Packing for the journey

It's my first experience traveling with a glider on a plane, and I wanted to be as meticulous as I could about packing it up. I stocked up on packing supplies, and got to work last evening.

Got the manual out, and prepared an area in the basement.

Put the glider downstairs, and recruited some help.

Just after I pulled the outboard leading edges, Scott Gravelle called me and we compared notes. He mentioned the importance of protecting the ends of the inboard leading edges, so I ran out to Home Depot and got some 2" PVC end caps. I also made notes with marker on the leading edges to help with re-assembly.

Now it was time to pad up all the rough internal parts. Sprogs, crossbar / leading edge junction, apex, downtubes, crossbar sled, etc.

I'd called a couple of furniture supply houses about foam, but they were too far away and the foam was too expensive. I settled for Wal-Mart $5 camping pads. They're made from 1/2 inch (open cell I think) foam. I wrapped the less critical parts with thin packing foam.

The height of the mess.

Once everything was padded, I laid the sail out and prepared to fold it.

After folding.

Once the glider was folded up, it was time to add all the extra pieces: Battens, outboard leading edges, basetube, extra downtubes and tip wands.

After all the pieces were added, it was time to shrink wrap as tightly as possible.

After shrink wrapping, I encased the glider with the 1/2 inch foam with extra padding at each end. I started weighing the package to make sure I wasn't going to exceed the 100lb. limit. After one layer of foam, everything got shrink wrapped once again.

I was able to put a second layer of foam on 2/3 of the glider and still get the bag closed. One end was bulkier, and the zipper wouldn't quite close. If I place the outboard leading edges elsewhere in the glider next time around, I think I could get two layers of foam around the glider and still get it in the bag. Live and learn.

My scale says the package weighs in at 97lbs. and it's just shy of 14'. The length concerns me a bit, but I had to pad the ends properly. The package is tight and I think could survive a fall from a few feet.

Just before 4am, I went upstairs and crawled into bed.

Supplies:
Rolls of duct tape: 2
Camping pads: 9
Packing foam: 10ft.
Shrink wrap: a lot
Cost of supplies: $80