Where there's a Will, Often there is a way.

Well, I finally did it. I bought my Starwood Lama back.

One of my concerns was “Would it fit in my 2018 Nissan Leaf” … If not I guess I would have to buy a new transport vehicle. My preference would be to keep the Leaf, a) because it’s an EV (haven’t been to a gas station or EV power source outside my home for 2 years now) and b) because I use it as a charging system at the field.

The Problem:

The opening on the Leaf from tail gate sill to top of opening is 26 inches and the Lama from bottom of skids to the top of rotor is 27.5” and the length of the Lama is 84” but distance from the rear to the back of the passenger seat is only 63”. How can I get this in there, and I don’t want to remove the passenger seat.

Will it work???????

The first thing I did when it arrived was to tilt the front seat backwards and remove the rear seat backrest, leaving the rear seat in place. By doing this it eliminated the length problem but the question still remained, what about the height? I had kind of worked this out ahead of time and that was that the top of the opening is 16” forward of the sill, so if I angle the Lama down into the cargo well which is 10” deep, it may be possible, and it was! Now that I know that it works, how can I easily get it in and out by myself at home given that it is heavy and bulky. (I was actually physically able to get the Lama out during my initial test but at my age there would be no question that at some point I would bugger up my body in some way)

Now, knowing that the Lama will actually fit in the car, here is my solution. Where there is a will, often times there is a way. :)

I first created a trolley exactly the height of the sill plate at the cargo opening. It’s just an old cabinet with 1/2” ply mounted to the top and bottom and 1.5” rubber casters. I put felt carpet on top of that for easy sliding the Lama on and off. I then constructed a platform into the 10” deep cargo area (36” wide by 30”) so that when the Lama slides in it will not have to drop to the bottom of the cargo area. I tapered that platform toward the front of the car by 2” so that when the head reaches the top of the opening it drops sufficient to clear. It ended up with a clearance of 1/4”, so perfect! This platform opens up for storage below and is carpeted so that the lama slides in easily.

I can now move the Lama in and out of the car very easily (one handed with no lifting at all). I also have a folding work table that happens to be exactly the height of the Trolly, so again, once it’s on the trolly, I just slide it onto the work table without any lifting.

At the field it’s a bit different. I can slide it most of the way out and then have a fellow pilot assist in loading it onto a wagon and pull that out to the pits and then the flight line.