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Post by bashibazouk on Jun 21, 2009 6:29:32 GMT -5
Hi Gang, I've been working on an attachment for a buddy of mine up in Ohio. He's got some big, old biplanes and needed a tug to haul them around with. He shopped around and the one he found that could do the job just barely on level ground was $2k!! Freakin' outrageous. I found him a nice, gently used L on eBay just south of where he lives. The guy and his wife even delivered it to his house! Nice folks. So I set about trying to design something to bolt onto the Gravely with enough strength to hold roughly 300# of weight and tow around 3500#. After some sketching on napkins, this is what I came up with: I even took some video of the first test of the concept. Slightly risky behavior, but it worked!
Having proven the idea to be somewhat viable (while terrifying the dogs!) I moved on to refining the ramp mechanism and adding a nice Harbor Freight strap winch to pull the tailwheel of the airplane onto. I tested the rig on my Bearhawk fuselage which isn't nearly as heavy as a Waco or a Stearman, but gives you an idea of how it works. Here's a video of that test: Here's what it looks like all painted up with EP420 epoxy primer: Parts: Closeup: The long view: I hope to deliver it this week and maybe get a picture of the airplanes it'll be hauling if not a photo of it in action. That's all I've got for now. Josh (Moved this from the General section)
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