Ship Model Aircraft
Successfully
40 MODEL AVIATION
I WAS KIDDING—or perhaps I only
thought I was. When MA Editor Michael
Ramsey expressed a desire to fly my
Golden Era 60 Bipe (the subject of a
February 2009 MA RC construction
article), I replied by e-mail, “Fine … I’ll
ship it and you can test fly it!” I hadn’t
expected the reply I got.
“I Double Dog Dare Ya!” he wrote.
I try to be a sensible person, but I took
this as a challenge. I suppose it has
something to do with my Celtic ancestry.
“I’m serious; where do you want it
sent!?” I e-mailed back. So it began.
A search ensued for a suitable container,
or containers, for the model’s bulky and
odd-shaped components. I determined that
I would need two boxes; one would
measure 60 x 32 x 24 inches and the other
would be 60 x 24 x 18 inches.
My first stop was one of the local
shippers, which serves as an agent for UPS,
FedEx, and DHL. The results were
Above: Not so much as a boot print or caved corner was
detected when Greyhound’s PackageXpress service delivered
the priority shipment.
Right: Since the Golden Era 60 Bipe isn’t a cabbage-patch model,
the holes are a considerate feature that the author built in so
that the shipping agents could handle the packages properly.
Below: This box was void of foam packing peanuts (thank
goodness), yet it still arrived with the cargo totally secure. The
secret is in binding the contents.
by Fred Randall
Tips for sending your large assembled
treasures across the country
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:14 AM Page 40
Left: Double-layered
corrugated cardboard is
just that: two layers of
ribbed material and
three skin barriers. It’s
tough as nails and
should be specified when
custom-ordering shipping
boxes.
Right: It’s good to use a
strong tape on the inside
flaps and seams.
Above: See? Duct tape can be used for almost
anything, as long as “anything” doesn’t need to
move—such as a completely assembled model
fuselage.
Right: The author made an interior frame from 1 x
3-foot framing material. It both supported the
outer box and lent a structure to which the
contents could be bound.
Below: Folded cardboard supported the airframe
so it could be 2-4 inches away from the box sides,
thus safe from turbulent impact. Foam batting
prevents chafing.
disappointing; it had no boxes big enough for the
airplane’s parts.
Not only that, but the clerk informed me that
neither UPS nor DHL nor FedEx handles packages
that large. UPS would ship the smaller of the two
boxes for $200—more than I wanted to pay. Besides,
I wanted to keep the boxes together.
Now I had two problems: finding containers for
the Golden Era and finding a shipper to take them to
AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana!
I searched the Internet and found a Web site
proclaiming that it could box and ship almost
anything. Prominently displayed on the home page
was a picture of a 1/4-scale, maybe larger, Extra 300
fuselage, mounted on a wooden pallet and ready for
shipping. Terrific!
June 2009 41
Photos by Michael Ramsey
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:16 AM Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Loose pieces should be safely housed in a
box that can then be secured within the
confines of the larger shipping container.
The box containing mainly the fuselage contents
is laid next to the box and interior frame. The
nose spinner is great for engine protection.
Above: Loading the wings was the easy part, since they would
lay flat. Protective bubble wrap prevents chafing the wing
panels, which were packed surrounded by foam peanuts.
Right: From a different perspective, it’s easy to think that
shipping a model inside a smaller box might be possible. Extra
padding is an investment you’ll never regret.
The day after its arrival, the Golden Era 60 Bipe was
assembled and taken on its maiden flight. The shipping
project was a valuable lesson—and a successful one—that
didn’t cost a fortune.
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 42
June 2009 43
Containers
• 60 x 32 x 24-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $34.13
• 60 x 24 x 18-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $32.46
• Shipping and handling: $27.50
Total: $94.09
Packaging Materials
• 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts: $28.30
• Eight 1-inch x 3-inch x 8-foot spruce furring support frame: $10.17
Total: $38.47
Shipping Costs
• Express: $75.75
• Insurance: $4
• Fuel surcharge: $6.85
Total: $86.60
Total Materials and Shipping: $219.06 MA
—Fred Randall
Shipping Materials and Estimates
It was Sunday, so I e-mailed the company,
explaining my dilemma in detail. Monday
morning, I received a phone call from a
gentleman who represented the shipping
company. He said he would be able to
accommodate the bipe. Including pickup at
my home, on-site crating, materials, labor,
and transportation to Muncie, the cost would
come to only $800.
I told him I’d check with “my people” and
get back to him. The price was way more than
I wanted to pay, and I gave up on that option.
I got back on the Internet and looked for a
source for containers.
After many telephone calls and e-mails,
with less than encouraging results, I received
a return e-mail from Custom Made Boxes in
Des Moines, Iowa. I was informed that the
company could provide custom-made,
double-thick corrugated boxes for the model
at a reasonable cost.
After a series of e-mails and telephone
calls between Kim Weier and me, I ordered
the boxes. The cost, including shipping to me
at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was just less than
$100.
While I waited for the boxes to arrive, I
queried trucking companies, asking for the
cost of shipping the packages to AMA
Headquarters (a distance of 893.3 miles,
according to MapQuest). I figured a weight of
a bit less than 100 pounds for the two
packages.
I received quotes that were in the
neighborhood of $300 from all of the
shippers, and I’d have to take the boxes to the
terminals. All cited the cost of diesel fuel at
well more than $4 per gallon as the reason for
the high price.
I exchanged e-mails with Michael
Ramsey, discussing the problem. One of his
suggestions was to check with the Greyhound
(bus lines) PackageXpress. I’ll tell you more
about this later.
Packing Recommendations: When the
boxes arrived, I devised a plan for securing
the bipe’s fuselage in the larger of the two. I
made a quick trip to the local hardware store
and lumberyard and returned home with some
8-foot lengths of 1 x 3-inch pine strips.
Using the lumber, I made a ladderlike base
framework. To that I stapled and hot-glued a
pair of heavy corrugated-cardboard triangles
that were notched to support the fuselage,
front and rear. I lined the notches with 2-inchthick
batting material and put the fuselage
into the notches.
During that operation, I realized that I was
going to need to remove the landing gear. I
would have preferred to leave it on for the
additional protection it would have afforded
the fuselage from underside damage, in case
of mishandling.
I removed the landing gear and taped it to
the fuselage support, after which I covered the
airplane with more batting. I covered the
batting at the front and rear of the model with
wide cardboard strips.
I secured the assembly to the base frame
using lots of “McGuyver grade” duct tape.
