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By Felix
#404858
I'm about to go to a comp, gotta check in my beloved glider, I'm a bit worried to say the least...
Anyone here with experience doing this? I'd like some pointers, ideas to make sure my baby gets there safely.
Have any of you guys made a bag for a short packed glider? I have a sewing machine and believe I could make a bag... but what materials do I use? I could buy one but am not sure there's enough time to get it shipped to me here in Canada on time.
Your ideas are greatly appreciated!
By Roadrunner71
#404864
Here is what I did in order to fly to Arizona. I bought one of those ladders. The Ladder that will fold down in n sections. So that when the ladder is fully folded down . The ladder is only about four feet long. I then Took a 16" PVC tube. The PVC tubes that are used for underground water. Well I Cut the PVC tube in half. I then wrapped my glider in about four 1' wide strips of Foam Rubber. The Foam rubber provided some padding to make my Falcon "FEEL SAFE". I cut and put down onto the ladders rungs some 1/2" Plywood, So as to not have high: "UNIT LOADING" between the rungs of the ladder and my Glider. I tapped the Plywood to the ladder rungs. I then laid the Glider onto the Ladder that I had just tapped the Plywood onto. I used the straps that I always used to secure the Glider to the Ladder. I then put the length of cut in half P-V-C over the Top of the the top of the Glider/Ladder assembly. I secured the P-V-C using the same Wide straps that I always used to strap my Glider down when I was taking my Glider to fly.

It worked great. The next stop for my Falcon was Arizona. My doing this: My packing my Glider this way. The P-V-C protected the glider from being Damaged during the flight. I the had a friend pick me up at the Airport. My Buddy had a a Rack on his Truck. So once again my Ladder-Plywood-PVC did it's job of protecting my Falcon. It was great>
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By red
#404868
Felix wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 11:48 pm I'm about to go to a comp, gotta check in my beloved glider, I'm a bit worried to say the least...
Anyone here with experience doing this? I'd like some pointers, ideas to make sure my baby gets there safely.
Have any of you guys made a bag for a short packed glider? I have a sewing machine and believe I could make a bag... but what materials do I use? I could buy one but am not sure there's enough time to get it shipped to me here in Canada on time.
Your ideas are greatly appreciated!
Felix,

I am not in favor of HG competitions. They cause pilots to take insane risks, in flight. Nobody crazier than I am is a better pilot, only crazier. Comps have held back progress in HG design for decades.

That said, what does "check in" mean? If you plan to hand your wings over to the baggage smashers, best of luck there, and my advice on transportation is on my web page. You can get the packing done in a day. I would not suggest improvising on what does work, unless you plan to waste your money and buy some serious heartache. Do not expect the Canadian border inspections to be pleasant.
.
User avatar
By Felix
#404872
Thank you for your replies, guys. Much appreciated!!

Red, I completely disagree about HG competition. However, I would like to keep this thread on topic, about checking in a glider at the airport.
Ideas, anyone?
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By red
#404876
DMarley wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:28 pm viewtopic.php?t=26746
I like the idea of the corrugated double-walled HDPE pipe. That stuff is tough. Glue/strap on something that will keep it from rolling, and also handles of some sort - straps. It's MUCH lighter in weight compared to PVC of similar interior dimensions, but still very rigid.
https://www.agrisupply.com/prolink-ultr ... t/p/33700/
DMarley,

Gosh, I wish I'da thought of that . . . :mrgreen:

https://user.xmission.com/~red/#ts

Scroll down to Shipping a Glider.
.
User avatar
By DMarley
#404891
JB,
Yeah, I saw the weight, but making an airport-proof container large enough will always be of healthy mass, whether made of coroplast, plywood, aluminum ladders, whatever.

It may be safer/cheaper to ship it via a ground-shipping service (not UPS or FedEx).

Of course, Red's site likely has that already covered, just like everything else. Hopefully he'll remind us again about that. So I'll just shut up and go crawl back under my rock.
:roll:
User avatar
By red
#404893
DMarley wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:10 pmOf course, Red's site likely has that already covered, just like everything else. Hopefully he'll remind us again about that. So I'll just shut up and go crawl back under my rock.
DMarley,

Relax, man, it's all just ones and zeroes, friends around the digital evening campfire. 8)

Happy to help.
.
User avatar
By DMarley
#404905
yeah, I understand. I just haven't had any hang time in a couple weeks (wind directions just not cooperating at all!) and I'm jonesin' BAD and really cranky. I need a real camp fire, man! And some decent breezes so I (we) can launch and zoom up (near) to cloud base!

:drool:
By blindrodie
#405011
Good, useful write up!!!

8)
User avatar
By pec1985
#405013
DMarley wrote:Nice!
So what did they do at inspection? I would suppose that each case could be different.
Unzipped the bag a little bit, look inside with a flashlight, closed it up, and that was it. So nothing really.
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By Felix
#405031
I did it, I'm at the Comp now, wing got here safely.
I made a short-pack bag, somewhat of an ingenious, simple idea, worked like a charm.
I'll write about it and post a few pics once I get a chance to.
Thank you all for your input!