Frontal area of a small stack of plywood is minimal, so turning em sideways isnt' a big deal.

Try a sheet lengthwise, and get a feel for it, then try one crosswise.

Start easy small loads, and work up, though.

MTV

Seven sheets of 5/8 has a frontal area of about 3 s.f. when stacked cross ways and 1.5 s.f. when stacked lengthwise. According to my "material weights" information I have here at work (5/8"=1.8 p.s.f.) seven sheets would weight about 400 pounds.

Another thing that is on my mind (maybe I'm over thinking this) is the angle of the stack of plywood in relation to the angle of the plane. I have the old style rear float struts which are shorter thereby creating a larger angle between the floats and the plane...probably just a few degrees. Could there be a problem with this? The wings lifting while the plywood is trying to pull me back down...or is this just some minor thing that can be adjusted with the trim? My maiden plywood voyage with a couple sheets will likely answer that question I guess.

mtv wrote:Frontal area of a small stack of plywood is minimal, so turning em sideways isnt' a big deal.

Try a sheet lengthwise, and get a feel for it, then try one crosswise.

Start easy small loads, and work up, though.

MTV

Ok, sounds like a good plan...I will also start out on the river because I'm a big scardy-cat.
I was nervous with my first external load...two 12' lengths of angle iron...once airborn I literally couldn't tell there was anything there.

And of course, don't forget to video it so you can share with all of us!

I am no Aeronautical Engineer but I think MTV pointed out the possibility of disturbing the airflow at the at tail feathers.

I think I would be more concerned with my horizontal stab and elevator airflow being disturbed or blocked than I would be with the total weight cross section of the load.

Having your tail quit flying on flare would make for an exciting arrival.

Tom

Just out of curiosity, what kind of saw mill did you decide on? What are the dimensions and weight of the mill when it is ready for transport?

TwinPOS wrote:Just out of curiosity, what kind of saw mill did you decide on? What are the dimensions and weight of the mill when it is ready for transport?

http://www.hud-son.com/Oscar18.htm

Here's the link to the mill I got. It weighs 435 for the complete unit. There are two 6' sections of track (see one in my photo album) that came with the mill and I've already flown out a enough material to weld up another 12' of track. The mill will come apart fairly easy and with a helper, will fit in my plane. The largest piece will be the engine/band wheel frame which is about 5' long...a person could make this smaller by continuing with the disassembly.

TomD wrote:I am no Aeronautical Engineer but I think MTV pointed out the possibility of disturbing the airflow at the at tail feathers.

I think I would be more concerned with my horizontal stab and elevator airflow being disturbed or blocked than I would be with the total weight cross section of the load.

Having your tail quit flying on flare would make for an exciting arrival.

Tom

This is exactly what I'm concerned about. I talked to a guy that has flown plywood all day long with his 180 with no adverse effects however a maule is a different bird. I'm thinking MTV recommended keeping approach and departures flat to help avoid shielding of the tail.

Grassstrippilot wrote:And of course, don't forget to video it so you can share with all of us!

Yep, there'll be a video. The hard part will be for me to figure out how to put it on the computer

Depending upon how far out of town it is...what about just slingloading the materials via chopper....more expensive, but done in fewer trips and way safer...no guessing about that one.....just a thought...

mtnflyr wrote:Depending upon how far out of town it is...what about just slingloading the materials via chopper....more expensive, but done in fewer trips and way safer...no guessing about that one.....just a thought...

I have a friend that has a Widgeon...I will probably have him fly out a 4 wheeler for me. The property is about 90 miles from town (45 miles from the nearest road/float pond in Nenana)...I've heard that anything involving a helicopter is expensive so I'm not even going to consider going that route. I'm not concerned at all about getting the mill out there, it'll fit in the plane and isn't going to put me over gross (I've already got some of it out there). My main concern was the plywood. I don't NEED plywood to do the job, I can just use sawn boards like they did back in the old days but ply would make the job nicer/easier. I've talked with people that have flown ply with no problems but haven't heard from anyone doing so with a Maule on floats. I've been looking at a picture of my plane and, going the route MTV suggested, I think the ply would fit between the float struts cross-ways with the ends resting on the float decks. This will lock the sheets in front to back. Strapping over the sheets and around the spreaders will anchor the sheets very well. A 2" or 3" stack of ply doesn't have any more frontal area than the spreader bars have and the stack of ply is well below the slipstream of the tail so, by manuvering pretty flat as MTV suggested, I can't see that there would be a problem.

