hi, I'm Debbie.

[Guest debra stewart]

Can't you get a tow bar that hooks on to the car?As long as you can reverse a trailer you should be able to manoeuvre the Gazelle.

No, you must not have read what I wrote earlier. I am trying to get the plane back into the hangar in reverse. If I dont reverse it in then I cant pull it out. I am only a woman of about 8 stone and not at all strong. There is no way I can use my car. I have been mulling this problem over for more than a year now and have asked many people so it is not an easy one.

 

There is limited amount of room for movement outside my hangar as it fronts onto the back of another hangar ( poorly designed) and I only have the wing width in which to manoeuvre . I have to push the plane backwards into the hangar BUT I have to turn it 180 degrees at the same time, so a winch would put too much pressure on the tail, in the turn. The hangar is only as long as the plane once it is inside so only a few inches to the back and to the front for movement. Also it is slightly uphill. Most pilots have plenty of room to move and can usually move in a straight line to and from their hangar. I cant. As soon as my plane clears the hangar I have another 180 deg. turn, otherwise I'll hit the hangar in front of me.

 

Anyway, I will figure it out somehow. Thanks for all the suggestions. I think until it is actually seen, it is hard to comprehend the problem.

 

 

[Robbo]

You need to post a photo of the hanger so we can get a better idea.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

From what you describe I think it is a 90 degree turn not 180. Just trying to visualise it.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

turning the plane is easy, put some weight on the tail and start walking the tail in the direction it needs to go.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Not sure if you could get these for Gazelles - but I remember seeing a type of metal mud-flap mounted horizontally at the rear of the wheel (I think it was on a Pilatus Porter). As it's a flat piece of metal it'd be easy to clean, but it'd stop the cowsh*t from flinging up. Here's a similar picture with a rubber one....

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Deb, get a battery powered golf buggy from a deceased estate and it will pull/push your aircraft. Being DC it can reverse easily by switch. You don't want to be mucking around with a petrol engine in a hangar Nev

 

 

[eightyknots]

Some of the more modern mobility scooters would be powerful enough to do it I think. There are quite a few for sale second hand.

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

You need to post a photo of the hanger so we can get a better idea.

will try to find one. And it might be easy for man but not so easy for a female. I have had two men try it and they cant do it either! Ok will look for pic, debb

 

 

[fly_tornado]

google

 

electric aircraft tug

 

aircraft caddy

 

nothing cheap but problem solved

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Classifieds - Wanted

 

 

Strong man with big muscles seeks petite mature lady

 

for fun times - with a view to long term relationship.

 

Must enjoy flying in small planes - SOH essential.

 

Please send a photo of aircraft to ....

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Nice, HITC... but what would your wife think??

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Nice, HITC... but what would your wife think??

No, no, no, no, no - it wasn't me, I'm an eight stone weakling - I even had to build a railway to move a Jetranger around ...

 

But my odd sense of humour just reckoned a wee south island lassie like Debbie might prefer to check the classifieds than going to those extremes.

 

 

[rankamateur]

And why are there not many ladies in aviation?

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

And why are there not many ladies in aviation?

Probably because there are so few men in it with a sense of humour.

 

Heavens rank, you're one of the dourer of us but I thought you still had a life ... do you seriously think ladies would be put off by a bit of spirited male humour? IMH experience the only ladies who consider flying are plenty equipped to deal with a bit of friendly ribbing - YMMV

 

 

[facthunter]

You wouldn't mind if I took the word of a woman to be a more accurate indication? We don't hear a lot from them here, and we could probably be a bit less blokey sometimes, and be better for it. (You can see I'm not trying to win a popularity contest). Nev

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

You wouldn't mind if I took the word of a woman to be a more accurate indication? We don't hear a lot from them here, and we could probably be a bit less blokey sometimes, and be better for it. (You can see I'm not trying to win a popularity contest). Nev

I expect you're right facto, and I will let this be a lesson on how easy it is to offend some of those among us.

 

I should probably apologise to those wilting violets, but I just can't bring myself to do it ...

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

>

 

Though I will mention my heartfelt regret and offer my sincerest apology to any females out there, if my post inadvertently caused them some angst - sorry ladies

 

.

 

 

[facthunter]

I'm just being general HITC. Not having a particular go at anyone . I used to think being over reactive was being too pro women and crawling to them and they could look after themselves and it was sort of insulting to think they needed OUR help, but I have been having a new look at some of this and even around planes we aren't doing the best job.. Last thing I would want is patronising. Anyhow I've probably said enough already. I don't have all the answers. Nev

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

You wouldn't mind if I took the word of a woman to be a more accurate indication? We don't hear a lot from them here, and we could probably be a bit less blokey sometimes, and be better for it. (You can see I'm not trying to win a popularity contest). Nev

Nothing worries me if it is said in fun or as a genuine statement of fact. Crudity for the sake of it, never impresses me and bravado as a tool to demean, doesn't either.

 

I'll get in and have a laugh and a joke and fix a machine, with the best of them. Political correctness has been taken to the nth degree and is quite ridiculous. I believe in equality for all, but I still believe that men and women are different and that is the way it is meant to be.

 

Embrace the genders with which we were born and leave them be, instead of trying to build a world full of androgynous idiots sprouting sanitised versions of supposed reality, or moving us further apart than we already are.

 

If someone is genuine and nice to me, then I am loyal and always a good friend. The truth is really all anyone needs even if sometimes, it may hurt a bit.

 

I have always been involved in male dominated areas because I love tools and machines and all that sort of stuff ( dad was a panel beater) and I have struggled to make good male friends who seem to second guess my motives or not understand, or are not comfortable enough in their own skin to be able to have me as a good friend.

 

We still have a long way to go.

 

Walk a mile in another persons shoes and have empathy. That's how I live my life.

 

 

[Rotorwork]

Good friends are hard to find.

 

We are enjoying your forum input, as we move forward I hope you make good friends along the flight path ahead.

 

I like your way of thinking Debra.

 

Fly Safe.

 

R W

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

It's OK Facto, I'm just an insensitive oaf sometimes. Trouble is I don't get any political correctness training at home, my wife and I are just a normal old-fashioned couple.

 

The last week has produced some good examples of that.

 

Monday 4:30am, I'm in the toilet, my sweetheart screams in the shower. I imagine she's being stabbed Psycho-style, or has fallen and cut her head or something. It's just a huntsman spider, although a largish one, about the size of your hand. I used to be quite a hunter but don't like killing anything these days. In fact if it was just me all spiders would be welcome in the house, they eat mozzies which I hate - might be something to do with my Malaria and Ross River ... I digress ... I chase the spider around the bathroom and eventually gently contain it with a chinese food container, slip a piece of card under it and take it down the paddock to release it. I go a fair distance because I'm sure it's the same one I re-homed from the pantry the day before.

 

Tuesday 5:00am, I'm in the shower this time, my sweetheart screams, I come running out naked and dripping - apologies for the imagery - there's a roach exploring the kitchen and darling is standing atop a chair. I see that it's groggy (the roach) so I mention that it must have dined on the roach bait. I'm rewarded with a hateful glare - was I to know she'd actually been brave enough to approach within a metre and empty a full can of insecticide at it? I pick up the offending beast and drop it in the bin, spend five minutes washing the floor, that insecticide is slippery stuff! Gladly it's summer and warm but the same happens in mid winter, then she gets me out of the shower by turning on the hot water in the kitchen and freezing me out of the shower.

 

Thursday 5:15am I'm about to get dressed, sweetheart screams, it's a brown snake in the downstairs laundry this time.

 

Later the same day she had a little weep and needs comforting because Fred the python has returned to live in the rafters of the verandah and the possums that live in the roof and the kookaburras and the pied butcher birds, Maggie the magpie and about three hundred lorikeets all have new babies who are so trusting that one of them is sure to get eaten and how's she going to protect them all at once?

 

So as you see Nev, there's no 'blokey' sort of stuff around here, no time for it in fact, anyway, gotta go she needs the heavy laundry basket carried downstairs ...

 

Just finished typing this and was busy extracting tongue from cheek when Debbie's reply popped up. You sound like one of the world's lovely sensible ladies Debbie, there should be more like you. Actually I've been giving a bit of thought to your plane moving problem as being a rather little-ass type I've had the same problems with all the aircraft I've had to handle.

 

I think the biggest issue is having to lift the tail while also pulling and pushing. A trailer (the type you tow behind a car) is a similar thing. Due to having an easily injured back I can't lift the towbar and manoeuvre the heavy trailer around easily but it's not at all difficult with a large (oversized) jockey wheel that castors easily.

 

If I was you I'd build ( or have someone build) a cradle on four large castoring wheels, preferably with pneumatic tyres. The idea is that you lift the tailwheel onto the cradle and it is secured there somehow, perhaps it drops into a depression, or maybe it just sits on the top and has a strap over the spring. The castoring wheels would need to be set perhaps 800mm apart for stability. Then you just need a handle hooked onto the castoring cart and you could pull the plane around, uphill, around corners, wherever, without having to lift at the same time. Arranged like that it's also much easier to be able to pull it around and also be able to look in all directions to check you're not going to bang the wings on the hangar door. Having a track/path to follow drawn on the ground helps too.

 

 

[facthunter]

Try the battery powered gold buggy with the simplest of linkages. Old ones must be lying around golf clubs as the owners depart this celestial orb. Nev

 

 

[Robbo]

You want something like this

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ps/towbars_0grumman/pppairtug.php

 

 

[Robbo]

http://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=1510

[Head in the clouds]

It's been pointed out to me that it's a Gazelle not a Skyfox hence no tailwheel, so I'm wondering why the standard nosewheel towbar method doesn't work? If you don't have one it shouldn't cost much to have one made up in a metalworker's shop.

 

The first three are images with an idea of cost from a net search for "nose wheel tow bar". If you post a picture of your nosewheel Debra, we could see how a standard one of these could be converted to fit your plane? You do have to [provide the effort to shove it around though, but it's much easier than trying to push down on the tail and shove it at the same time, better for the plane too -

 

 

These next pics show powered varieties of plane movers, the first has been custom made using a 12V gearmotor and rubber donuts which rub on, and drive the nosewheel while you steer it with a towbar like the ones above. The gearmotors can be had by online purchase for about $100 and a mechanical shop might be interested in making the rest up for you.

 

The second one is an electrically driven (probably 12V rechargeable) buggy that clips onto your nosewheel and lifts it off the ground to give weight and hence traction to the buggy wheels, they're about $1000 last time I looked. The third one is similar but the nosewheel rests on the buggy and there is a locking device to hold it there, they were about $1600 IIRC.

 

(Click on the images to enlarge them)

 

 

EDIT - apologies Robbo, you beat me to it, but they're a bit expensive now aren't they? I actually drew one up some years ago that would run off a small motorcycle battery. I might dig out the CAD files and see what it would cost to have the parts laser cut. There would have to be a market, I guess, and they wouldn't be anywhere near that price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Robbo]

Think the problem she has is her strength, so would need the electric one.