The Golden Era was secure in its cradle, but it
needed protection from being crushed from
above. For that, I constructed a “roll cage”
frame from the wood strapping.
I duct-taped a small box containing the
cowl and hardware, as well as samples of the
composite material I used in the wings, to the
roll cage, and then I lowered the assembly
into the larger box. The wooden frame was
designed to fit snugly so that it couldn’t shift
within the enclosure. I bid the bipe a fond
farewell and closed its container.
Then I turned my attention to the wings. I
had purchased a 14-cubic-foot bag of packing
peanuts from Postal Center USA to protect
them.
My wife, Lol (short for Lorraine), helped
me pour a 4-inch layer of peanuts in the
bottom of the smaller box. I placed the
bubble-wrapped lower wing on top of the
peanuts and poured in more peanuts, covering
the wing under a thick coating.
Then I placed the upper wing, also
encased in bubble wrap, in the box. I poured
in the rest of the peanuts, filling the box to
capacity.
I added a manila envelope that contained a
few additional parts and a note for the “lucky”
recipient. Last, I sealed both boxes with glue
and tape, added labels, and included the
address information.
Now for getting the boxes to Muncie.
Budget-Wise Shipping: Following
Michael’s suggestion, I went to the
Greyhound Web site and clicked on “Package
Express.” Fully expecting the boxes to be
rejected because of size, I keyed in the city of
origin and destination, size, and approximate
weight data. The only size restriction was that
the largest dimension couldn’t exceed 80
inches.
The estimated price for overnight priority
delivery to the Anderson, Indiana, Greyhound
terminal was only roughly $100. I was
ecstatic! After I settled down from my
excitement, I checked the schedules.
It was Saturday, and the buses run seven
days. According to the timetable, if I got the
packages on the bus at 10:30 a.m. Sunday,
they would reach the Anderson terminal the
following morning at 10:20 a.m.—just 23
hours and 50 minutes later.
Anderson is 20 miles from AMA
Headquarters, and Michael said it would be
no problem for him to pick up the boxes.
(Editor’s note: Fred was sending me an
airplane to test; it was the least I could do!)
Sunday morning, Lol and I got up early
and loaded the van. We almost had to put one
box on the roof rack but found that we could
stack them inside by sliding the smaller box
in through the side door.
It’s 20 miles to Worcester (we pronounce
it Wussta, with a New England accent), where
the Greyhound terminal is. It has street level
access, so we off-loaded the boxes and toted
them down a long hall to the ticket window.
“Can I help you?” asked the ticket clerk, a
short, stout lady.
It had to be obvious, since we had the
coffin-sized boxes in tow. I explained that
they were fragile and needed to go to
Anderson, Indiana, by Priority Express,
ensuring a one-day trip.
The clerk opened a door and directed us to
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 43
bring the boxes inside. Then a young man,
who looked like he had had a rough night,
entered and punched in for work. The lady
told us that he was a new hire and that she
would help him through the transaction.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I said again.
The man weighed the boxes on a portable
electric scale and recorded them as 35 and 16
pounds. I was getting antsy, because it was
almost 10:20 and the process was going at a
snail’s pace.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I reiterated.
I might as well have been talking to the
tiled wall. The process crept along, until, at
last, the clerk asked for my credit card. She
swiped it, had me sign, said, “Thank you for
using Greyhound!” and handed me a receipt.
Lol and I waited in the van outside the
area where the buses offload and onload
passengers, until a Greyhound arrived. After
the people disembarked, a cart with the bipe
boxes on it was trundled up. A large
compartment was opened in the side of the
bus, and it easily swallowed the boxes. The
porter seemed to do his job with all possible
care.
We waited for the bus to depart. I felt
good on the way home, thinking that the
model was in good hands.
Sunday passed, and Monday morning
arrived. When the clock hit 10:45, I called the
Anderson depot. A man with a curt attitude
said that the boxes hadn’t arrived. I was upset
and asked where they might be. After a spate
of verbal sparring, he gave me a number to
call.
After the usual, “Your call is important to
us … ” spiel, a woman answered. She asked
for the order number. When I recited it to her,
she said that the boxes weren’t sent priority
and that it could take anywhere between two
and 10 days!
I am basically harmless but capable of a
righteous rant when sufficiently agitated—
and I was agitated! I explained to the poor
woman in a less than polite tone that I had
definitely requested priority shipping. Then I
asked where the boxes were.
“We don’t track non-priority shipments,”
she said apologetically.
If I was agitated before, I was now
furious. I slammed the phone into the cradle
with such force that the caller-ID box
bounced off the side of the desk and clattered
to the floor.
On the Internet, I located the telephone
number of the Greyhound home office in
Texas and dialed it. After the usual dose of
elevator music, a woman with a pleasant
voice and a Texas drawl answered.
Maintaining my cool, despite wanting to
scream, I explained the situation.
She said softly:
“Oh, you poor dear! I don’t blame you for
being upset. Unfortunately these things
happen and what I suggest is to wait until
5:30 p.m. when the Anderson terminal
reopens and call again. There’s every chance
your shipment will be there then. Is there
anything else I can do for you?”
My mind raced; this wonderful, caring
creature made me want to curl up in her lap
and purr. I forced myself back to reality.
I called the Anderson terminal at 5:45
p.m. The same annoyed tone as before
spilled from the telephone, and I was again
propelled to high orbit. Almost before I
could speak, he growled “Not here” and
hung up.
I was reminded of a recent conversation
with a friend who had shipped auto parts to
California via Greyhound. He said:
“Took three weeks! I tried to get the
location of my stuff, but nobody knew. I had
just filed a claim with Greyhound when my
contact in California called to tell me the box
arrived and it was in good condition!”
I didn’t know what to think. Had I made a
huge mistake by sending my precious MA
construction article prototype by
Greyhound? Exasperated beyond words, I
got on the telephone with Michael Ramsey.
He told me to calm down and that if anything
happened to the airplane, it could be fixed.
“After all, we’re modelers!” he said.
“Handling little surprises is what we do!”
Somehow I felt better.
In the morning, Michael e-mailed me,
reporting that the Golden Era Bipe was in
Indianapolis and that, because the local bus
service couldn’t handle the packages’ sizes,
it would assign a courier service to deliver
them directly to AMA Headquarters.
Someone had finally read the “Priority
Shipment” sticker on the box!
To my profound relief, the boxes arrived
in perfect shape. Miracles do happen; all was
well with the world again.
