Wanting to build a baggage area under turtle deck

[C5Engineer 1170]

I want to utilize some of the wasted space that's under the turtle deck. I plan to just remove the turtle deck for access since it's a  one piece Lexan one. I did some poking around on the Yahoo site and found these pics.

 

 

 

 

 

This is exactly what I had in mind. It's just sail material with a piece of thin ply in the bottom. Has anyone on here done something like this? Looks pretty straightforward to make a pattern. I tried to find the guy on the Yahoo group who posted these but finding anything on there is near impossible. Sure wish those guys would migrate over here.

[EDMO 1078]

Joey - This doesn't show the control rods ?

EDMO

[horsepower 24]

I did one kind of like this Joey,My Skyraider is a tandem so its not very wide but it is right behind the back seat.I made it out of upholstery material and it is held in by Velcro and snaps.I put a piece of cardboard in the bottom to kind of form it square.I put a first aid kit and a little tool pouch back there.Randy

[C5Engineer 1170]

Joey - This doesn't show the control rods ?

EDMO

They are forward of the bag I believe Ed. Hard to tell sitting here behind my computer.

[C5Engineer 1170]

Here is another one on a B model with a modified hinged turtle deck to allow access. He used grommets down the sides and zip tied it in. I think this one is deeper than the drawing I posted.

 

[Bandit 286]

Joey, I have a aluminum baggage compartment in mine. I also have to take the turtle deck of for access. I carry a set of plugs, wrench, and extra oil in mine at all times. The controls are in front of the baggage area.

Edited 17 Jun 2013 by Bandit

[dav8or 20]

The drawings that you posted above were done by Ralph Moe. My Avid is in the same hangar with his. The baggage compartment works very well for him. I plan to make one myself once I can get some of my other issues solved. It is great for carrying tools and spares.

 

Dan

[dav8or 20]

I want to utilize some of the wasted space that's under the turtle deck. I plan to just remove the turtle deck for access since it's a  one piece Lexan one. I did some poking around on the Yahoo site and found these pics.

Do you have any pictures of the One piece turtle deck?

 

Thanks,

Dan

[C5Engineer 1170]

Dan I sent you a private message. I'll try and get some pictures posted here of my turtle deck if I can find anyting decent on my computer.

[C5Engineer 1170]

Dan I got your message. Now I understand why it's so shallow. This is what I currently have. It's made my Fisher Upholstery in Eagle Idaho. It is pretty big and currently holds my big stuff when I go airplane camping and it has plenty of room for tools, tiedowns, oil, jackets, or whatever when I'm just flying locally. I want to add additional space though under my turtle deck so that I can free up my passenger seat so I can take my daughter now that she is getting a little older. The second pic sort of shows my one piece turtle deck. I'll dig through my saved stuff when I get a little more time and see if I can find some better shots for you.

[C5Engineer 1170]

Here are a few more pictures I got from John Miller. Here are the dimensions he gave me.

 

Front width 27.5"

Sides are 26.5"

Rear is 19.5"

Depth is 14"

 

Looking towards the rear of the plane

 

 

Under the turtle deck

 

 

Lots of room

 

 

He said it hadn't been out of his plane in almost 20 years

 

 

I think this bad boy and the one I already have would give me enough room that I could ditch the giant backpack that takes up my whole view out the right side.

[C5Engineer 1170]

This was about as good as I could come up with for some shots of my turtle deck Dan. The upper bearing for the flaperon rod is some sort of hard plastic. I use two machine screws on either side of the flaperon rod down low to ensure it doesn't come loose right there. The rest of it is held on with normal fastners. The front part slides in under the skylight.

 

 

[EDMO 1078]

The upper and lower pieces that enclose the flaperon tubes should be nylon. I thought about Teflon, which would be lower friction, but it is softer and probably would wear faster.

EDMO

[dav8or 20]

I thought they might be made of Delrin but never really looked that close at the actual material on mine before. I might look into making a similar turtle deck. I have an oblong window in each half of mine now and all held in by 1/4 turn fasteners.

 

Dan

[C5Engineer 1170]

I knew I had a couple more better pictures

 

 

[Trackwelder 12]

What type of plastic, and what thickness is your turtledeck?

[SkyPirate 8]

Looks like bronze lexan .093 to .125 thick, im making one out of .093 M5 bronze

[FoxDB 17]

Just thought I would post some pics of the storage area I built in my Mod 1 Kitfox. Sorry for the poor quality photos there using my old cell phone camera. It is constructed of .06 Lexan with reinforcing at the hangers and an Aluminum outside door. The top of the door is pinched under the turtle deck.

Dave

[C5Engineer 1170]

Nicely done Dave! Was it a CG issue that caused the early planes to have ZERO baggage area from the factory? One of the major selling points of the Avid MKIV was the factory baggage space. Nothing changed with the fuses. I guess in the early days they didn't figure people were using these planes for anything more than flying around the local flagpole perhaps??

[herman pahls 9]

Dave

Great storage idea that I never thought about.

My Kitfox is also covered with fabric under the turtle deck like yours is.

I was going to remove the fabric to install the storage sack as was shown earlier in this thread.

If I send you my cell phone will you take some photos of how you lined the compartment fore and aft and above the elevator pushrod? L.O.L.

At least you know how to post photos and I am clueless.

Thanks for the great idea.

Herman

[FoxDB 17]

I have taken better pictures of the baggage compartment. Here they are:

Hope this helps

Dave