Well, I sure ain't no carpenter, but...

Thanks Fred!

Yep, this sucker is plenty heavy, so lots of opportunity for a guy to discover he's actually built himself a dead-fall. The Breezy Hill versions are bigger across to accommodate the big dogs some of them fly. Mine is a bit taller so that it can double as a work table with my shrimpy little planes.

Got plans for a some shelving underneath the table for a fieldbox/starter/stuff.

Great concept! I may have a fairly easy solution for making removable posts..

I would source a 8 foot length of 1" EMT steel conduit (cheap$ and strong) and cut it in half to use as your posts. Cut the wood-ones off flush with the table.. and bore a pair of 1" diameter holes "just-inside" of the cut-offs, using a common 1" paddle-drill bit. Run the conduit-posts down-through the table so that they bottom-out on the existing lower wood-braces. This should provide a post-height of close to 3 feet.

Cushion the conduit using the foam "swimming-pool noodles" (also cheap$) which will slip-on snugly.

The only other thing I would add is a provision to hold down the tail when throttling-up.. especially with a high-wing airplane. Maybe install some randomly-placed hooks to the rear frame-support to accept a bungee-cord.

roddie wrote:Great concept! I may have a fairly easy solution for making removable posts..

I would source a 8 foot length of 1" EMT steel conduit (cheap$ and strong) and cut it in half to use as your posts. Cut the wood-ones off flush with the table.. and bore a pair of 1" diameter holes "just-inside" of the cut-offs, using a common 1" paddle-drill bit. Run the conduit-posts down-through the table so that they bottom-out on the existing lower wood-braces. This should provide a post-height of close to 3 feet.

Cushion the conduit using the foam "swimming-pool noodles" (also cheap$) which will slip-on snugly.

The only other thing I would add is a provision to hold down the tail when throttling-up.. especially with a high-wing airplane. Maybe install some randomly-placed hooks to the rear frame-support to accept a bungee-cord.

Thanks Roddie!

Sounds like it worth a try! The guys at Breezy Hill were saying that the needed chocks or a parking brake on their stands to keep Ronnie from 'taxiing' them when he stats his big planes!

We did not have storage for the stands so they only have temp wheels to get them to permanent (sort of) parking near flight line

You do need to address wood rot in the three leg bottoms even with green/treated direct contact boards. I slathered on Asphalt type roofing sealer on the bottom 6 inches...seems to also keep the ants away

EMT probably a bit fiddly for Kim as he nail the uprights right where the hole would be drilled...but that is easy to work around using the "U" cleats made for the EMT and some bottom stop so they can still drop in

Yea.. the whole apparatus looks REALLY HEAVY with all that timber; including the one at your club-field.. and the ones that Phred mentions having built for his flying-club. I realize that these are primarily meant to be semi-permanent structures to be kept out in the elements.. and some will need to support 1/4-scale and larger models. Still.. they look WAY over-built to me. EMT conduit could be used to build the entire frame.. using a "hickey" (bender) and exterior-grade 3/4" plywood for the table/base. You could probably reduce the overall weight by at least 75# and anchor the rear-section of the structure with a ground-stake and cable. The "wheels" suggest portability... so why not design one that doesn't "break your back" to move around?

Maybe I'm over-thinking this... ... I guess it depends on several factors. Safety always being #1... #2 "purpose"; will it be used as a "pit-station" with attributes for complete flight-support.. IE; compartments/shelves underneath to hold "all" of your support-gear? How "heavily-built" does it need to be? The O/L length need not be excessive. A sliding rear-extension could support the lightweight tail of a larger model. One person should be able to easily lift it "unloaded".. IMO.. and the O/A size should permit transporting via the avg. size SUV to another location if needed.

Oh they're definitely overbuilt!  But, as simple-minded as it seems, I had a set of plans for this one, http://www.meroke.com/sbbuildinginstructions.htm, and REALLY like the ones at Breezy Hill...AND...finally got to haul some 8' lumber in my HHR (one of the reasons for buying it 6 years ago)!

The whole deal sprung up yesterday when I was trying to test-run the cranky O.S. .61FX on Big Red.  This usually involves dragging stuff out in the yard, and I decided that I wanted something to be there waiting for me rather than pieced together.  I got ticked off, and next thing I knew, I was sliding the magic plastic at the counter of the lumber yard.

The bench's migrations will be limited to trips between the front yard and back yard (though it will fit in my cargo trailer), so I'm hoping the el-cheapo wheels will last a while.