When the boxes were being prepared for
shipping, a yellow “Priority Shipment”
sticker was affixed to them as I requested.
However, the new hire in Worcester made a
mistake while checking in the packages; I was
charged for standard (GLI) rather than priority
(PPP) shipping, and the amount was $86.60.
I thought the lower price was because the
combined weight was only half of what I had
estimated using the Web site calculator. The
result was that the Greyhound company
offices thought the shipment was GLI and
handled my telephone queries accordingly.
The people moving the packages saw the
priority sticker and handled it appropriately.
As it turned out, the boxes arrived at AMA
Headquarters the next day. That was one heck
of a bargain!
Moral of the Story: Maybe you will sell a
model on eBay or need one shipped to a
contest location. I’ll fill you in on some things
I’ve learned and advice you should take from
my diary.
Package the contents so that they can be
stored at almost any angle. Even though the
box might be marked “Top,” the directions
could be mistaken.
Boxes with double-wall thickness are well
worth the money. If you make your own
boxes, line them with an extra layer of
cardboard, attached with hot glue. Inside a
rigid wood frame, the contents are less likely
to endure a container collapse.
Strap down loose items or store them
inside an interior box. Untethered items could
damage the other contents in the box.
Protect the aircraft’s finish against
buffeting with soft material such as the batting
I cited, Polyethylene Foam material, or bubble
wrap. The airplane’s outside points, such as
the rudder, fin, and stabilizer, should be
packed at least 1 inch from the container sides
and shielded with a foam or soft cover in case
the contents shift or the box is shocked.
Using Greyhound was a new experience,
so tracking the shipment was more nerveracking
than it would have been otherwise.
The employees did their jobs well—and at a
price that no other professional carrier service
was willing to offer.
I learned that all packages should be
shipped with some lead time, to allow for
handling difficulties that can occur even with
premium services. I recommend this service,
and I hope that this story will help you with
any shipping dilemmas you might encounter.
The next time you open the box containing
a new ARF or RTF, notice the content
arrangement and packing used. The methods
those manufacturers use are typically good
examples of how to ship model aircraft. MA
Fred Randall
[email protected]
Sources:
Custom Made Boxes
(515) 309-6155
www.custommadeboxes.com
Greyhound
(800) 739-5020
www.greyhound.com
Postal Center USA
www.postalcenterusa.com
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:50 AM Page 44
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 40,41,42,43,44
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 40,41,42,43,44
Ship Model Aircraft
Successfully
40 MODEL AVIATION
I WAS KIDDING—or perhaps I only
thought I was. When MA Editor Michael
Ramsey expressed a desire to fly my
Golden Era 60 Bipe (the subject of a
February 2009 MA RC construction
article), I replied by e-mail, “Fine … I’ll
ship it and you can test fly it!” I hadn’t
expected the reply I got.
“I Double Dog Dare Ya!” he wrote.
I try to be a sensible person, but I took
this as a challenge. I suppose it has
something to do with my Celtic ancestry.
“I’m serious; where do you want it
sent!?” I e-mailed back. So it began.
A search ensued for a suitable container,
or containers, for the model’s bulky and
odd-shaped components. I determined that
I would need two boxes; one would
measure 60 x 32 x 24 inches and the other
would be 60 x 24 x 18 inches.
My first stop was one of the local
shippers, which serves as an agent for UPS,
FedEx, and DHL. The results were
Above: Not so much as a boot print or caved corner was
detected when Greyhound’s PackageXpress service delivered
the priority shipment.
Right: Since the Golden Era 60 Bipe isn’t a cabbage-patch model,
the holes are a considerate feature that the author built in so
that the shipping agents could handle the packages properly.
Below: This box was void of foam packing peanuts (thank
goodness), yet it still arrived with the cargo totally secure. The
secret is in binding the contents.
by Fred Randall
Tips for sending your large assembled
treasures across the country
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:14 AM Page 40
Left: Double-layered
corrugated cardboard is
just that: two layers of
ribbed material and
three skin barriers. It’s
tough as nails and
should be specified when
custom-ordering shipping
boxes.
Right: It’s good to use a
strong tape on the inside
flaps and seams.
Above: See? Duct tape can be used for almost
anything, as long as “anything” doesn’t need to
move—such as a completely assembled model
fuselage.
Right: The author made an interior frame from 1 x
3-foot framing material. It both supported the
outer box and lent a structure to which the
contents could be bound.
Below: Folded cardboard supported the airframe
so it could be 2-4 inches away from the box sides,
thus safe from turbulent impact. Foam batting
prevents chafing.
disappointing; it had no boxes big enough for the
airplane’s parts.
Not only that, but the clerk informed me that
neither UPS nor DHL nor FedEx handles packages
that large. UPS would ship the smaller of the two
boxes for $200—more than I wanted to pay. Besides,
I wanted to keep the boxes together.
Now I had two problems: finding containers for
the Golden Era and finding a shipper to take them to
AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana!
I searched the Internet and found a Web site
proclaiming that it could box and ship almost
anything. Prominently displayed on the home page
was a picture of a 1/4-scale, maybe larger, Extra 300
fuselage, mounted on a wooden pallet and ready for
shipping. Terrific!
June 2009 41
Photos by Michael Ramsey
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:16 AM Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Loose pieces should be safely housed in a
box that can then be secured within the
confines of the larger shipping container.
The box containing mainly the fuselage contents
is laid next to the box and interior frame. The
nose spinner is great for engine protection.
Above: Loading the wings was the easy part, since they would
lay flat. Protective bubble wrap prevents chafing the wing
panels, which were packed surrounded by foam peanuts.
Right: From a different perspective, it’s easy to think that
shipping a model inside a smaller box might be possible. Extra
padding is an investment you’ll never regret.
The day after its arrival, the Golden Era 60 Bipe was
assembled and taken on its maiden flight. The shipping
project was a valuable lesson—and a successful one—that
didn’t cost a fortune.
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 42
June 2009 43
Containers
• 60 x 32 x 24-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $34.13
• 60 x 24 x 18-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $32.46
• Shipping and handling: $27.50
Total: $94.09
Packaging Materials
• 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts: $28.30
• Eight 1-inch x 3-inch x 8-foot spruce furring support frame: $10.17
Total: $38.47
Shipping Costs
• Express: $75.75
• Insurance: $4
• Fuel surcharge: $6.85
Total: $86.60
Total Materials and Shipping: $219.06 MA
—Fred Randall
Shipping Materials and Estimates
It was Sunday, so I e-mailed the company,
explaining my dilemma in detail. Monday
morning, I received a phone call from a
gentleman who represented the shipping
company. He said he would be able to
accommodate the bipe. Including pickup at
my home, on-site crating, materials, labor,
and transportation to Muncie, the cost would
come to only $800.
