I've got a few minutes, so I'll post more details on the big move to the airport yesterday.
First thing Saturday morning I went into the garage and duct taped some thick towels over the canopy to protect it from any errant stones that might be thrown up by oncoming traffic. Then I moved the fuselage outside. It took a fair bit of back and forth manoeuvring, as the fuselage was in the garage at quite an angle, and I couldn't simply roll it straight out as it would have hit the side of the house. But I eventually managed to work the fuselage out of the garage and parked it, waiting for the trailer to arrive.
I borrowed two very nice ramps that had been made by local RV-8 builders Mark Richardson and John Perrin. The first plan was to roll the fuselage up on the trailer, determine exactly how far aft the tail wheel support would have to go, then crawl under the fuselage to drill holes for the tail support and bolt it in place. But, that didn't work as my short drill bit was too short, and the long drill bit was too long to allow the drill to fit beneath the fuselage.
All I managed to do when I crawled under the fuselage to try to drill the holes was to snag my back on the transponder antenna and bend it. When I tried to straighten it, I broke it. Grrr. Fortunately it was only a $20 antenna from Aircraft Spruce. I was surprised at how fragile that antenna was. I'll order two, so I have a spare. And I won't put the new one in place until late in the final assembly.
We rolled the fuselage back onto the driveway and drilled and attached the tail wheel support. It was held on with six bolts that went through the floor and a longitudinal member that supported the floor.
We bolted 4x4s in front and behind the main wheels to act as chocks.
The tail wheel rod was secured with two nylon cargo straps.
The main gear was secured with nylon cargo straps going fore and aft. We made sure to not forget to bring the ramps along.
The intrepid RV-8 moving crew: Jim MacLachlan, John Wiseman, myself and Jim Manton.
On the way to the airport.
About 2 seconds after we disappeared from sight, Terry had her car in the garage. She waited a long, long time for that.
