Having recently spent a large number of hours (along with my sailplane partner) replacing rotting wood flooring at the front of a Minden style trailer, a couple suggestions to save maintenance time down the road:

1: A very well sealed/waterproof front access hatch. We added a piece of aluminum angle as a rain gutter above the front door. The Cobra solution for this is nice.

2: Assuming you are using wood for the flooring, a layer of fiberglass on top and bottom to repel moisture. If you can avoid using wood in the floor at all, it could be a plus. The aluminum/foam sandwich floors on Cobra trailers are really quite nice. Cobras going on 30 years old have floors in very nice shape.

3: A design that allows replacing any one panel of flooring independently. On this trailer, the floor panels slide in from the back of the trailer. To replace a full sheet of flooring at the front of the trailer would require removing all of the flooring.

Other items:

4. Safety chains anchored to the frame of the trailer (not just to the tongue) in case of a tongue failure.

-Andy

On Tuesday, November 26, 2013 9:51:59 PM UTC-6, shkdriver wrote:
Hello,

I am in the early stages of building a Luebke patterned clamshell trailer for my Schempp-Hirth SHK. The trailer is an aluminum sheathed steel frame 'interpretation' of the cobra and comet style trailers. I have been paying attention to every glider trailer I've been around for the last few years, with the intention of incorporating the best features. Some of these features are;



Tracks and captured wing root dollies with adjustable tension hold down

brackets for the spar root (seen in a cobra containing a ventus)



Captured aluminum ramp with fold over center track, with either hydraulic

or double screw jack height adjustment (cobra again).



Pivoting lower carriage wheels on belly support dolly (cobra).



Drop down tailgate which provides a braced repeatable height of tail end

of trailer for rigging and derigging.



Front access hatch, ventilators, spare tire access when loaded.

Good lights with some lights down the length of the trailer.



Storage space for all the ground handling gear.



So, what am I missing or forgetting? Does anyone have any comments on favorite features or also, features which should be avoided at all costs? I want to eliminate those unforeseeable miserable items which pinch fingers, rash gliders, and detract from the chore of rigging and trailering a glider. I would also like to have a system which uses the least amount of loose gear lying about.



Thanks,

Scott W.

N-1521