So there we were Les & I, the proud new owners of G-CEDI.The next problem was where to hanger it. Hanger space at Deanland is rarer then hen’s teeth or rocking horse poo combined so we knew that was pretty much out of the question. We didn’t want to leave it outside all year round even with a good set of covers on.
So we needed a truck body or a trailer but unfortunately we had managed to choose a plane that even with the wings folded and everything stored was too big to fit into any standard sized unit especially a trailer. So the search was on for a non standard truck body that was big enough to take DI but could still be made to look like a trailer. E-bay, auto trader, Gumtree, we tried them all and bid on a few as well.
Les came up trumps after a couple of missed offers when we eventually managed to win an auction on eBay. OK so along with a lovely Skyranger Microlight we now owned a very large (27ft x 8ft x 8ft) blue truck body. OK problem number two. The truck body was in Essex and we needed it in Deanland. Now you wouldn’t have thought that it would be that difficult to get a big box from Essex to East Sussex, wrong. After much haggling and persuading and drawing up of plans and promises of assistance I found a company willing and most importantly able to transport something this big on something that would be able to get down the lanes to our airfield.
OK the big day arrived and the weather was great. We were told that we wouldn’t be required at the Essex end so we waited back in Sussex hoping that the driver was able to find the pick up site OK and that it fitted on his truck OK. We had hoped that it would be with us by 1200 but in the end it was gone 1400 by the time it arrived at the entrance to the airfield. I was rather shocked by the size of the truck that delivered our container but very impressed with the skill of the driver being able to manoeuvre it through the gates and into the airfield without removing too much of the overhead foliage. The next challenge was to drop our container in between two existing units preferably without causing too much damage!
Well it took at least another hour to get it on the ground but in the end we managed it. For now it was balanced on bricks, breeze blocks and blocks of wood but at least it was down.
Bearing in mind that the container had cost us £300 quid and more again to get it transported this was the first time we had seen it so it was a great relief to find that it matched all the descriptions and pictures we had been sent.Of course this wasn’t the end of things as the trailer now had to be made fit for receiving our aircraft.
Alterations and amendments required included:
Construction of a lower tail gate
Fitment of a tow bar
Fitment of a set of axels and wheels
Cutting out a section of the front supports to fit side tunnels to allow the passing of the rear tail-plane and elevators
Fitting of a side door
Painting of the floor
Construction of a work bench and cupboards
By late September all the above work and much more was complete and G-CEDI was ready to be put away for the winter….yippee.
Fitment of a tow bar
Fitment of a set of axels and wheels
Cutting out a section of the front supports to fit side tunnels to allow the passing of the rear tail-plane and elevators
Fitting of a side door
Painting of the floor
Construction of a work bench and cupboards
By late September all the above work and much more was complete and G-CEDI was ready to be put away for the winter….yippee.