I told him I’d check with “my people” and
get back to him. The price was way more than
I wanted to pay, and I gave up on that option.
I got back on the Internet and looked for a
source for containers.
After many telephone calls and e-mails,
with less than encouraging results, I received
a return e-mail from Custom Made Boxes in
Des Moines, Iowa. I was informed that the
company could provide custom-made,
double-thick corrugated boxes for the model
at a reasonable cost.
After a series of e-mails and telephone
calls between Kim Weier and me, I ordered
the boxes. The cost, including shipping to me
at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was just less than
$100.
While I waited for the boxes to arrive, I
queried trucking companies, asking for the
cost of shipping the packages to AMA
Headquarters (a distance of 893.3 miles,
according to MapQuest). I figured a weight of
a bit less than 100 pounds for the two
packages.
I received quotes that were in the
neighborhood of $300 from all of the
shippers, and I’d have to take the boxes to the
terminals. All cited the cost of diesel fuel at
well more than $4 per gallon as the reason for
the high price.
I exchanged e-mails with Michael
Ramsey, discussing the problem. One of his
suggestions was to check with the Greyhound
(bus lines) PackageXpress. I’ll tell you more
about this later.
Packing Recommendations: When the
boxes arrived, I devised a plan for securing
the bipe’s fuselage in the larger of the two. I
made a quick trip to the local hardware store
and lumberyard and returned home with some
8-foot lengths of 1 x 3-inch pine strips.
Using the lumber, I made a ladderlike base
framework. To that I stapled and hot-glued a
pair of heavy corrugated-cardboard triangles
that were notched to support the fuselage,
front and rear. I lined the notches with 2-inchthick
batting material and put the fuselage
into the notches.
During that operation, I realized that I was
going to need to remove the landing gear. I
would have preferred to leave it on for the
additional protection it would have afforded
the fuselage from underside damage, in case
of mishandling.
I removed the landing gear and taped it to
the fuselage support, after which I covered the
airplane with more batting. I covered the
batting at the front and rear of the model with
wide cardboard strips.
I secured the assembly to the base frame
using lots of “McGuyver grade” duct tape.
The Golden Era was secure in its cradle, but it
needed protection from being crushed from
above. For that, I constructed a “roll cage”
frame from the wood strapping.
I duct-taped a small box containing the
cowl and hardware, as well as samples of the
composite material I used in the wings, to the
roll cage, and then I lowered the assembly
into the larger box. The wooden frame was
designed to fit snugly so that it couldn’t shift
within the enclosure. I bid the bipe a fond
farewell and closed its container.
Then I turned my attention to the wings. I
had purchased a 14-cubic-foot bag of packing
peanuts from Postal Center USA to protect
them.
My wife, Lol (short for Lorraine), helped
me pour a 4-inch layer of peanuts in the
bottom of the smaller box. I placed the
bubble-wrapped lower wing on top of the
peanuts and poured in more peanuts, covering
the wing under a thick coating.
Then I placed the upper wing, also
encased in bubble wrap, in the box. I poured
in the rest of the peanuts, filling the box to
capacity.
I added a manila envelope that contained a
few additional parts and a note for the “lucky”
recipient. Last, I sealed both boxes with glue
and tape, added labels, and included the
address information.
Now for getting the boxes to Muncie.
Budget-Wise Shipping: Following
Michael’s suggestion, I went to the
Greyhound Web site and clicked on “Package
Express.” Fully expecting the boxes to be
rejected because of size, I keyed in the city of
origin and destination, size, and approximate
weight data. The only size restriction was that
the largest dimension couldn’t exceed 80
inches.
The estimated price for overnight priority
delivery to the Anderson, Indiana, Greyhound
terminal was only roughly $100. I was
ecstatic! After I settled down from my
excitement, I checked the schedules.
It was Saturday, and the buses run seven
days. According to the timetable, if I got the
packages on the bus at 10:30 a.m. Sunday,
they would reach the Anderson terminal the
following morning at 10:20 a.m.—just 23
hours and 50 minutes later.
Anderson is 20 miles from AMA
Headquarters, and Michael said it would be
no problem for him to pick up the boxes.
(Editor’s note: Fred was sending me an
airplane to test; it was the least I could do!)
Sunday morning, Lol and I got up early
and loaded the van. We almost had to put one
box on the roof rack but found that we could
stack them inside by sliding the smaller box
in through the side door.
It’s 20 miles to Worcester (we pronounce
it Wussta, with a New England accent), where
the Greyhound terminal is. It has street level
access, so we off-loaded the boxes and toted
them down a long hall to the ticket window.
“Can I help you?” asked the ticket clerk, a
short, stout lady.
It had to be obvious, since we had the
coffin-sized boxes in tow. I explained that
they were fragile and needed to go to
Anderson, Indiana, by Priority Express,
ensuring a one-day trip.
The clerk opened a door and directed us to
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 43
bring the boxes inside. Then a young man,
who looked like he had had a rough night,
entered and punched in for work. The lady
told us that he was a new hire and that she
would help him through the transaction.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I said again.
The man weighed the boxes on a portable
electric scale and recorded them as 35 and 16
pounds. I was getting antsy, because it was
almost 10:20 and the process was going at a
snail’s pace.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I reiterated.
I might as well have been talking to the
tiled wall. The process crept along, until, at
last, the clerk asked for my credit card. She
swiped it, had me sign, said, “Thank you for
using Greyhound!” and handed me a receipt.
Lol and I waited in the van outside the
area where the buses offload and onload
passengers, until a Greyhound arrived. After
the people disembarked, a cart with the bipe
boxes on it was trundled up. A large
compartment was opened in the side of the
bus, and it easily swallowed the boxes. The
porter seemed to do his job with all possible
care.
We waited for the bus to depart. I felt
good on the way home, thinking that the
model was in good hands.
Sunday passed, and Monday morning
arrived. When the clock hit 10:45, I called the
Anderson depot. A man with a curt attitude
said that the boxes hadn’t arrived. I was upset
and asked where they might be. After a spate
of verbal sparring, he gave me a number to
call.