Is your place by Wien Lake??? Spent 8 years in Nenana......1977 - 1985..

mtnflyr wrote:Is your place by Wien Lake??? Spent 8 years in Nenana......1977 - 1985..

No, staked 12 acres at East Twin lakes which is out in the Wien Lake direction.

Cut your plywood the long way in varying sizes to that you can stack them and screw them together in a manner forming a close resemblance of an airfoil. Strap them to the floats crosswise and then they will help with additional lift. You will look like the oddest bi-plane anyone ever saw.



Just kidding of course but I bet there are those who might have tried it. Especially if laying a floor, You could angle your long cuts to smooth out the front edge and then match those ends together alternating them so they make a tight fit on the floor.



-JC the Darwin Award Runner Up

Well, it's been about a year since I posted this thread and I thought I'd give anyone who's interested the results of this summers flying activities.
I've hauled numerous external loads so far this year. Plywood, lumber, saw-mill tracks, angle iron and two stacks of 8" steel stud floor joists. For my plane, all of these loads are a non-issue aerodynamically. I had 5 sheets of 5/8" plywood and the controlability of the plane was unaffected. I did have to carry a bit more power but that was to be expected. I flew 7 sheets out yesterday...no problem whatsoever. The worst load of all of these was the steel stud floor joists. It was a hot day, oil temp was going up and had to carry more power to drag the stuff through the air...it was a delicate balancing act to be able to maintain altitude and keep temps within limits. All ended well though.
The reason I'm posting this is to help advance the knowledge base. I wasn't able to find anyone who had flown external loads on a Maule before so it's pretty much based on trial and error with every attempt to avoid the "error" side of the equation. Well, here's some information based on successful trials.
Here's a few pictures of some of the loads:

Load of plywood, I staggered the leading edge to help make it a bit more streamline. Stuffed some bagged insulation inside to fill out the load.





Here's a small load of 2x12's...couldn't even tell they were there in flight.




I will post some of the other external loads as soon as I get them put on the computer.
Here's a couple of the more unusual "internal" loads that were hauled this summer.

This is a full size 300 Kawasaki 4 wheeler that I needed out at the lake. I took it apart and the first load to go out was the frame, engine and front differential. The frame is about 6' long and weighed over 200 lbs. I had to build a ramp to the plane and we slid it in without any damage to the plane. I had to lower the handle bars to get it to fit though.



This is load 2 of 2 for the 4 wheeler...it's amazing what will fit in these planes:



This is a load of 40 2x4 studs inside with 5 outside. I opted to haul them internally because the plane wouldn't pull that much externally.



And finally, the reason for all this effort. This is a view from the front deck of the cabin that we're building. All alone...not a soul around.

Capt. Kirk, Great pictures. I also have a Maule and appreciate when other people post the results of their trial and errors (or in your case successes).
Great looking airplane and cabin. Best regards.

Kirk,

Good deal, glad it worked out for you. Looks like you fabricated some racks for the vertical struts to keep the loads off the float decks. Not a bad idea, though I've carried a lot of loads on the decks without problems.

Most folks are cautious about external loads, which is a good thing, but in fact, MOST loads fly just fine. Looks like you did a good job.

I built a cabin on Mucha Lake just south of East Twin. Some of the loads went out on my Cub, others on an Everts C-46, which is truly the hot ticket, and much cheaper than flying the Cub in those days.

Congratulations. Is the cabin done yet? If so, how about posting some photos.

MTV

Thanks MTV and Lucky. I probably could have saved a bit of money by hiring some of the hauling out but there's two reasons I've done it on my own...first is, I love to fly and this is a great excuse to increase proficiency and play around with some unusual loads. Second is that I like doing things myself...kinda that Alaskan philosophy. Here's a few more pictures.

This is one of the lumber brackets that I built this spring...I should patent this!


Here's a trial fitting.


Now for the cabin progress. This was taken two weekends ago...we've had crappy weather for a week and a half so other than 7 sheets of siding that I hauled out a couple days ago the progress has high-centered right here until the weather clears. The sawmill is mounted to the front deck


Here's a view from inside...front wall is to the right of the photo


Here's a view from inside...rear wall is to the left.


Here's a view of the floor framing...all the materials you see were hauled either inside or on the outside of my plane.


Here's our camp during construction.