EDF storage

[purduephigam]

I have been racking my brain on an efficient way to store my jets in addition to transferring them to the bed of my truck for flight.
The problem lies with the A-10 (size), as I will likely need to resort to de-winging to store and transfer. The other planes however, I'd likely be able to keep in one piece. I've scoured the web for ideas and believe I've come up with a hybrid solution, but need to measure things out before I start fabricating. I just wanted to get the opinions of those that fly jets.
How does everyone store their planes? How are they transferred to the field?

[xviper]

Why just jets? All large planes will have the same problem. I de-wing my large planes and store them by hanging them from the ceiling of the garage and the basement and one back room in the house. In the car, I have a second rack built in to carry 2 layers of planes.


Large planes? No problem.



This is in a little Golf. If I had a truck, I'd double my load to the field. As is, the top photo has 4 planes in it and a big 10 foot sailplane is about to put in after the photo was taken and I can put another small plane in the front passenger seat.

[T-CAT]

I have been racking my brain on an efficient way to store my jets in addition to transferring them to the bed of my truck for flight.
The problem lies with the A-10 (size), as I will likely need to resort to de-winging to store and transfer. The other planes however, I'd likely be able to keep in one piece. I've scoured the web for ideas and believe I've come up with a hybrid solution, but need to measure things out before I start fabricating. I just wanted to get the opinions of those that fly jets.
How does everyone store their planes? How are they transferred to the field?

I tend to store most planes with the wings attached and on hangers that cradles each wing. If I store a plane without the wings, I use a hanger with longer arms where one arm supports near the nose and the other supports near the tail.

I purchased the hangers front Home Depot, but they are likely found at other hardware stores possibly under a different brand than the brand that Home Depot sells. At least I believe I’ve seen them elsewhere and they looked identical, with the exception of the branding. Regardless of the hanger I used below, I used PVC pipe insulation foam covers for padding AND folded up microfiber towels. The foam just simply was not enough for most of the foam jets I own, as they eventually got dented from the weight of itself on the hanger and it imprinted the hangers metal outline into the foam wings. The microfibers have thankfully solved that easily since I had a lot of microfiber towels around.

To transport to and from the flying field, mine just lay flat in the car (the rear seats fold completely flat so there are no bumps/ridges). I use moving blankets folded quite a few times to help absorb the vibration during the drive. The only plane I don’t lay flat in the car is the Freewing 80mm EDF A-10. I built a PVC stand for it to fit perfect and secure (and it makes for a nice assembly stand when at the field). The look of the A-10 stand was Bill’’s idea that he shared on RCgroups, and I modified the specs. of the cradle to suit my needs (thanks again Bill).

Below are the three different design hangers by Everbuilt:

1. The first one I use for most of my planes, as it doesn’’t take up much room and is still sturdy. Two are needed, one for each wing to sit on and can be spaced how you would like.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...1209/202305424

2. The second one is nice since it’s just one whole piece. However, it cannot be expanded, so you would need to make sure the wings and fuselage dimensions would fit. It also takes up a bit more room, but is a great hanger.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...8044/202305549

3. The third kind is a large hanger but works great for the A-10 without the wings on to hold the fuselage horizontally. It is just a single arm, so two can be purchased and may be spaced as needed to fit the plane you’’’re wanting to store it on like the A-10
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...8042/202305548

The pictures below show two of those three types of hangers (I don’t tend to use the second type anymore since it’’s a one piece design and I prefer separate hanger arms). The first type in the first link above, the small hanger, is what’’s used to hold the Avanti, Habu 32X, and the little Funfighter Rarebear in the picture. The hanger arms used to hold the A-10 was the third type in the third link.

[T-CAT]

Below is the link to Bill’s blog post regarding his PVC A-10 stand:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...67&postcount=5

[purduephigam]

Great info, thank you both. I have an idea in mind which is similar to the hanger-type method after having done several Google searches. I've got a few jets now with 2 more to be assembled (possibly 3 depending on what's released before Christmas) and will likely need to wait until they are completed before I can finalize details. I think the storage should be relatively straight forward, and the transport could be complicated as I don't have a topper on my truck bed, just the bed cover. So my height is limited, meaning I'll likely have an assembly on top of a rolling piece of plywood to hold the fuse for the A-10, but am thinking about cut-outs in the plywood for respective jet wheels to sit in and be strapped in (as opposed to multiple PVC setups). It might just come down to dry fitting some parts and seeing what works in the bed. I just like gathering as much information from everyone here as possible! :Cool:

[purduephigam]

Well I am on a mission for a little more efficient storage as well as transport, so I thought I'd post my progress. I modified a PVC box frame to support planes/jets on each side and will slide along the basement support beam. I still need a few more pieces in order to button everything up. I re-enforced the supports with 3/4" steel pipe. This should help keep the frame from wanting to flex as well. I haven't started on my transport frame yet, as I have two more jets to put together first:Smug:

[fhhuber]

For transport... I have a friend who works in a place that get stuff delivered in appx 18 inch square by 2 ft foam coolers. I cut those into cradles for the airplanes. Then foam pads under the coolers and bungee them down in my trailer.

I strapped a plane to the trailer floor by the landing gear and had a pothole snap the fuselage just in front of the landing gear... Never strapping them in by the wheels again.

I have redistributed weight in the trailer to put more weight on the axle. (320 amp-hr of storage batteries for solar system) which helps smooth the ride in the trailer

[purduephigam]

I had a previous idea of having wheel cutouts for particular planes and to strap them in as you mentioned, but I'm just going to fabricate PVC cradles instead. Hoping to get 3, safely installed onto a slab of plywood with roller bearings so that I can slide it out for easy access.