New Aircraft Dolly

Hey All,

It has been finished for over a month, and I have been using it very successfully since. Take a look at the photos... it looks fantastic.

Here is what I did, and how I came up with this design concept:

I needed a way to move my plane in and out of my hanger by my self. Simple, you say. No, not exactly... lifting the tail boom all the time, and maneuvering the plane around was very rough on my back, and at my age... unsafe.  So... I started looking at standard trailer dollies on Amazon as possibilities.  There were many types.... and much cheaper than a standard aircraft dolly from Spruce Specialties. I decided on the more expensive 3-wheel dolly. It promised more stability, standing on it's own, attached to the plane.  It obviously came with a trailer ball attached to the extension.  I thought about it, tried to make it work (in theory)... no go. That's when I knew I had to design in CAD an adaptive system to the dolly to make it work for towing a plane.  I spent weeks, and weeks redrawing a concept that would be safe for me, and do the job it was meant to do.  I printed drawings of my designs, and asked a local fabrication shop if they would they would be interested in making my new adaptations to the trailer dolly for me.  They readily agreed, and took it as a challenge.  They even came up with a few minor changes to help the over all design.  After all the raw materials were cut, and welded in place, meeting with me for final approval... they gave it back to me... ready to use. Painted and everything.

Wow, it works beautifully, and is very safe for one person to use.  I needed an extra 5 or so pounds in the aft section for weight and balance issues... so I had them make the mounting collar, that stays mounted on the plane out of steel, instead of aluminum. I also had them add a kick-stand to keep the dolly from tipping forward when left unattended by me, and someone in the shop accidentally bumped the handle upwards, causing the handle to slam up into the elevator.  They came up with a cheap solution.  A height adjustable bicycle kick stand. Marvelous.  They welded on a tab to the dolly for mounting the kick stand... works like a charm!

If anyone wants one made for their pusher type plane... let me know.  I'm sure we can work out something reasonable for a cost (no profit for me).

More Later,

John