If that's the basic movement around the yard Kim I strongly suggest a nice removable castering wheel for the aft leg

As you probably know over yard like terraine the bigger the tire the better.....grin

The 11 built on my property had to be transported 65 miles to the RC field and then 230 feet from parking to the flight line

IN my case I just built one* three point dolly--- as was normal for those long forgotten guys...no one showed up to help (as I knew would happen)

*But stupid cheap me used 4" wheels... 6"~8" would have been so much more gooder

Looks great, Kim!  That's much more ambitious than I am.  Those big wheels should be very good for moving it around.


A minor suggestion, if I may.  I always look at things and wonder what stupid thing I would do.  That one 2x6(?) that goes the length of the table and the tailwheel sits on.  If I was working around the table, I just know that klutzy me would bang into one of the wings and cause the plane to yaw, and the tailweel would fall off the side and damage the plane.  A couple of small siderails would prevent that from happening, if you were of a mind to "Batjac-proof" it.

The Kibitzer Mark

Oh yeah, the plans call for them and I'd made up a couple this morning...just got frisky witht the camera after too much coffee!  They're in place now.

Actually, the wing posts may get removed as I like strapping things down, and I'm sure I'd eventually tangle with them!

Mark thanks so much! I knew I was forgetting an important detail hint for Kim... In our case a guy did not clutz bang his model off the tail end ----a gust of wind did.... I added 1" firing strips on each side about a foot long

I also so noticed some of the guys would put their field box on the forward "wings" and some engines generated enough vibration that the field box would vibrate and fall off... I had a roll of black stair tread self stick anti slip stuff and that worked

Wish I had a photo cuz Kim mentioned paint.

He knows the scheme from working flight lines...

One of our younger members did go out to the field and paint one of the new stands....Yellow and black caution stripes with the point in the front of the stand,,,,, Legs and under structure a good looking Red----looked really cool.
He used outdoor enamel and from what I saw held up well

Havin' a hard time keepin' up with you guy's ......haven't even got my "Stooge" built and now we're off building Plane Platforms!!   They all look good, but I think i'd add a little Lifting surfaces with control surfaces to make moving it around easier.....yeah, my first attempt at using "Paint" to.  make it look like Kims Snow Bird..or Pete&Paul:  

fredvon4 wrote:

I also so noticed some of the guys would put their field box on the forward "wings" and some engines generated enough vibration that the field box would vibrate and fall off... I had a roll of black stair tread self stick anti slip stuff and that worked

Wish I had a photo cuz Kim mentioned paint.

He knows the scheme from working flight lines...

One of our younger members did go out to the field and paint one of the new stands....Yellow and black caution stripes with the point in the front of the stand,,,,, Legs and under structure a good looking Red----looked really cool.
He used outdoor enamel and from what I saw held up well

Yeah, I'm not too crazy about the 'wings' as fieldbox-holders...mine are probably gonna get drilled and slotted for screw drivers and pliers and such, with some appropriately beefed shelving to hold the field box under the right side of the table.

Marleysky wrote:Havin' a hard time keepin' up with you guy's ......haven't even got my "Stooge" built and now we're off building Plane Platforms!!   They all look good, but I think i'd add a little Lifting surfaces with control surfaces to make moving it around easier.....yeah, my first attempt at using "Paint" to.  make it look like Kims Snow Bird..or Pete&Paul:  

Cool! Looks like Big Red's 'Mother Ship' !!!!

Think I'm gonna name this thing, "The Beast". It's been subject to various additions and amputations over the past few weeks, but is finally getting close to being useful.

I added a 'balcony' for my current flight box, to let me keep my fuel and gear in easy reach, and bought some assorted hooks and 'I' bolts to corral whatever ends up parked on it. For my purposes, the wing stops were nothing but in my way, so they got the circular saw treatment. Got some conduit to replace them if I decide I need them at some point.

I'm looking forward to using it for engine test/running as much as starting planes, as I can roll the thing around and aim the exhaust any where I need to get away from it.

And yes...I did a 'tip test' to see if it might want to fall on me. It's plenty stable, though I may move that right wheel to the outside of it's board to get the balanced moved a bit more.

The Show Goes On...

I highly recommend you do not fill all the cracks, sand and sand some more...silkspan n dope, sand some more, shoot primer coat, dry/wet sand, fix dings n depressions, respray, more sanding then color coat, fix drips and blems, reshoot, then mix up the 2 part clear and wait for a good day to shoot. Followed by 150 hours of polishing out the clear

Roger That! This dog is ready for the Show !!!

Well thats looks beautiful to me and sure got a i'm useful award stamped on it >> (most people that build model airplanes aren't carpenders ) LOL The Beast it is ! Poly spar that baby

First you must spill at least a quart of old fuel and lite it off...pretty blue flames... as it chars some, hit it with a dry chem extinguisher

This christening had been repeated several times at my old RC club

Something about a charred, oil stained, dry chem crusty stand that gives it personal character