Moron Trailer Hitches

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life6 Comments

Um… I mean… More on trailer hitches.  Ahem.

So I’ve been studying these hitches more tonight and ran across this Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Hitch.

 

3220-aluminum-ultimate-5th-wheel-connection

The way it works is you connect the frame above to a gooseneck hitch in the bed of your truck and cinch it down.  You then connect an adapter assembly to your 5th wheel king pin.

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The adapter stays connected to the king pin.  To hitch the trailer you lower it down onto the ball at the top of the frame shown above.  The benefit of this hitch is that it doesn’t need to be lubricated, and is very easy to remove from the bed of the truck.  And because it only weighs 35 lbs, you don’t kill yourself taking it out.  And you have a clean truck bed when you’re not towing.

The downside is that since it is a ball adapter, many states require you to also use safety chains with the trailer.  Meh.  No big deal.  At any rate, I can still change my mind since I’m still dreaming.

Truck Research

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV LifeLeave a comment

Well, there isn’t a whole lot going on in the flying world or the RV world.  We’re really just kind of in a holding pattern, dreaming.  One thing I haven’t done a whole lot of is trying to find the beast of a truck that will pull our home on wheels.  Well, that’s not exactly true. I’ve done enough research to know I want a RAM 3500, dually, long bed, crew cab, tow prep, auto level, 4.10 rear axle ratio, AISIN transmission.  I know I want to buy it from Dennis Dhillon Dodge in Boise/Nampa ID.  I know I’ll have to special order it because almost no one carries the truck I’m looking for.  But other than that I haven’t looked into it too much. 🙂

I figure I need to get another year or two out of my van and I’ll trade it in and buy the truck at the same time. I also believe this truck will pull any Solitude we end up purchasing.  Right now we’re settled on the 369RL but who knows what Grand Design will come out with in a few years?  I’ve spec’ed out the truck here: Ram 3500 – Vehicle Summary

Along with the truck I’ll need a good 5th wheel hitch.  The B&W hitch has received very good reviews.  The only bad review I’ve heard is that the hitch is very heavy.

dodge-3600-oem-low-res-full

Yeah, looks pretty heavy!  But it fits into the Ram factory 5th wheel mounts with no problem.  Even though it’s a heavy hitch, I like the fact that it is easily removable (with help).  I have heard of people simply leaving it hitched up to their trailer, unlatching the bed mounts, and using the trailer’s leveling system to lift the hitch off the bed, and drive out from under it.  Then you can use the full bed of the truck.  When you’re done, drive back under the hitch, have the trailer lower back down, and re-latch the hitch to the truck.  I’m sure that’s easier said than done. 🙂

On the Road Internet

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life2 Comments

One of the many things I’ve been thinking about when considering RV’ing is Internet connectivity.  How do I ensure I stay connected?  I’ve researched solutions from several companies, and gotten some great ideas from Technomadia.com.  I think I’ve finally come up with a good workable solution that will have multiple sources of Internet that I can select to keep me connected.  Here’s basically what it looks like

RV Wireless (1)

 

The elitepack_shop_01-228x228WiFi Ranger Elite and WiFi Ranger Go2 are sold as a package from WiFi Ranger.  The Elite is a signal booster and antenna combo and the Go2 is a router that has multiple inputs and a small ethernet switch.  It can use the ethernet ports or USB as Internet gateways.  It then sets up an internal WiFi network that you connect to.  Internet can come from the RV Park via the Elite antenna or via a hotspot tether to the Go2 via USB.

 

 

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Since RV parks and campgrounds don’t always have the strongest cellular signals need some way to amplify those signals.  To bring in these weak signals for the Hotspot (or cell phones) I’m planning on also adding a signal booster like the one from WeBoost.  It will work with all North American cellular networks and will boost data and voice signals.  And will work with more than one phone at a time.  It comes with an external antenna that can be mounted on the RV or even your vehicle while you’re traveling.

So there you have it.  With multiple inputs and amplifiers this should pull in Internet where ever I happen to be.

Trailer Latch Repair

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered Paragliding, RepairLeave a comment

trailer

 

I bought a small, walk-on trailer from Tractor Supply Company to transport my PPG Trike without having to take it apart.    For the most part it’s been a pretty good little trailer, always following me where ever I go.  Just like a little puppy dog.  Anyway, yesterday as I was lowering the ramp to offload my trike, one of the latch pins just snapped in half!  It broke where a roll pin was inserted to retain the spring that retains the pin.

Well, that didn’t stop my from flying yesterday but I had to Gerry-rig the ramp to make sure it didn’t snap the other latch pin and fall on my trike or on the highway.  Today I made the repair.  I found out they call these cane bolts at the hardware store.  I found a long one that is used as a door latch.  I cut it to length and drilled a new hole for the roll pin.  After putting it all back together it looks like it came with the trailer!

For future reference, here is the part I used to make the repair…

IMG_20160318_161141485_HDR

Perfect Afternoon Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

Today after work I hightailed it out to New Jerusalem Airport.  I had been checking https://www.windyty.com/ all day long and the winds looked perfect; less than 5mph.  I trailered up my trike, packed up my airport in a box and headed out.  Being as it was such a perfect day I elected not to take any in-flight video or photos.  I just wanted to enjoy the moment.  And for one hour I enjoyed every moment, giving thanks to God for being able to enjoy the gift of aviation once again.  Back at the airport I practiced spot landings but the sun was down and it was soon time to kill the engine, roll to a stop, and then listen to the crinkling of the wing collapsing to the ground behind my trike.  Then there were only the red wing blackbirds chiding me for making so much noise for the past hour.  It was a good evening.