After the usual, “Your call is important to
us … ” spiel, a woman answered. She asked
for the order number. When I recited it to her,
she said that the boxes weren’t sent priority
and that it could take anywhere between two
and 10 days!
I am basically harmless but capable of a
righteous rant when sufficiently agitated—
and I was agitated! I explained to the poor
woman in a less than polite tone that I had
definitely requested priority shipping. Then I
asked where the boxes were.
“We don’t track non-priority shipments,”
she said apologetically.
If I was agitated before, I was now
furious. I slammed the phone into the cradle
with such force that the caller-ID box
bounced off the side of the desk and clattered
to the floor.
On the Internet, I located the telephone
number of the Greyhound home office in
Texas and dialed it. After the usual dose of
elevator music, a woman with a pleasant
voice and a Texas drawl answered.
Maintaining my cool, despite wanting to
scream, I explained the situation.
She said softly:
“Oh, you poor dear! I don’t blame you for
being upset. Unfortunately these things
happen and what I suggest is to wait until
5:30 p.m. when the Anderson terminal
reopens and call again. There’s every chance
your shipment will be there then. Is there
anything else I can do for you?”
My mind raced; this wonderful, caring
creature made me want to curl up in her lap
and purr. I forced myself back to reality.
I called the Anderson terminal at 5:45
p.m. The same annoyed tone as before
spilled from the telephone, and I was again
propelled to high orbit. Almost before I
could speak, he growled “Not here” and
hung up.
I was reminded of a recent conversation
with a friend who had shipped auto parts to
California via Greyhound. He said:
“Took three weeks! I tried to get the
location of my stuff, but nobody knew. I had
just filed a claim with Greyhound when my
contact in California called to tell me the box
arrived and it was in good condition!”
I didn’t know what to think. Had I made a
huge mistake by sending my precious MA
construction article prototype by
Greyhound? Exasperated beyond words, I
got on the telephone with Michael Ramsey.
He told me to calm down and that if anything
happened to the airplane, it could be fixed.
“After all, we’re modelers!” he said.
“Handling little surprises is what we do!”
Somehow I felt better.
In the morning, Michael e-mailed me,
reporting that the Golden Era Bipe was in
Indianapolis and that, because the local bus
service couldn’t handle the packages’ sizes,
it would assign a courier service to deliver
them directly to AMA Headquarters.
Someone had finally read the “Priority
Shipment” sticker on the box!
To my profound relief, the boxes arrived
in perfect shape. Miracles do happen; all was
well with the world again.
When the boxes were being prepared for
shipping, a yellow “Priority Shipment”
sticker was affixed to them as I requested.
However, the new hire in Worcester made a
mistake while checking in the packages; I was
charged for standard (GLI) rather than priority
(PPP) shipping, and the amount was $86.60.
I thought the lower price was because the
combined weight was only half of what I had
estimated using the Web site calculator. The
result was that the Greyhound company
offices thought the shipment was GLI and
handled my telephone queries accordingly.
The people moving the packages saw the
priority sticker and handled it appropriately.
As it turned out, the boxes arrived at AMA
Headquarters the next day. That was one heck
of a bargain!
Moral of the Story: Maybe you will sell a
model on eBay or need one shipped to a
contest location. I’ll fill you in on some things
I’ve learned and advice you should take from
my diary.
Package the contents so that they can be
stored at almost any angle. Even though the
box might be marked “Top,” the directions
could be mistaken.
Boxes with double-wall thickness are well
worth the money. If you make your own
boxes, line them with an extra layer of
cardboard, attached with hot glue. Inside a
rigid wood frame, the contents are less likely
to endure a container collapse.
Strap down loose items or store them
inside an interior box. Untethered items could
damage the other contents in the box.
Protect the aircraft’s finish against
buffeting with soft material such as the batting
I cited, Polyethylene Foam material, or bubble
wrap. The airplane’s outside points, such as
the rudder, fin, and stabilizer, should be
packed at least 1 inch from the container sides
and shielded with a foam or soft cover in case
the contents shift or the box is shocked.
Using Greyhound was a new experience,
so tracking the shipment was more nerveracking
than it would have been otherwise.
The employees did their jobs well—and at a
price that no other professional carrier service
was willing to offer.
I learned that all packages should be
shipped with some lead time, to allow for
handling difficulties that can occur even with
premium services. I recommend this service,
and I hope that this story will help you with
any shipping dilemmas you might encounter.
The next time you open the box containing
a new ARF or RTF, notice the content
arrangement and packing used. The methods
those manufacturers use are typically good
examples of how to ship model aircraft. MA
Fred Randall
[email protected]
Sources:
Custom Made Boxes
(515) 309-6155
www.custommadeboxes.com
Greyhound
(800) 739-5020
www.greyhound.com
Postal Center USA
www.postalcenterusa.com
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:50 AM Page 44
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 40,41,42,43,44
Ship Model Aircraft
Successfully
40 MODEL AVIATION
I WAS KIDDING—or perhaps I only
thought I was. When MA Editor Michael
Ramsey expressed a desire to fly my
Golden Era 60 Bipe (the subject of a
February 2009 MA RC construction
article), I replied by e-mail, “Fine … I’ll
ship it and you can test fly it!” I hadn’t
expected the reply I got.
“I Double Dog Dare Ya!” he wrote.
I try to be a sensible person, but I took
this as a challenge. I suppose it has
something to do with my Celtic ancestry.
“I’m serious; where do you want it
sent!?” I e-mailed back. So it began.
A search ensued for a suitable container,
or containers, for the model’s bulky and
odd-shaped components. I determined that
I would need two boxes; one would
measure 60 x 32 x 24 inches and the other
would be 60 x 24 x 18 inches.
My first stop was one of the local
shippers, which serves as an agent for UPS,
FedEx, and DHL. The results were
Above: Not so much as a boot print or caved corner was
detected when Greyhound’s PackageXpress service delivered
the priority shipment.
Right: Since the Golden Era 60 Bipe isn’t a cabbage-patch model,
the holes are a considerate feature that the author built in so
that the shipping agents could handle the packages properly.
Below: This box was void of foam packing peanuts (thank
goodness), yet it still arrived with the cargo totally secure. The
secret is in binding the contents.
by Fred Randall
Tips for sending your large assembled
treasures across the country
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:14 AM Page 40
Left: Double-layered
corrugated cardboard is
just that: two layers of
ribbed material and
three skin barriers. It’s
tough as nails and
should be specified when
custom-ordering shipping
boxes.
