Draggin' an airplane

[SteveWolf]

There is a great article in the AOPA Pilot magazine for March of 2019 about a couple who drag their Kitfox airplane behind their Roadtrek. A Kitfox is a two seat plane whose wings fold so it can be loaded into a trailer.

Recommended!

I don't see a digital version of this article on the AOPA site as of yet but there is a podcast version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xniqjXyGij4

Steve

[InterBlog]

Thanks for posting this - it's great.

Here's what came to my mind when I first viewed the video, though.

If Some Guy had come onto one of these forums and said, "I'm planning to tow a plane behind my Class B... has anyone done that? How did you work out the trailer specs? Which plane did you choose?"

.... if someone had said that, dollars to donuts, there would have been a concerted effort by some to either dismiss the idea without examination, or they would have informed him that he simply doesn't need a plane because reasonable people do not need or want airplanes, or they would have tried to laugh him off the stage by declaring without evidence that it simply couldn't be done.

Not all posters, just a minority, but a vocal, tedious, and bothersome minority. Happens every time someone (anyone!) has a paradigm-breaking new idea in the Class B context, even if that idea is minor in the grand scheme of things.

I'm not referring to any specific person here on this forum - I'm just talking about forums generally. Plus I'm seeding a post that I can point back to, the next time I see it happening on a future topic.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Thanks for posting this - it's great.

Here's what came to my mind when I first viewed the video, though.

If Some Guy had come onto one of these forums and said, "I'm planning to tow a plane behind my Class B... has anyone done that? How did you work out the trailer specs? Which plane did you choose?"

.... if someone had said that, dollars to donuts, there would have been a concerted effort by some to either dismiss the idea without examination, or they would have informed him that he simply doesn't need a plane because reasonable people do not need or want airplanes, or they would have tried to laugh him off the stage by declaring without evidence that it simply couldn't be done.

Not all posters, just a minority, but a vocal, tedious, and bothersome minority. Happens every time someone (anyone!) has a paradigm-breaking new idea in the Class B context, even if that idea is minor in the grand scheme of things.

I'm not referring to any specific person here on this forum - I'm just talking about forums generally. Plus I'm seeding a post that I can point back to, the next time I see it happening on a future topic.

Some truth to that, but there would be lots more dollars and why.

Me, I chose the 190P not 210 for my aircraft. Then I thought where it would go, thus the third seat in the 190 for half and in the back of the B for the other half. I never flew the FL Keys, but Everglades yes along with each of the 48 US states, 6 Canadian provinces from Nova Scotia to BC, and Baja.

B's Rule. Well, for some applications.

Bud

[skagitstan]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Thanks for posting this - it's great.

Here's what came to my mind when I first viewed the video, though.

If Some Guy had come onto one of these forums and said, "I'm planning to tow a plane behind my Class B... has anyone done that? How did you work out the trailer specs? Which plane did you choose?"

.... if someone had said that, dollars to donuts, there would have been a concerted effort by some to either dismiss the idea without examination, or they would have informed him that he simply doesn't need a plane because reasonable people do not need or want airplanes, or they would have tried to laugh him off the stage by declaring without evidence that it simply couldn't be done.

Not all posters, just a minority, but a vocal, tedious, and bothersome minority. Happens every time someone (anyone!) has a paradigm-breaking new idea in the Class B context, even if that idea is minor in the grand scheme of things.

I'm not referring to any specific person here on this forum - I'm just talking about forums generally. Plus I'm seeding a post that I can point back to, the next time I see it happening on a future topic.

Lot of supposition about other people there.


From my experience, most folks would just kinda not be impressed. You could load a pile of lead weight, or fish tanks, or some pet cows behind your B, if the load meets the towing weight spec, and can fit a legal trailer. And that just requires the ability to add and measure.


The fact that it's a "B" isn't really important. Which B might make a difference.

Don't know why anyone would declare "without evidence that it simply couldn't be done".

[SteveWolf]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Thanks for posting this - it's great.

Here's what came to my mind when I first viewed the video, though.

If Some Guy had come onto one of these forums and said, "I'm planning to tow a plane behind my Class B... has anyone done that? How did you work out the trailer specs? Which plane did you choose?"

.... if someone had said that, dollars to donuts, there would have been a ....

Seems that so many Class-B owners don't wrench on their own boxes. The solution is to take it in and pay someone no matter how trivial the issue or the ease of at least looking into it.

The amount of wrenching reported on this site is a breath of fresh air!

