I guess I'm the only one here who has actually moved a partially-built plane (2 actually), although my moves were mostly relatively short distances compared to your effort!
I did buy a partially done project in Auckland, and found a trucking company to backhaul it... it came wrapped in bubblewrap in an otherwise empty truck, and no damage. Reasonably cheap too. Given that it was a project to repair a post-crash aircraft, I took the risk not to insure it. The truckie thought it was a hoot to be "driving an aircraft carrier".
A large tandem-axle trailer would probably do the job. But, first get accurate measurements of the length & width & height of everything... planes are a lot longer than you might think. This time of year, and that distance, you should probably aim to get a covered trailer if you can. I second the idea of borrowing a glider trailer, but again check the measurements to make sure it does fit... you may find that the wing chord is too big to fit in a glider trailer. Or it might fit if you remove flaps and ailerons. If it's on the gear already, that will probably simplify things as far as a flatbed trailer goes. But make sure that the trailer is wide enough for the mains... again, this can be deceptive. If the tailplane is already mounted, you'll probably have to unmount it, otherwise it will be too wide.
I assume/hope you're a member of SAANZ... the SAANZ Wgtn chapter is active, and people there have experience at moving aircraft projects around the country, and perhaps equipment. And it could (I guess... not knowing your own skills) be very unsafe to take this project on without the support of the SAANZ community.
Depending on the finish state of the wings, you might want to prepare yourself with a structure to support them, standing on their leading edges... a typical arrangement would be to put the fuselage down the centre of the trailer, with wings standing either side, on top of mattresses and with more mattresses between wings and fuselage.
Have lots of rope, duct tape, ratchet tie-downs and bungy cords, mattresses to go underneath anything sitting on the deck, blankets and rugs to stop ropes chafing. Get a whole roll of (or two) of bubblewrap.
I assume this is the Europa XS project that recently sold on TradeMe... you got a helluva bargain there!
frankv: Have lots of rope, duct tape, ratchet tie-downs and bungy cords, mattresses to go underneath anything sitting on the deck, blankets and rugs to stop ropes chafing. Get a whole roll of (or two) of bubblewrap.
I assume this is the Europa XS project that recently sold on TradeMe... you got a helluva bargain there!
Yup, that is the one now please tell my wife it was too good a bargain to pass by. It would have been an even better bargain if that guy in Chch hadn't been bidding against me!
I'm a member of the Wellington chapter of SAANZ and I will be checking with them but last time I talked to them most members were flying and not building.
The bottom half of the fuselage is in a cradle and I can tape the top to the bottom temporarily (although I need to check the height if I do that). The wings are in a second cradle.
My plan at this stage is to use wide straps to tie the parts down in the cradles and then secure the cradles. I was going to use the wide strapping that is used in chairs and staple this to the cradle.
I like your idea of bubble wrap but I'll probably get a few rolls of corrugated cardboard to go between the straps and the parts to spread the load.
Thanks to everyone else for their suggestions too. I'm still looking in to car trailers but it looks like the enclosed ones won't be high enough.
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