Right: It’s good to use a
strong tape on the inside
flaps and seams.
Above: See? Duct tape can be used for almost
anything, as long as “anything” doesn’t need to
move—such as a completely assembled model
fuselage.
Right: The author made an interior frame from 1 x
3-foot framing material. It both supported the
outer box and lent a structure to which the
contents could be bound.
Below: Folded cardboard supported the airframe
so it could be 2-4 inches away from the box sides,
thus safe from turbulent impact. Foam batting
prevents chafing.
disappointing; it had no boxes big enough for the
airplane’s parts.
Not only that, but the clerk informed me that
neither UPS nor DHL nor FedEx handles packages
that large. UPS would ship the smaller of the two
boxes for $200—more than I wanted to pay. Besides,
I wanted to keep the boxes together.
Now I had two problems: finding containers for
the Golden Era and finding a shipper to take them to
AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana!
I searched the Internet and found a Web site
proclaiming that it could box and ship almost
anything. Prominently displayed on the home page
was a picture of a 1/4-scale, maybe larger, Extra 300
fuselage, mounted on a wooden pallet and ready for
shipping. Terrific!
June 2009 41
Photos by Michael Ramsey
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:16 AM Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Loose pieces should be safely housed in a
box that can then be secured within the
confines of the larger shipping container.
The box containing mainly the fuselage contents
is laid next to the box and interior frame. The
nose spinner is great for engine protection.
Above: Loading the wings was the easy part, since they would
lay flat. Protective bubble wrap prevents chafing the wing
panels, which were packed surrounded by foam peanuts.
Right: From a different perspective, it’s easy to think that
shipping a model inside a smaller box might be possible. Extra
padding is an investment you’ll never regret.
The day after its arrival, the Golden Era 60 Bipe was
assembled and taken on its maiden flight. The shipping
project was a valuable lesson—and a successful one—that
didn’t cost a fortune.
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 42
June 2009 43
Containers
• 60 x 32 x 24-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $34.13
• 60 x 24 x 18-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $32.46
• Shipping and handling: $27.50
Total: $94.09
Packaging Materials
• 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts: $28.30
• Eight 1-inch x 3-inch x 8-foot spruce furring support frame: $10.17
Total: $38.47
Shipping Costs
• Express: $75.75
• Insurance: $4
• Fuel surcharge: $6.85
Total: $86.60
Total Materials and Shipping: $219.06 MA
—Fred Randall
Shipping Materials and Estimates
It was Sunday, so I e-mailed the company,
explaining my dilemma in detail. Monday
morning, I received a phone call from a
gentleman who represented the shipping
company. He said he would be able to
accommodate the bipe. Including pickup at
my home, on-site crating, materials, labor,
and transportation to Muncie, the cost would
come to only $800.
I told him I’d check with “my people” and
get back to him. The price was way more than
I wanted to pay, and I gave up on that option.
I got back on the Internet and looked for a
source for containers.
After many telephone calls and e-mails,
with less than encouraging results, I received
a return e-mail from Custom Made Boxes in
Des Moines, Iowa. I was informed that the
company could provide custom-made,
double-thick corrugated boxes for the model
at a reasonable cost.
After a series of e-mails and telephone
calls between Kim Weier and me, I ordered
the boxes. The cost, including shipping to me
at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was just less than
$100.
While I waited for the boxes to arrive, I
queried trucking companies, asking for the
cost of shipping the packages to AMA
Headquarters (a distance of 893.3 miles,
according to MapQuest). I figured a weight of
a bit less than 100 pounds for the two
packages.
I received quotes that were in the
neighborhood of $300 from all of the
shippers, and I’d have to take the boxes to the
terminals. All cited the cost of diesel fuel at
well more than $4 per gallon as the reason for
the high price.
I exchanged e-mails with Michael
Ramsey, discussing the problem. One of his
suggestions was to check with the Greyhound
(bus lines) PackageXpress. I’ll tell you more
about this later.
Packing Recommendations: When the
boxes arrived, I devised a plan for securing
the bipe’s fuselage in the larger of the two. I
made a quick trip to the local hardware store
and lumberyard and returned home with some
8-foot lengths of 1 x 3-inch pine strips.
Using the lumber, I made a ladderlike base
framework. To that I stapled and hot-glued a
pair of heavy corrugated-cardboard triangles
that were notched to support the fuselage,
front and rear. I lined the notches with 2-inchthick
batting material and put the fuselage
into the notches.
During that operation, I realized that I was
going to need to remove the landing gear. I
would have preferred to leave it on for the
additional protection it would have afforded
the fuselage from underside damage, in case
of mishandling.
I removed the landing gear and taped it to
the fuselage support, after which I covered the
airplane with more batting. I covered the
batting at the front and rear of the model with
wide cardboard strips.
I secured the assembly to the base frame
using lots of “McGuyver grade” duct tape.
The Golden Era was secure in its cradle, but it
needed protection from being crushed from
above. For that, I constructed a “roll cage”
frame from the wood strapping.
I duct-taped a small box containing the
cowl and hardware, as well as samples of the
composite material I used in the wings, to the
roll cage, and then I lowered the assembly
into the larger box. The wooden frame was
designed to fit snugly so that it couldn’t shift
within the enclosure. I bid the bipe a fond
farewell and closed its container.
Then I turned my attention to the wings. I
had purchased a 14-cubic-foot bag of packing
peanuts from Postal Center USA to protect
them.
My wife, Lol (short for Lorraine), helped
me pour a 4-inch layer of peanuts in the
bottom of the smaller box. I placed the
bubble-wrapped lower wing on top of the
peanuts and poured in more peanuts, covering
the wing under a thick coating.
Then I placed the upper wing, also
encased in bubble wrap, in the box. I poured
in the rest of the peanuts, filling the box to
capacity.
I added a manila envelope that contained a
few additional parts and a note for the “lucky”
recipient. Last, I sealed both boxes with glue
and tape, added labels, and included the
address information.
Now for getting the boxes to Muncie.
Budget-Wise Shipping: Following
Michael’s suggestion, I went to the
Greyhound Web site and clicked on “Package
Express.” Fully expecting the boxes to be
rejected because of size, I keyed in the city of
origin and destination, size, and approximate
weight data. The only size restriction was that
the largest dimension couldn’t exceed 80
inches.
The estimated price for overnight priority
delivery to the Anderson, Indiana, Greyhound
terminal was only roughly $100. I was
ecstatic! After I settled down from my
excitement, I checked the schedules.
