Long EZ N28EZ...At the Airport

NOTE: These frames can be adjusted to suit your screen and taste by dragging on the borders between them.

After all these years of construction in the house and garage, the Long EZ has finally found a home of it's own in a real hangar!

On October 20^th, 2003, I packed it up on the trailer I built for it, and moved it down to a T-hangar at the Ontario County Airport in Canandaigua New York (D38).

I rented a 15 foot truck with a hitch and a lift gate. This back view at the house shows the yellow lights I mounted at the outboard edges of the spar, which exceed the 8 foot width allowed for normal trailers. Note that the fuselage is sitting normally on the trailer. No tilting or crabbing to try to get the spars inside the 8 feet.

Before moving it, I checked with the local Sheriff's department. A deputy stopped over and had a look at what I was going to do. He said that I would have no problem with either the Sheriff or the State Police, while trailing it down to Canandaigua, a distance of about 30 miles by the back route I was taking,

This is a little clearer shot of the plane on the trailer, this time with the lights off, and the back door of the truck open. The lift gate on the truck was definitely the way to go...much easier than the ramp would have been when getting the crane and the engine on it's mount, into the back of the truck.

Since I had the room in the truck, I decided to move the wings inside it, instead of on the carriers I had built for them on the trailer, under the fuselage. I hung the wings from the side slats on the truck, using nylon straps, and resting the wings against foam pads from old mattresses and chair cushions I had picked up along the road on trash pickup day! I have towels draped over the winglet on the wing that is on the right side of the truck.

I was really surprised at the amount of items that I had collected over the last 20 years that were related to the plane. As you can see, the truck was full, with benches, desks, books, tools, hot boxes, etc. And the room I have in my house and garage now is unbelievable!

The garage after the plane has left.

I have a storm drain at the end of my driveway that would cause the trailer to drag as i left the drive, so I exited across my lawn at an angle to allow the trailer to enter the street one wheel at a time and not bottom. It worked, and I had no problems all the way to Canandaigua. But, I have to admit, I didn't go over 40 mph all the way!

Here's my hanger!

I am in the center of the last of 3 T-hangars at the airport. This view is looking back past all three toward the main hangar at the far end, where the terminal, and the main maintenance facility is. It also houses the base and maintenance shops of the local bus service.

It's a long walk to the bathrooms from my hangar! <G> . The rocks on the left border a parking area that can be reached from a side road instead of going in through the electric gate at the terminal. It's more convenient for me to use this side road, and saves me about a mile in driving around when coming from home in Henrietta.

It rained most of the morning until I got the truck, but then it held off until everything was safely inside the hangar.

Stop back...I'll be adding some more pictures of the inside after I get it all organized.

Comments are welcome, please contact me at: Ageless Wings, Harley Dixon