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With several helicopter types, it is recommended that there be some sort of flexible tail boom support, limiting the amount of movement and pressure on the tail boom, during trailering. Does anyone do this with their Brantly? I may end up trailering to Homer's this year instead of flying the trip and would like to know what others are doing, if anything.

I have been told by the factory and Kevin Hynes to NOT support the tail boom when trailering. I have seen the trailer the Brantly factory uses, and they do not support the tail boom.

Another very important consideration in trailering is how you secure the Brantly to the trailer. It is not enough to just anchor the skids. Because of the oleo strut configuration, there will be too much vertical movement of the fuselage if you just anchor the skids. I run straps through the cockpit and anchor them to the floor of the trailer. This keeps the helicopter from moving vertically. I also anchor the skids so that it does not move horizontally on the trailer. I put some cardboard between the inboard blades and the droop stops, and use a bunge cord from the outer part of the inboard blade to the fuselage to keep the blades from moving vertically. The rotor brake should of course be on. I also make sure that the tail rotor blades are parallel to the tail pylon and place foam rubber between the upper blade and the tail and secure this by wrapping with small bunge cords.

Steve

When & where is Homer Bell's this year? I'd like to meet you guys and check out all the Brantlys. I'll probably bring my RV (I just bought a 29' travel trailer).

Homer's is July 15-18, 2004. Saturday is always the busiest day, but Friday has a lot of activity as well. By noon or so Sunday a lot of people are leaving.

It's located on Homer's farm near Cincinnati, OH. Here's a map.


I'm hoping to arrive sometime on Thursday and leave Sunday. Hopefully there will be more than just 2 Brantly's this year, even though there were at least 8 Brantly owners that I met there last year.

If anyone else will be flying in, I can provide the GPS coordinates that get you pretty close.