It was Saturday, and the buses run seven
days. According to the timetable, if I got the
packages on the bus at 10:30 a.m. Sunday,
they would reach the Anderson terminal the
following morning at 10:20 a.m.—just 23
hours and 50 minutes later.
Anderson is 20 miles from AMA
Headquarters, and Michael said it would be
no problem for him to pick up the boxes.
(Editor’s note: Fred was sending me an
airplane to test; it was the least I could do!)
Sunday morning, Lol and I got up early
and loaded the van. We almost had to put one
box on the roof rack but found that we could
stack them inside by sliding the smaller box
in through the side door.
It’s 20 miles to Worcester (we pronounce
it Wussta, with a New England accent), where
the Greyhound terminal is. It has street level
access, so we off-loaded the boxes and toted
them down a long hall to the ticket window.
“Can I help you?” asked the ticket clerk, a
short, stout lady.
It had to be obvious, since we had the
coffin-sized boxes in tow. I explained that
they were fragile and needed to go to
Anderson, Indiana, by Priority Express,
ensuring a one-day trip.
The clerk opened a door and directed us to
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 43
bring the boxes inside. Then a young man,
who looked like he had had a rough night,
entered and punched in for work. The lady
told us that he was a new hire and that she
would help him through the transaction.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I said again.
The man weighed the boxes on a portable
electric scale and recorded them as 35 and 16
pounds. I was getting antsy, because it was
almost 10:20 and the process was going at a
snail’s pace.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I reiterated.
I might as well have been talking to the
tiled wall. The process crept along, until, at
last, the clerk asked for my credit card. She
swiped it, had me sign, said, “Thank you for
using Greyhound!” and handed me a receipt.
Lol and I waited in the van outside the
area where the buses offload and onload
passengers, until a Greyhound arrived. After
the people disembarked, a cart with the bipe
boxes on it was trundled up. A large
compartment was opened in the side of the
bus, and it easily swallowed the boxes. The
porter seemed to do his job with all possible
care.
We waited for the bus to depart. I felt
good on the way home, thinking that the
model was in good hands.
Sunday passed, and Monday morning
arrived. When the clock hit 10:45, I called the
Anderson depot. A man with a curt attitude
said that the boxes hadn’t arrived. I was upset
and asked where they might be. After a spate
of verbal sparring, he gave me a number to
call.
After the usual, “Your call is important to
us … ” spiel, a woman answered. She asked
for the order number. When I recited it to her,
she said that the boxes weren’t sent priority
and that it could take anywhere between two
and 10 days!
I am basically harmless but capable of a
righteous rant when sufficiently agitated—
and I was agitated! I explained to the poor
woman in a less than polite tone that I had
definitely requested priority shipping. Then I
asked where the boxes were.
“We don’t track non-priority shipments,”
she said apologetically.
If I was agitated before, I was now
furious. I slammed the phone into the cradle
with such force that the caller-ID box
bounced off the side of the desk and clattered
to the floor.
On the Internet, I located the telephone
number of the Greyhound home office in
Texas and dialed it. After the usual dose of
elevator music, a woman with a pleasant
voice and a Texas drawl answered.
Maintaining my cool, despite wanting to
scream, I explained the situation.
She said softly:
“Oh, you poor dear! I don’t blame you for
being upset. Unfortunately these things
happen and what I suggest is to wait until
5:30 p.m. when the Anderson terminal
reopens and call again. There’s every chance
your shipment will be there then. Is there
anything else I can do for you?”
My mind raced; this wonderful, caring
creature made me want to curl up in her lap
and purr. I forced myself back to reality.
I called the Anderson terminal at 5:45
p.m. The same annoyed tone as before
spilled from the telephone, and I was again
propelled to high orbit. Almost before I
could speak, he growled “Not here” and
hung up.
I was reminded of a recent conversation
with a friend who had shipped auto parts to
California via Greyhound. He said:
“Took three weeks! I tried to get the
location of my stuff, but nobody knew. I had
just filed a claim with Greyhound when my
contact in California called to tell me the box
arrived and it was in good condition!”
I didn’t know what to think. Had I made a
huge mistake by sending my precious MA
construction article prototype by
Greyhound? Exasperated beyond words, I
got on the telephone with Michael Ramsey.
He told me to calm down and that if anything
happened to the airplane, it could be fixed.
“After all, we’re modelers!” he said.
“Handling little surprises is what we do!”
Somehow I felt better.
In the morning, Michael e-mailed me,
reporting that the Golden Era Bipe was in
Indianapolis and that, because the local bus
service couldn’t handle the packages’ sizes,
it would assign a courier service to deliver
them directly to AMA Headquarters.
Someone had finally read the “Priority
Shipment” sticker on the box!
To my profound relief, the boxes arrived
in perfect shape. Miracles do happen; all was
well with the world again.
When the boxes were being prepared for
shipping, a yellow “Priority Shipment”
sticker was affixed to them as I requested.
However, the new hire in Worcester made a
mistake while checking in the packages; I was
charged for standard (GLI) rather than priority
(PPP) shipping, and the amount was $86.60.
I thought the lower price was because the
combined weight was only half of what I had
estimated using the Web site calculator. The
result was that the Greyhound company
offices thought the shipment was GLI and
handled my telephone queries accordingly.
The people moving the packages saw the
priority sticker and handled it appropriately.
As it turned out, the boxes arrived at AMA
Headquarters the next day. That was one heck
of a bargain!
Moral of the Story: Maybe you will sell a
model on eBay or need one shipped to a
contest location. I’ll fill you in on some things
I’ve learned and advice you should take from
my diary.
Package the contents so that they can be
stored at almost any angle. Even though the
box might be marked “Top,” the directions
could be mistaken.
Boxes with double-wall thickness are well
worth the money. If you make your own
boxes, line them with an extra layer of
cardboard, attached with hot glue. Inside a
rigid wood frame, the contents are less likely
to endure a container collapse.
Strap down loose items or store them
inside an interior box. Untethered items could
damage the other contents in the box.
Protect the aircraft’s finish against
buffeting with soft material such as the batting
I cited, Polyethylene Foam material, or bubble
wrap. The airplane’s outside points, such as
the rudder, fin, and stabilizer, should be
packed at least 1 inch from the container sides
and shielded with a foam or soft cover in case
the contents shift or the box is shocked.
Using Greyhound was a new experience,
so tracking the shipment was more nerveracking
than it would have been otherwise.
