Transporting water to glider

I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels

This is a common problem for us here in Arizona, with several fields we fly
at being dry.

Looking at our cross-country pilots, who fly ballasted most of the time, the
water storage/transport methods fall into the following three categories

1) Tanks of various shapes and sizes (rectangular and cylindrical), usually
mounted in the vehicle or truck bed and with capacities in the 50 to 100
gallon range.

2) Rigid plastic containers. The blue 7-gallon ones (available from
Mal-Wart) are a good compromise between capacity and ease of lifting.

3) Inflatable plastic containers (air beds), usually roof-mounted.

We drive our vehicles carrying the water up to the glider. The most common
filling method is gravity, with 12V electric pumps the second most common.
Most of use a vertical open-ended pressure-relief tube to avoid
over-pressure.

Several pilots evacuate their bags with vacuum pumps prior to filling them.

Hope this helps

Mike

ASW 20 WA

"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:G1Vjc.39485$cF6.1713298@attbi_s04...
I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels

Bill Daniels wrote:

I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

I've seen a couple glider trailers outfitted with tanks: some on top for
gravity fill; some underneath, for electric pump fill.

If the water is at the gliderport, but just not the ramp, buy a small
garden trailer (yard sale or Home depot) and put a tank on it. Rent it
to your fellow glider pilots, or loan it to them if they bring you water
when you ask for it.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Bill Daniels wrote:

I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels

I picked up a 55 gal plastic drum from the biotech company I used to
work at (there are a few in Ft. Collins-including Heska). It has
openings in the top that can accept normal hose hardware with some
adapting. I carry it on its side in my truck bed (no leaks so far), and
use gravity to fill.
A word on gravity filling. Make sure you get the biggest ID hose you
can find, and don't get the kind with the anti-kink ribs. They kill the
flow rate-you can figure out how I know.
The drum contained glacial acetic acid, so it still has the faint odor
of vinegar. Standard practice (and the law) is that these need to be
thouroughly rinsed before disposal, so they're safe. The companies have
to pay to have them disposed of, so I got mine for free with a smile and
a thank you.

Shawn

In spite of your preference, I have been using a single bed camping air
mattress from Wal-Mart for years. I put it on top of my Jeep Grand Cherokee
and fill with gravity. Need a water bed filling kit to attach hose to the
receptacle. Roll it up when done and it's out of the way. Holds 40 gallons
easily---enough for my '27B

--
Hartley Falbaum
"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:G1Vjc.39485$cF6.1713298@attbi_s04...
I Googled r.a.s and found posts about water beds, truck inner tubes and
collapsible plastic cubes from Wal-Mart. The plastic cubes will transport
50 gallons and fit inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee but nothing else will fit
and I don't want to unload the Jeep just for this chore. Full 10 gallon
water containers weigh more than 90 pounds and I don't like lifting that
much to pour it into the wing. I don't like water beds and inner tubes
either.

So, bright r.a.s people, how do you neatly and easily transport ballast
water to the glider if the gliderport doesn't have a tanker or water hoses
on the ramp? Once you get it there, how do you get it into the glider?

Bill Daniels

Like Mike I'm also in Arizona. I have tried most of the methods and find
the one that I currently use by far the best. That is a 60 gallon plastic
tank that stands without supports with a bilge pump secured inside the
bottom of it. It takes about half an hour to place the bilge pump and
proper external hose fittings. Then all you need to do is to fill the tank,
connect the pump to a cigaretter lighter and begin filling the wings. If
you need more details I'm be happy to answer them here or via private
e-mail.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix

Like Mike I'm also in Arizona. I have tried most of the methods and find
the one that I currently use by far the best. That is a 60 gallon plastic
tank that stands without supports with a bilge pump secured inside the
bottom of it. It takes about half an hour to place the bilge pump and
proper external hose fittings. Then all you need to do is to fill the tank,
connect the pump to a cigaretter lighter and begin filling the wings. If
you need more details I'm be happy to answer them here or via private
e-mail.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix

Like Mike I'm also in Arizona. I have tried most of the methods and find
the one that I currently use by far the best. That is a 60 gallon plastic
tank that stands without supports with a bilge pump secured inside the
bottom of it. It takes about half an hour to place the bilge pump and
proper external hose fittings. Then all you need to do is to fill the tank,
connect the pump to a cigaretter lighter and begin filling the wings. If
you need more details I'm be happy to answer them here or via private
e-mail.

Casey Lenox
KC
Phoenix

Geez do I look like a geek....I swear that my ISP (Cox
Communications...sometimes appropriately named) has had server "issues" as
they try to rid us of spam. Hopefully this one won't be sent 3 times as
well!

Casey

The Diana trailer has a built-in water tank in its roof. Very clever.
And the best part of the trailer is that it contains a Diana
sailplane. Otherwise, I've found an air mattress works just fine. And,
as has been said, it collapses and almost disappears when not in use.
Jack Wyman
Michigan (Is it spring yet?)