(Pardon the audio problems)

And by the way, it was a great landing.  Whenever your lines fall right back into the line guides, it was a good landing!

Cal-Expo RV and Boat Show

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV LifeLeave a comment

I spent Saturday morning at the Cal-Expo RV and Boat Show in Sacramento.    The boats were interesting but that’s not what I went there for.  I went to take a look at Grand Design RV’s newest model the 380GK.  It’s basically the 35′ foot version of it’s bigger brother the 384GK.  I really like the floor plan of the 384GK the best but at 40 feet long it seems a bit long for a trailer towing newbie like me.  The 380GK is 5 feet shorter but has same great kitchen layout as the 384GK.

floorplan

384gk

After looking at the model, however, I’ve decided that we’re going to stick with the 369RL. While we love the spaciousness of the 384GK and the basement storage is HUGE, the problem is the pantry space is limited and it’s load carrying capacity is less than the 369.  Though I like the 380GK, it just doesn’t have the interior storage that I think we’re going to need.  I think we’ll stick with the 369RL.

369rl

Tinkering on the Trike

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

Since I built two airplanes it’s kind of hard not to tinker on the Cruise Carbon Trike.  Ever since I had one pin fall out (on the ground) I’ve wanted to secure the pins holding the motor mount to the trike.  Because they are under shear compression I don’t think they’d fall out in flight but I don’t want to take that chance.  So I safety-wired all the pins in place.  The two front pins are covered in a previous blog posting.  The rear pin was a little more problematic to secure via safety wire.  If I attached the safety wire in the same way I did to the front two pins, the wire would rub on the fiberglass body of the trike.  To make sure the wire doesn’t scratch or otherwise damage the body I ran the wire through a plastic wire crimp butt connector and then put heat shrink tubing over that.  I plan to examine the fiber glass closely after the next flight to see if there is any rubbing that could damage the fiberglass.  If so I’m going to cut the safety wire off and try to find a new method to safety the pin in place.

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The other thing I’ve done is to add a small tachometer/hour meter to the trike.  It was a simple install that took me 15 minutes total and most of that was figuring out how I wanted to run the wire.  I fished the wire down through the engine’s clamshell and then secured it to the spark plug wire via nylon tie wraps.  I then wrapped the remainder of wire around the throttle cable and then used the supplied adhesive backing to attach it to the throttle.  I only have to turn my hand over and I can see my RPMs.  It will display highest RPM per flight and total hours.

I haven’t gotten to fly it since added the tach.  It will be interesting to see what RPMs I’m hitting.

Dreaming of Big Trucks

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV LifeLeave a comment

Saw a great article on the Roads Less Traveled blog about the new Ram 3500 truck they just bought.  THAT is almost exactly the truck I am looking for.  The article is here: http://roadslesstraveled.us/dodge-ram-3500-dually-truck-best-rv-fifth-wheel-trailer-towing/

Breezy Saturday Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

Well, I tried to get out to the airport before the breezes started up but I didn’t quite make it.  I took off and got up to about 100 feet off the ground before I felt the wind start getting shifty.  It didn’t feel like it was getting any better so I turned back to take a look at my wind sock and it was definitely standing up more than it was when I left the ground.  That was fast.  I circled around and landed.   Meh, it was a short flight but at least it was a flight.

After I got down I practiced kiting until the wind got too much for that.  At least for me.  I really need to practice that more.

Knot Flying Right

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered Paragliding2 Comments

Today I woke up early.  The promise of light winds and mild temperatures was just too much.  I loaded up my trike and wanted to get a quick flight in.  I also wanted to try out my new GoPro camera.  I got out to New Jerusalem and weather was perfect!  I unloaded my gear and set everything up.  I got my camera adjusted and got myself strapped in and took to the skies.  But… Something didn’t feel right.  There was no wind but the wing kept pulling to one side.  I steered the trike in that direction and the wing came up overhead just like normal so I went full throttle.  As soon as the trike left the ground it didn’t feel right.  It pulled to the right and set right back down.  I pulled on the brakes a little more and got airborne but then the turn to the right got even more pronounced and the climb rate was too steep and too slow.  I decided to set it down fast before something really bad happened and well… here is the video.

After a sock-soaking walk through the dew covered weeds three times… once to walk my wing out and a trip back to walk my trike back out… I spread the wing out on the ground to sort out the problem.  As I was coming in to land I looked up at the wing and noticed that back side of the wing on the right side looked like it was bunched up a little.  Something I couldn’t see on the ground or when I kited the wing.

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I laid out all the lines and followed them back to the wing and then I saw it.  Two of the adjacent brake lines had tangled and formed a well-disguised slip not that was holding tension on the inboard right brake lines.  I untied the knot and freed up the lines.  Sadly I was out of time and was soaking wet anyway so was not able to test fly the wing to verify I got all the kinks worked out.  That will have to wait a couple of days.