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jato View Drop Down
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    Posted: 19 Jan 2021 at 12:19pm
Originally posted by offgrid


I did a little informal survey a couple years ago and found that there have been several reported rpod sway events right around or just below the traditional 10% minimum tongue weight limitation. Since then I keep my tongue weight at 11% or higher. You are right to be concerned about water tank weight, in the case of my 179 moving a fresh tank full of water (outbound) to a gray tankful (inbound) changes the tongue weight by 3%, so depending on your tow vehicle’s max tongue weight spec it can be challenging to keep everything “in the envelope”, especially if you boon dock and lug water around.


We found that out when we picked up our 177 in March 2011 we were in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, had to be a good 8" + snow on US-2 In the UP of Michigan.  The TV was an '08 Explorer and the 4 hour trip was fortunately 'uneventful.'  A couple months later with a full FW tank (located behind the axle) we found that once we hit 35-40 mph we nearly lost control as the sway was scary bad.  At that point he headed home (10 miles away) a did our first mod - added a $50 Curt anti-sway bar, added a second 12v group size 24 deep cycle battery, and a second 20# propane cylinder on the a-frame)  Took care of that problem and still using it 10 years and 36,000+ miles later with no incidents.
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Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2021 at 9:52pm
W&B calculation indicates tat the tongue weight is too close to the 10% limit if FW tank has 250# on on onboard. Culprit seems to be the heavy memory foam mattress.   Thanks for the alert!
First recreational vehicle, just trying to learn the 'ropes'!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jan 2021 at 9:57pm
Never get complacent, listen to the Loadmaster!
First recreational vehicle, just trying to learn the 'ropes'!
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2021 at 8:01am
+1.

As jato suggests, you can also consider adding an extra battery and or propane tank on the tongue, especially if you plan on boondocking. Might be a better solution than giving up the nice comfy mattress.

You also have to take care not to overload the lightly designed rpod frame and axle. Rpods are not exactly designed to FAA normal category standards (+3.8g -1.5 g with a 50% safety factor). They are more like +2g -0g with no safety factor. It’s kinda difficult to get a trailer to experience negative g’s so that’s no problem, but the +2g’s is really marginal, there have been multiple failed axle incidents and one or two frame failures. Lots of posts here on those topics you can search for.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2021 at 8:16am
Originally posted by GlueGuy


My Long-EZ would fall on its butt if you put the nose wheel down with no one sitting in it. A pilot needed to be > 110 lbs in order to stay inside the envelope.
The most extreme case of w&b I'd ever seen was a cowboy flyer I met in Northway Alaska. He was flying an all-black Cessna 210. He'd flown into Northway with all the seats (except the pilot seat) removed and three 55 gallon barrels strapped in the back. He was picking up diesel fuel for his dude ranch somewhere south of Northway. His explanation to me was that he filled the barrels until the nose wheel started to lift off the ground. He'd throw something into the one remaining seat to bring it down. As far as he was concerned, it would be "in balance" when he got in to fly. 


Yeah i’ve heard that about EZ’s. And unlike a conventional aircraft falling on its butt is a static prop strike not just a scratch on the rear tiedown hook.

Note to self: decline any offers to fly with cowboys in black Cessna 210’s. The black paint job would raise my eyebrows anyway. Not a great color choice to paint a civilian aircraft for legal usage IMHO.
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2021 at 12:51pm
Originally posted by offgrid

Originally posted by GlueGuy


My Long-EZ would fall on its butt if you put the nose wheel down with no one sitting in it. A pilot needed to be > 110 lbs in order to stay inside the envelope.
The most extreme case of w&b I'd ever seen was a cowboy flyer I met in Northway Alaska. He was flying an all-black Cessna 210. He'd flown into Northway with all the seats (except the pilot seat) removed and three 55 gallon barrels strapped in the back. He was picking up diesel fuel for his dude ranch somewhere south of Northway. His explanation to me was that he filled the barrels until the nose wheel started to lift off the ground. He'd throw something into the one remaining seat to bring it down. As far as he was concerned, it would be "in balance" when he got in to fly. 


Yeah i’ve heard that about EZ’s. And unlike a conventional aircraft falling on its butt is a static prop strike not just a scratch on the rear tiedown hook.

Note to self: decline any offers to fly with cowboys in black Cessna 210’s. The black paint job would raise my eyebrows anyway. Not a great color choice to paint a civilian aircraft for legal usage IMHO. 

He was a character. Wore a black cowboy hat, black jeans, and black T-shirt with an inverted "crown cut" on the sleeves.

In his defense, the 210 was flat black.

bp
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