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Touring Motor Gliders Association (TMGA)

Enclosed Trailer for GROB 109B


xintersecty

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I am still in the hunt for a GROB 109B once I get my capitol freed up. I am having to support a septic tank replacement for my wife's house sell. Once the her house sells, she repaying her loan from me. 

So I have a fantasy in my head I want to check for practicality before any plane purchase. So I would appreciate practical feedback from other Grob 109B owners. 

These are the dimensions I found in the manual.

  Inches Feet Inches Meters
Length 319 26 7 8.1026
Wingspan 685 57 1 17.399
Height 71 5 11 1.8034

I can buy an enclosed trailer measuring 78 inches height 8.5 feet width 28 feet long for about 14K USD.

So practical considerations for using this trailer for transport and storage.  Finding affordable hanger space is very difficult where I live.  But getting a parking spot of the tarmac is more reasonable.  

I don't have any dimensions for the 109B for disassembled.  My plan is to build a one person assembly rig that will allow me to move the glider in/out of the trailer and put the wings on.

So if any owners have dimensions and advice for the glider I would appreciate it.  

Horizontal stab dimensions

     Width, length, and thickness

Rudder dimensions

     From ground to top of horizontal stab attached.

     From ground to top of rudder with horizontal stab removed.

Fuselage

    Landing gear width 

   Body width with wings removed

   Body width with wings attached but folded

   Overall length with wings attached folded  from nose to wingtip

   From ground to top of canopy.

 

That means for every flight, I will be assembling and disassembly the glider.  I have experience with a GROB 103 and that is seriously heavy airplane.  So how much will I start hating the assembly process?

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

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I own a 109a can't help much with the measurements. I did find this video that shows what can be done on a hard surface with hangar dollies. With regard to trailers nothing I found really appealed to me. Cobra has made purpose built custom trailers for the Pipistrel Taurus and at least for that one they seem to work really well, but it's still at least a 3 man job to put them together and take them apart for loading. 

None of the commercially built trailers really appealed to me so I am going to put one together with the features I want. I shop for surplus parts which saves about half the materials cost over what it would run walking in, whipping out the plastic and telling them what day I want it delivered. 

If all you want is storage a 40 ft conex would probably do for maybe 1/3 the cost of a trailer. 


 

 

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I gave up on commercial trailers. None of the enclosed ones have the features I want. The open ones leave my canopy unprotected. I don't really plan to use it for storage between seasons but it's at least an option. I'm shopping for the pieces parts to build my own. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Something more like what Cobra did for the Taurus 503 or Electro. Clam shell top. An axle and deck appropriate for 1600 pounds that's easily towed. 

The toy haulers look great but they're massive overkill. Cobra makes an awesome trailer but it's priced too high. 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Gene,  that's fantastic.  I love the grob logo on the side.  A couple of questions please:

a) How much spare room was left over for ground handling equipment? 

b) how is the horizontal stab stored?

c) Do you use the trailer for transportation  from place to place or do you use it as storage for between flights?

d) How much of a pain is it to remove, assemble, fly, and put back?

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