project for one of the top logistics companies two years ago, and as part of that I got a chance to watch how containers move between point A (i.e. where they are loaded onto a truck at your pickup point) and point B(i.e. when they are unloaded at the other end). Along the way, they may be loaded and unloaded several times, including being stored in intermediate locations in the port. Each one of those stops and starts can induce significant vertical and longitudinal decelerations. Here's a video of an operator being very careful, and you can still see some significant bumps. I have a video somewhere of containers routinely dropping from almost a full meter...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F55Zcvo0F8k
 




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