So the trailer's purpose in life was primarily to house the airplane on our journey eastward, but it would also be filled to the brim with as much other stuff as we could cram in - including our hot tub! Now that the trailer was ready, time to start packing and clearing out all that junk accumulated in the hangar, and time to dismantle the airplane so that it would FIT into the trailer!
Bill did all the prep work, unscrewing the parts and pieces, and some parts he could completely remove by himself. But others, like the wings, were really 3 or 4 person jobs! Fortunately, our good friends came to the rescue again!!!
NOT FLIGHT READY!!!! I would hope this would be obvious to even the most casual observer, non-pilot, terra firma type...!!! : )
Poor little Zenith! How funny it looks all naked like that! But kinda cute in a way.
Oh sheesh, look at all this we have to deal with! OK, in full disclosure, there is possibly a TINY bit in this photo that is not ours but our hangarmate's. But 99.995% of it...is ours... And it will all need to go in boxes or be stowed one way or another in the trailer or moving truck... Ugh...!!!
Getting the airplane happily nested in the trailer was not so straightforward or easy either! First, one wing goes in - but that requires that proper supports and stabilizing structures are in the correct places on the wall! Then, the fuselage (main body) goes in - but only so that Bill determine where to place the anchoring devices for it - then it needs to come back out so he can get the other wing in!
Made me nervous seeing all these body parts all over the floor!! Our little plane was in such good condition, with a lovely paint job, and it looked so vulnerable there on the ground level!
OK, wings are in. And some boxes and stuff. There's an order to this. Bill is mostly excellent at thinking through these logistics, so I just served as grunt and gofer!
Bill and Karl in compromising positions...!!! I still can't believe how Bill has managed to do so much heavy duty physical work, has survived all the contortions required in packing and loading (as in the above photo!!), etc. Pretty astonishing for a guy who's going to turn 80 in March and who had super major back surgery two years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our little truck groans its way home from the airport. For short distances (one mile, in this instance), it can handle the every-heavier trailer. But for the long haul and maximum load, we'll need the pulling power of the RV!
And since we're talking airplanes and airports, I wanted to include one more look at our beloved Ramona airport. Here is it's night look (the tallest peak, in the center, is Mt. Woodson, and was one of my favorite local hiking haunts. A really neat couple (both pilots, plus Jaye manages the FBO, and Donnie has retired from an aviation-centered life to an aviation-centered life, incl. building his own gorgeous airplane - see below) gave us a great send-off with a hangar dinner!
Here's to good folks/friendly pilots and the flying life! Whether in SoCal or EasTex!
Donnie's stunningly beautiful RV-10
One last look from the airport, during daylight.
And a look at Hayes - and at the almost fully loaded trailer! See the hot tub? And beyond all the boxes and crap? There's an airplane in there somewhere!!
And what's this photo of? Am I showing off my new shoes?! No, I'm showing off the dastardly dangerous gap between the trailer ramp and the trailer floor. It was through this gap that my leg went, all the way to the ground, when I was carrying a box and couldn't see the floor and forgot about the gap... Some pretty good bruising, but I was SOOOOO lucky I didn't break my leg!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes!!!
This was such a tiny pile of crap, but one of innumerable piles of crap, that we managed to create all over San Diego County!!!!!!!!!!!! After all we had already dealt with, this one tiny pile really got to me. I just felt that I couldn't handle ONE MORE pile of crap!!!!!!!!! Hah! I know - get over it!!!!!! TONS more crap to deal with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And finally...here's the look we were going for...!!
Empty!!!!! Now, we just have to rinse and repeat - do all this for the yurt (which we are selling) and our shed at our house, where all our furniture and other stuff has been stored for the past seven years...
Empty!!!!! Now, we just have to rinse and repeat - do all this for the yurt (which we are selling) and our shed at our house, where all our furniture and other stuff has been stored for the past seven years...
Clean as a whistle! :)
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