Hi Andrew,

 

How do you find those long trailers in traffic? I ask because my steam launch is 30 feet long, designed to just fit the maximum length allowed behind the towball here. Beam is 6 feet, so it is not all that wide, but it will be a fair length back to the end. It will of course be a little heavier than a normal glider.

 

regards

John

Sutton Bank, well to get somewhere near topic, me and my mate ,back in the 50’s,when we had no sense, built a tandem with 3 speed hub gear and a derailleur system fitted to that, to give very high gears. Set off from the hairpin on the bank to see how fast we could go, the moped speedo showed 80mph, probably wrong. Still doing 40 at Thirsk, according to nice policeman who stopped us. Of course the roads were much quieter then.

I’m sure you’ll find the book informative, although the physics/chemistry of iron/carbon alloys is pretty complex, and will probably require several readings!

 

Actually I think coming down Sutton Bank with a trailer was worse than going up. At least on the way up the only thing you’re likely to lose is traction; a disadvantage of front wheel drive cars. On the way down, it’s bottom gear, brakes, and ‘oh #@*& we’re sliding with the wheels locked’.

 

John: Generally modern glider trailers tow pretty well. Older ones are much more of a mixed bag. Weight balance and distribution is critical. I find I need about 50-70lbs of downforce on the hitch, plus weight in the front of the car to retain steering. Even if the balance is correct, weight in the back of the trailer can lead to instability. Ultimately the car is the most important factor; it needs to be heavy for stability. I used to drive Citroens, which had self-leveling suspension, a real joy for towing. Now I have a Peugeot, and while it’s a good tow car I need to pay more attention to weight and balance. Set up properly, the biggest danger is forgetting you’ve got the trailer on the back! In the UK we have a speed limit of 60mph for braked trailers. I normally stick to 55-60, as faster really hammers the fuel consumption. I’ve towed through quite a lot of towns and cities, before bypasses were built. The main issues are that it is more difficult to change lane, because of the length, and you need to be careful about the back of the trailer swinging out when turning at junctions. I’ve even been through the centre of Edinburgh with a trailer, due to a slight navigational error coming off the Forth road bridge. I don’t know what your steam launch weighs. I estimate my single seat glider and trailer weigh about 1400lbs in total. My new two seat glider and trailer is well over a ton. There is a myth (?) that glider trailers are longer than permitted by UK law, but a ‘blind eye’ is turned as they are classed as an indivisible load. I’ve added a picture of your scribe picking up a mate who had made a navigational error in Scotland and was consequently in the middle of nowhere. This particular trailer is about 13 metres long. Real pain to turn round on narrow country lanes. We entertained a whole restaurant full of pensioners while turning it round in a hotel carpark, having missed the turn off to 6 miles of single track road up to where the glider was.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew