adam32 Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Anyone here trailer their ships from job to job? What are your thoughts, whats the wear and tear from bouncing around on a highway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67november Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 oh BFG oh BFG where fore art thou, he did alot of that during his fair rides, he'll give you good insight on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
permison Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Yeah, Ask for Boatfixerguy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADRidge Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 I talked to a guy about that a while back just BS-ing around one day. He mentioned that pitch links generally don't last as long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOATFIXERGUY Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Ok...I'm here... What kind of bird(s)? Some trailer just fine (i.e. Bell, MD, Enstrom). Some do not (Robbies). We trailered our enstroms anytime the venue was more than an hour away to save on that precious revenue time. Any time you're ferrying, you're loosing that hour of revenue and never get it back. There's trailer issues as well. For awhile we used a standard gooseneck flatbed. This has it's advantages as they are everywhere. Disadvantage is the overall height with the bird on it, landing on it (more than a few people has crashed here), and getting access to the blades because of the height. Manuevering ladders up on the deck trying to get the blades on and off, then getting them down was a chore and dangerous. Not much room for a ladder. We finally ordered a custom hydraulic tiltbed from H&H. This was perfect. Back up to the bird, tilt the bed, winch the bird on, strap it down and go. Taking the blades on and off was a cinch as it was on the ground. With a bell, all you have to do is use the blade supports that you can make or buy. I can go on and on... Let me know if you have any specific questions, and I'll try to answer them. john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spraypilot Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 I have trailerd bell 47s and hillers all across this great land for 30 years. The biggest problem w/ trailering is not the abuse that the heli. will get from bouncing down the road, its when the pilot forgets to make sure both skids are undone. There have been a lot of helis. tore up for this reason. I do it like a take-off check list. Before I climb in I point to every thing and say outloud, skids undone, blades free, and so on. A pilot at Summit helicopters did not remove a block clamped to the mast to keep the rotorhead from wobbling on a hiller and did not check freedom of cyclic before t-off and destroyed it. The best way to trailer is to take the blades off no, the best way is to fly the darn thing the way it was designed. It takes clock time to trailer but saves hobbs time. Id say if you have all day to screw around and its a long distance and want to save hobbs time, take the blades off and trailer. On hillers watch for skid crosstube cracks, on 47s strait crosstubes will bend, when they do, and they will, spin 180 deg. drill new holes, bounce it down the road some more till they are strait. Or put curved skids on it, they dont bend. If you trailer w/ blades on watch for rod-end wear. If you pull it backwards and your doors come unlatched it will crack the bubble. If you are on back roads and go under to low of a overpass you could hit the rotorhead. know your height! Trailers are very narrow to be road legal and this means when you land on one there is no room for error, another way helis. get tore up. Most trailers have guides or chicken bares to guide the skides down onto it . I work off the top of platform trucks every day doing ag work but it makes me nervous to put one on a trailer to this day. Almost forgot, 47s also crack where the uprights cuffs bolt to the runners. Dont know about trailering other types of helis. but I would watch for blade delamination if trailering w/blades on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam32 Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Thanks guys, I was thinking about trailering the Hiller next year for frost instead of leaving it up there for a couple months. Could fly it, but thats also a pain because once we get to the field we have to find someone to give us a ride to the hotel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Thanks guys, I was thinking about trailering the Hiller next year for frost instead of leaving it up there for a couple months. Could fly it, but thats also a pain because once we get to the field we have to find someone to give us a ride to the hotel... Or just go up on the roof of the hotel and paint a big circle with an H in the middle ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaqueroaero Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 We used to trailer a Huey around to do lift jobs. Cutting out the cost of the ferry flight to the job site made it a lot cheaper for the clients and it ended up growing the business because it was then way cheaper than hiring in a crane for the day. Like others have said though make sure you remove all the blocks/tie downs etc. It was also a custom built trailer as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam32 Posted December 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Okay guys, were getting closer to frost season and its looking like trailering will make the most sense for me. So any other tips, send them my way...! And we will be driving about 3hrs (one way) with it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulfman76 Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 Ok...I'm here... What kind of bird(s)? Some trailer just fine (i.e. Bell, MD, Enstrom). Some do not (Robbies). We trailered our enstroms anytime the venue was more than an hour away to save on that precious revenue time. Any time you're ferrying, you're loosing that hour of revenue and never get it back. There's trailer issues as well. For awhile we used a standard gooseneck flatbed. This has it's advantages as they are everywhere. Disadvantage is the overall height with the bird on it, landing on it (more than a few people has crashed here), and getting access to the blades because of the height. Manuevering ladders up on the deck trying to get the blades on and off, then getting them down was a chore and dangerous. Not much room for a ladder. We finally ordered a custom hydraulic tiltbed from H&H. This was perfect. Back up to the bird, tilt the bed, winch the bird on, strap it down and go. Taking the blades on and off was a cinch as it was on the ground. With a bell, all you have to do is use the blade supports that you can make or buy. I can go on and on... Let me know if you have any specific questions, and I'll try to answer them. john John, You say robbie's dont trailer well. What has your experience been to make you feel that way? What should someone look out for if they are trailering, specific to the robbie? Anything else you would like to add? I think trailering could be a big money saver...if it is done properly. Thanks Brent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 John, You say robbie's dont trailer well. What has your experience been to make you feel that way? What should someone look out for if they are trailering, specific to the robbie? Anything else you would like to add? I think trailering could be a big money saver...if it is done properly. Thanks Brent I think if you were to ask Robinson they would say....where does anything say that trailering is allowed? Remember also you have to support the main rotor so the blade cannot flap up or down. If you just tie down the