Steve

[InterBlog]

I'm a forumnivore. There - I just coined a new term.

Yes, this is one of the forums with a relatively low percentage of naysayers - I noted in my post that I was not referring to anyone specifically here.

But I read a great deal across a wide variety of sites, and the same cannot be said for others. And this airplane thread example was such a succinct opportunity to pin that observation that I went ahead and did it.

[Nic7320]

I figured it would be a tail dragger. But that's taking a play on words a bit too far!

[sally4157]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Thanks for posting this - it's great.

Here's what came to my mind when I first viewed the video, though.

If Some Guy had come onto one of these forums and said, "I'm planning to tow a plane behind my Class B... has anyone done that? How did you work out the trailer specs? Which plane did you choose?"

.... if someone had said that, dollars to donuts, there would have been a concerted effort by some to either dismiss the idea without examination, or they would have informed him that he simply doesn't need a plane because reasonable people do not need or want airplanes, or they would have tried to laugh him off the stage by declaring without evidence that it simply couldn't be done.

Not all posters, just a minority, but a vocal, tedious, and bothersome minority. Happens every time someone (anyone!) has a paradigm-breaking new idea in the Class B context, even if that idea is minor in the grand scheme of things.

I'm not referring to any specific person here on this forum - I'm just talking about forums generally. Plus I'm seeding a post that I can point back to, the next time I see it happening on a future topic.

I actually met the Jones at Lake Powell last fall. They have an identical RT to mine and live just south of me. We even have friends in common. They were not trailing their plane at the time but told me all about it. Wonderful folks having the time of their life.

[Bjones7788]

My wife and I are the Marathon Florida couple featured in March AOPA PILOT magazine and AOPA LIVE Jan 24, 2019 which is an online video magazine.

We tour the US coast to coast annually towing an FAA certified folding wing sport plane in a trailer behind us.

The plane sits in its hanger/trailer at local airports while we visit the usual tourist destination areas in our Roadtrek 190, doing what all of us Class B folks do. Then when the weather is great, no matter where we are across the US, there is our little plane waiting for us to go play at a local community airport.

Imagine if you will, having a quiet motorcycle while exploring around Monument Valley, Moab or the Grand Canyon. A motorcycle that you could turn into a flying machine with the push of a switch, then lift off to fly slowly at motorcycle puttering speed all around the fabulous scenery, up close and personal, seeing all those things you had been looking at from the RV and a huge amount more. As you can imagine, It has been fabulous for us.

We have camped all our lives, even out of a little hot rod plane using bikes and a tent decades ago. Then Walmart bought our local airport to build a store and I had to move our big plane too far away to play with so I bought the little short take off and landing Kitfox plus an enclosed trailer to keep it in. Next thing you know the Roadtrek 190 Popular came along as an excellent tow vehicle, and of course something that we could tour around in without the trailer and boy did the FUN begin.

If you followed this you can see that by buying our local airport, "Walmart made me do it" Ironic!

I used to fly turbo twins for business all over the country and always wished I had something at the destination like a Super Cub, so I could fly really slow, down low almost within the scenery, a plane that could land on a beach or creek bed and literally jump off the ground, flying with the doors open or off.

Our little Kitfox does all of that and more because we can fold the wings back and load it in the trailer in ten minutes to take it with us behind our Roadtrek. The combination has been absolutely amazing for us.

We have had so much fun doing this that when large aviation organizations requested that I share "How to do it" by presenting Power Points forums at major gatherings like Oshkosh (Air Venture), Sun N Fun etc I had to agree to do it and purely as a volunteer effort, no sales. Recently I have found that RV groups get a kick out of seeing the places we all visit in our RVs but from an close up aerial perspective.

If you have questions my e-mail is drjones7788@gmail.com

BJ Roadtrek 190 Populars Florida Keys

[gregmchugh]

At one point I was building a Sonex Xenos motorclider and was planning to tow it behind a motorhome in an enclosed trailer when we travelled. Plans changed. It would have been a pretty long trailer to hold the wings but it was doable. The Kitfox is a great choice for what you are doing. You can really get into some remote places with it...

[Bjones7788]

The following web address brings up the AOPA video magazine article, under that a few photos from the AOPA Pilot magazine article, followed by the text from the PILOT article.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...embly-required

BJ

[FrayAdjacent]

When I get a van, I'll do better: my aircraft can fit in the van itself!

Paramotors are fun that way. For now, it rides in my truck while I tow my travel trailer.