New guy here...


I am looking at getting a 182E and it sure sounds like I need to stash some stuff in the back of the plane to help with the CG.

The plane I am looking at has extended baggage.

If I am putting 50lbs back there - how do you secure it? I don't want it moving around.

I was thinking. maybe I should bolt a couple ammo boxes back there. Put whatever in there.

Comments, ideas, pics.

D.

Some aircraft do benefit from some weight in the aft location, especially if you fly solo a lot. Just putting ballast or something permanent is problematic when you actually need to carry stuff for necessity. I tend to throw a bunch of stuff into an older backpack and strap it down in the back. Stuff like survival gear, a canteen or two, some tools and tie down ropes and stakes. Stuff like that quickly adds up to 25+ lbs. 25 lbs in the aft extended baggage really moves the CG aft. Normally there are a couple of small rings in the corners of the baggage area. However, they tend to have a hole that is not truly useful to put straps or hooks through. To that end I usually put a stainless D ring with a pin that unscrews, like the ones for anchor chains on boats. Then you can run ratchet straps to them and secure you goods in the aft baggage. If you want to spend some money, there are several outfits that make a diminutive net to fit your baggage area.

ddivinia wrote:I was thinking. maybe I should bolt a couple ammo boxes back there. Put whatever in there.

I wouldn't do that! For one thing it's probably a illegal modification of the extended baggage floor. For another it might weaken the floor, which generally isn't all that strong to begin with. And lastly, there's going to be times when you don't want those cans back there.

Most people just use a tupperware tub or a duffle bag and put a cargo net somewhere between the baggage area and the cockpit. Water makes good ballast...you can poor it out if you don't want the weight, and it can come in rather handy if you get stuck somewhere. Most people are carrying around a ridiculous amount of "just in case" gear that's of marginal value in comparison to water, a bit of food, and a sleeping bag.

For the extended baggage, I just sewed up a webbing cover with tangs that screw into the four 10-32 rear bulkhead mounts for the original rear plastic bulkhead you'll never use again. I use knurled finger screws for the bolts. It takes about a half hour to shop on amazon for the tangs (with strap loops to adjust the webbing, ones that are rated for at least 150# each), and webbing rated for some large number like 500#, and another hour to sew it up on an industrial machine. You can also just get a speedy stitcher and just put several stitches in the middle of the webbing crosses instead of the seat belt grade stitching from a machine. These threaded points are pretty beefy in my E model. I also added four 1/4-20 bolts with fender washers for pullout resistance and locknuts for the floor, but I've never used them.

For hauling around stuff to help on landing, the aircraft cover, plugs, drivers, wrenches, spare screws, small ratchet set, qts of oil, rags, tie downs, small sleeping bag, first aid, and food/water, etc, it takes up about 1/3 of the extended baggage area at the rear. This is enough to make a difference during the landing when solo, especially with the trim set nose down a ways. When I'm actually camping somewhere I need to worry about the nose gear, usually the most of it fits back there to get up to the 50# limit, and the rest of the stuff add up to make it handle more normally. But when light, I use quite a bit of nose down trim, and roll it the rest of the way down rolling out to help with the weeds.

I also add the small bumper on the front strut to keeps things from settling down too far into the grass where needed.

On my 170B, I installed a Selkirk extended baggage compartment. I then rigged the original aft baggage bulkhead to attach more securely than original. This bulkhead thus became the "net" to prevent stuff back there from coming forward.

So, I kept sleeping bags, a survival bag, small tool kit and miscellaneous "stuff" back there.

An added benefit was that I also could leave stuff back there I'd rather not be sitting out in plain view through a window. So, iPad went back there when parked, etc.

A side benefit was that keeping all that stuff back there hidden made the interior of the airplane look nice and tidy.

MTV

Mountain Wave Cargo Nets in my airplane, all three, ext baggage, main baggage, and behind the front two seats. I really like them. They don’t hold stuff down, but nothing can shift my CG with those dividers installed. Opinions vary, but they’re just right for me.

Pinecone wrote: Mountain Wave Cargo Nets in my airplane.......

Mountain Wave cargo nets are nice but pretty spendy.
Here's a lower priced alternative,
lotsa size choices and pretty inexpensive.

https://www.safaristraps.com/1-polyeste ... -5-x-23-5/

Here's a $61 23.5" x 23.5" mounted in my C180.

At ~$60, I'd send my money to them for sure before I would make mine for $25 or $30. They look nice.

I also used Safari straps net in my 180 and really liked it. Not perfect but so affordable it doesn't matter.

Cool deal - I'll see how things look it he back for restraints.

Thanks,
D.

You will likely have to add some hardware back there to hook the net to.