trailer sway mitigation TSM

Wow, great examples of the tail wagging the dog.

On a less scientific note, and maybe more to the point of simple common sense, I have trailered my glider in a tube style trailer using a V6 Toyota Rav 4 from California to Utah going over the Sierra Nevada's and it was an easy comfortable trip.
To mitigate trailer sway issues I simply noted the speed at which trailer sway started when doing simple lane changes or getting passed by a large vehicle, and set myself a top speed limit of roughly 7 to 10 mph below that. Problem solved.

On Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 9:19:35 AM UTC-6, Mike N. wrote:
Wow, great examples of the tail wagging the dog.

On a less scientific note, and maybe more to the point of simple common sense, I have trailered my glider in a tube style trailer using a V6 Toyota Rav 4 from California to Utah going over the Sierra Nevada's and it was an easy comfortable trip.
To mitigate trailer sway issues I simply noted the speed at which trailer sway started when doing simple lane changes or getting passed by a large vehicle, and set myself a top speed limit of roughly 7 to 10 mph below that. Problem solved.

Thanks! A good practical solution!

wrote on 12/26/2019 7:42 AM:
On Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 9:19:35 AM UTC-6, Mike N. wrote:
Wow, great examples of the tail wagging the dog.

On a less scientific note, and maybe more to the point of simple common sense, I have trailered my glider in a tube style trailer using a V6 Toyota Rav 4 from California to Utah going over the Sierra Nevada's and it was an easy comfortable trip.
To mitigate trailer sway issues I simply noted the speed at which trailer sway started when doing simple lane changes or getting passed by a large vehicle, and set myself a top speed limit of roughly 7 to 10 mph below that. Problem solved.

Thanks! A good practical solution!

A lower speed provides another advantage: tire longevity. I'm reminded of a
motorglider pilot towing his trailer from Florida to Parowan years ago, suffering
four blowouts along the way. That meant four separate tire changes, and purchasing
four tires, one at a time. His wife said she couldn't get him to slow down, even
though it was obvious (at least to her) they'd arrive sooner if he did so! At
least it wasn't unstable at the 75+ tow speeds.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On 12/26/2019 8:42 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 9:19:35 AM UTC-6, Mike N. wrote:
Wow, great examples of the tail wagging the dog.

On a less scientific note, and maybe more to the point of simple common
sense, I have trailered my glider in a tube style trailer using a V6
Toyota Rav 4 from California to Utah going over the Sierra Nevada's and
it was an easy comfortable trip. To mitigate trailer sway issues I simply
noted the speed at which trailer sway started when doing simple lane
changes or getting passed by a large vehicle, and set myself a top speed
limit of roughly 7 to 10 mph below that. Problem solved.

Thanks! A good practical solution!

This (now-lengthy) thread has (IMHO) numerous
sensible/informative/potentially-useful informative bits, and I'm not actually
clear why I'm (only-now) moved to chime in, but...

Slowing down is obviously (not?) the most-immediately-direct thing Joe Driver
can do...'simple common sense' indeed.

Perhaps like many readers, years'-worth (decades, sigh...) of trailering all
manner of gliders/trailers behind a short-wheelbase, 2600-lb car, yielded
bouts of empirical evidence (for all my above assertions), which - for the
record - were gained mostly throughout the intermountain west,
accident-free...interspersed with incidents of (never-per-trailer-repeated)
alarm, pulling variously-problematic examples. One of the worst was a
heavy-tongued (required 3 people to lift onto the towball), twin-axle,
'standard' open Schweizer trailer bearing a 2-32 in the 'standard'
back-end-loading, wing-root/fuselage-facing forward orientation. Slowing
*always* worked/works (in reductio ad absurdum vein, it's hard to become
unstable when motionless...duh).

My worst instability memory involves back-seat riding in a 4-seat 1980-ish
Honda Civic (the little, squarish-backed version) towing a Komet-enclosed AS-W
19) on 2-lane, flat, roads from McCook (NE) to Boulder (CO), just purchased by
2 buddies in the front seats. Joe Driver thought it humorous to play around on
both sides of the boundary defining violent towing-combo-instability. Talk
about 'playing on the freeway'. I never again allowed him to play Joe
Trailer-Driver with me...

Bob W.