blade, when you go over a bump, the blade can still come down and slap against the tail boom, especially on the B 47. Thats all I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOATFIXERGUY Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 When there was a time (2006) I was "considering" switching my fleet to R-44's, I called and talked directly to the main DOM at Robinson. Can't remember his name off the top of my head. He said that the Robinsons were not designed to be trailered. This was due to the loads placed on the entire rotor/transmission system. Having it bounce on a trailer would cause significant damage and void any warranty and highly NOT recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yzchopper Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 I've been told by many operators that if it is flyable then fly it. The helicopter was not built to tow around on a trailer, it is and was built to fly. The cost savings of trailering is not as good as you think when you figure in the time, labor, and cost for removal and assembly of blades and other items. Then the cost in the long run of replacement parts due to the road wear caused from trailering. Also the cost of flying (ferrying) to the job should always be figured into your operating costs. For jobs such as cherry drying or frost control you would figure in the ferry time into your standby time which is usually an upfront non-refundable deposit. I know of one operator that charges $15,000.00 a day and $5,000.00 an hour to fly with a 2 hour min, regardless if you only flew 10 minutes. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam32 Posted December 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 I know most ag guys around here trailer pretty much all the time. I know one guy that if the flight is over 30miles then he'll trailer. Three guys last year on frost trailered theirs every time, but with the blades on with no supports. They just tied them down, I didn't really pay attention to how they did it though since I didn't think I would need to know... Flying J in Texas makes trailers for Robbies, not sure if they talked to Robinson first or not though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphibpilot Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 I think if you were to ask Robinson they would say....where does anything say that trailering is allowed? From RHC Tech Support (customerservice@robinsonheli.com): "While trailering is not normally recommended, it is also not prohibited and it must be done correctly. Section 1.216, Trailering, in both the R22 & R44 Maintenance Manuals (MM), provides specific guidance. Rigid blade supports are available from RHC for both aircraft." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldy Posted December 12, 2009 Report Share Posted December 12, 2009 From RHC Tech Support (customerservice@robinsonheli.com): "While trailering is not normally recommended, it is also not prohibited and it must be done correctly. Section 1.216, Trailering, in both the R22 & R44 Maintenance Manuals (MM), provides specific guidance. Rigid blade supports are available from RHC for both aircraft." I'm surprised to see that in writing. A couple years ago I asked Pat at Robinson the same thing, and he said don't even think about it!! Goldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanic Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Yes, I have seen a 44 trailered in for some kind of spray contract. The 44 had a honda engine mounted on a the left skid and looked like a 25' or so spray boom. They supported the blades and trailered it. Ya, Flying J has been making the trailers for awhile I have been told. Flying J website, here is a short video of deer capture and they show a short clip of the R22 trailered up. Also check out their photo gallery. We have 3 hotels here in town that allow helis to land in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delorean Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 I saw an enclosed trailer for Robinsons once. It had THREE A-frames in it, so it could hold one R44 under the middle frame, OR two R22s under the forward & rear frames. They would uses a come-along to lift the the rotorhead slightly to take the weight off the transmission. Rails up and down the sides on of the trailer sides would hold "planks" above & below the main rotor blades and tailboom. Each plank had a molded section to engage the blade or boom after it was in place, then pull together. Under each A-frame there was a series of flush eyelets to anchor the frame via the hardpoint or skids. They had a remote winch to pull the helicopter into the trailer and a custom fold down (& out) door to allow for the low skid clearance. It was awesome......but I think they had about $60,000 invested in it. They would trailer helicopters to/from RHC to the east coast to save money on the flight time and expenses. It would take a lot of flight hours to do this, but who knows. This was 10 yrs ago--not sure where that trailer is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulfman76 Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 (edited) Here is a big trailer for an R-44 for sale on trade-a-plane. http://www.trade-a-plane.com/clsfdspecs/834554 Looks like a Showcopters trailer based on the print on the side. Robinson seems to be very liability conscious on many different levels, and for good reason. I think if they approved trailering they would open themselves up for all sorts of warranty/liability issues. Its easier and cheaper for them to say "not approved, but if you want to do it here is the proper way". BW EDIT Another one i found. I saw one more about a week ago in TX but cant remember where it was advertised. R22 HELICOPTER TRAILER X2 • $9,500 • FOR SALE • NEW with Blade Stands, Black paint, LED lighting, shock absorbers, rhino lined skid troughs • Contact Phil M. Johnston - EXOTIC GAME MANAGEMENT, Owner - located Mountain Home, TX USA • Telephone: 830-459-1542 . • Fax: 830-864-4778 • Posted December 6, 2009 • Show all Ads posted by this Advertiser • Recommend This Ad to a Friend • Email Advertiser • Save to Watchlist • Report This Ad Edited December 14, 2009 by wulfman76 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miloe Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 I know I'm going to get beat up for the first part of this but here goes anyway. Offer up the other seat on the to/from flight to someone trying to gain experience/time.I'm not saying stick it to some poor low timer for $300-$400 an hour to ride along, but work out something. Personally, if the logistics of it worked out, I'd be willing to trade off being real cheap/free ground crew for whatever was going on. Heck, I figure the best way to learn about different helicopter operations is to actually fly then, but that's not really feasable. Probably second best is to ground crew for them. Just random thoughts, maybe none of it is workable, maybe some of it. L8RGary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidlip Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Little late to this discussion but might be useful for somebody. I've got an R22 on a trailer we drag around behind the motorhome. Put about 50,000 miles on the rig and zero damage to the R22. I have clips to hold the skids in place and a tension strap on each side to suck the body down to the trailer so it is in tension. I have a tail boom support and blade supports to get the blades off the droop stops. The second R22 just went through 12 year overhaul and there were no signs of cracks or other damage. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_R22#/media/File:R22-Trailered.jpg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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