glider trailer top opening styles

I didn't mention that, with the Pfeiffer, the fold out ramp included
tracks which allowed the dollies to be rolled out exposing the entire
spar. No bending over required. Of course, some folks could bang their
shins if they weren't used to it...

Dan Marotta

On 11/20/2014 8:03 AM, Papa3 wrote:
On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 8:57:37 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 7:41:04 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
The Pfeiffer tube trailer that my
Mosquito came in had an excellent back door design. The door was
hinged on the right side and, when swung open had brackets for
rigging tools, grease, rear jack crank, etc. There was a ramp
hinged at the middle and bottom which folded up before closing the
door. When swung up, the ramp secured the wingtips with padded
cuffs. I thought it was a great design, much better than the home
built trailers, but you did have to bend over to get inside.

Dan Marotta
On 11/19/2014 3:19 PM, Bill D wrote:

Also very good for tripping and shin banging if you are not used to it.
UH


One of the biggest problems I've noticed is that the wing spars have to come out past the end of the tube trailer before you can lift them. That involves some combination of ramps, free-floating dollies, or back breaking lifting. The only time I've actually hurt my back assembling/disassembling a glider was helping a friend to stabilize an LS3 wing that was about to tip over.

In a Cobra/Komet, the dolly is captive in the trailer and the root of the spar is easily accessible to lift and start swinging the wing around. I'm sure a good design could be built for the tube trailer, but I haven't seen one yet.

NOTE: I have seen the Shirenewton (I think) trailers where the wings go in tip-first, but that means a lot more maneuvering to get the spar to the fuselage.

So, the bottom line: Clamshell trailers seem to require the least awkward lifting, fewest steps, and provide the most stable platform for assembly/disassembly IMO.

P3