The employees did their jobs well—and at a
price that no other professional carrier service
was willing to offer.
I learned that all packages should be
shipped with some lead time, to allow for
handling difficulties that can occur even with
premium services. I recommend this service,
and I hope that this story will help you with
any shipping dilemmas you might encounter.
The next time you open the box containing
a new ARF or RTF, notice the content
arrangement and packing used. The methods
those manufacturers use are typically good
examples of how to ship model aircraft. MA
Fred Randall
[email protected]
Sources:
Custom Made Boxes
(515) 309-6155
www.custommadeboxes.com
Greyhound
(800) 739-5020
www.greyhound.com
Postal Center USA
www.postalcenterusa.com
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:50 AM Page 44
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 40,41,42,43,44
Ship Model Aircraft
Successfully
40 MODEL AVIATION
I WAS KIDDING—or perhaps I only
thought I was. When MA Editor Michael
Ramsey expressed a desire to fly my
Golden Era 60 Bipe (the subject of a
February 2009 MA RC construction
article), I replied by e-mail, “Fine … I’ll
ship it and you can test fly it!” I hadn’t
expected the reply I got.
“I Double Dog Dare Ya!” he wrote.
I try to be a sensible person, but I took
this as a challenge. I suppose it has
something to do with my Celtic ancestry.
“I’m serious; where do you want it
sent!?” I e-mailed back. So it began.
A search ensued for a suitable container,
or containers, for the model’s bulky and
odd-shaped components. I determined that
I would need two boxes; one would
measure 60 x 32 x 24 inches and the other
would be 60 x 24 x 18 inches.
My first stop was one of the local
shippers, which serves as an agent for UPS,
FedEx, and DHL. The results were
Above: Not so much as a boot print or caved corner was
detected when Greyhound’s PackageXpress service delivered
the priority shipment.
Right: Since the Golden Era 60 Bipe isn’t a cabbage-patch model,
the holes are a considerate feature that the author built in so
that the shipping agents could handle the packages properly.
Below: This box was void of foam packing peanuts (thank
goodness), yet it still arrived with the cargo totally secure. The
secret is in binding the contents.
by Fred Randall
Tips for sending your large assembled
treasures across the country
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:14 AM Page 40
Left: Double-layered
corrugated cardboard is
just that: two layers of
ribbed material and
three skin barriers. It’s
tough as nails and
should be specified when
custom-ordering shipping
boxes.
Right: It’s good to use a
strong tape on the inside
flaps and seams.
Above: See? Duct tape can be used for almost
anything, as long as “anything” doesn’t need to
move—such as a completely assembled model
fuselage.
Right: The author made an interior frame from 1 x
3-foot framing material. It both supported the
outer box and lent a structure to which the
contents could be bound.
Below: Folded cardboard supported the airframe
so it could be 2-4 inches away from the box sides,
thus safe from turbulent impact. Foam batting
prevents chafing.
disappointing; it had no boxes big enough for the
airplane’s parts.
Not only that, but the clerk informed me that
neither UPS nor DHL nor FedEx handles packages
that large. UPS would ship the smaller of the two
boxes for $200—more than I wanted to pay. Besides,
I wanted to keep the boxes together.
Now I had two problems: finding containers for
the Golden Era and finding a shipper to take them to
AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana!
I searched the Internet and found a Web site
proclaiming that it could box and ship almost
anything. Prominently displayed on the home page
was a picture of a 1/4-scale, maybe larger, Extra 300
fuselage, mounted on a wooden pallet and ready for
shipping. Terrific!
June 2009 41
Photos by Michael Ramsey
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:16 AM Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Loose pieces should be safely housed in a
box that can then be secured within the
confines of the larger shipping container.
The box containing mainly the fuselage contents
is laid next to the box and interior frame. The
nose spinner is great for engine protection.
Above: Loading the wings was the easy part, since they would
lay flat. Protective bubble wrap prevents chafing the wing
panels, which were packed surrounded by foam peanuts.
Right: From a different perspective, it’s easy to think that
shipping a model inside a smaller box might be possible. Extra
padding is an investment you’ll never regret.
The day after its arrival, the Golden Era 60 Bipe was
assembled and taken on its maiden flight. The shipping
project was a valuable lesson—and a successful one—that
didn’t cost a fortune.
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 42
June 2009 43
Containers
• 60 x 32 x 24-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $34.13
• 60 x 24 x 18-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $32.46
• Shipping and handling: $27.50
Total: $94.09
Packaging Materials
• 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts: $28.30
• Eight 1-inch x 3-inch x 8-foot spruce furring support frame: $10.17
Total: $38.47
Shipping Costs
• Express: $75.75
• Insurance: $4
• Fuel surcharge: $6.85
Total: $86.60
Total Materials and Shipping: $219.06 MA
—Fred Randall
Shipping Materials and Estimates
It was Sunday, so I e-mailed the company,
explaining my dilemma in detail. Monday
morning, I received a phone call from a
gentleman who represented the shipping
company. He said he would be able to
accommodate the bipe. Including pickup at
my home, on-site crating, materials, labor,
and transportation to Muncie, the cost would
come to only $800.
I told him I’d check with “my people” and
get back to him. The price was way more than
I wanted to pay, and I gave up on that option.
I got back on the Internet and looked for a
source for containers.
After many telephone calls and e-mails,
with less than encouraging results, I received
a return e-mail from Custom Made Boxes in
Des Moines, Iowa. I was informed that the
company could provide custom-made,
double-thick corrugated boxes for the model
at a reasonable cost.
After a series of e-mails and telephone
calls between Kim Weier and me, I ordered
the boxes. The cost, including shipping to me
at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was just less than
$100.
While I waited for the boxes to arrive, I
queried trucking companies, asking for the
cost of shipping the packages to AMA
Headquarters (a distance of 893.3 miles,
according to MapQuest). I figured a weight of
a bit less than 100 pounds for the two
packages.
I received quotes that were in the
neighborhood of $300 from all of the
shippers, and I’d have to take the boxes to the
terminals. All cited the cost of diesel fuel at
well more than $4 per gallon as the reason for
the high price.
I exchanged e-mails with Michael
Ramsey, discussing the problem. One of his
suggestions was to check with the Greyhound
(bus lines) PackageXpress. I’ll tell you more
about this later.
Packing Recommendations: When the
boxes arrived, I devised a plan for securing
the bipe’s fuselage in the larger of the two. I
made a quick trip to the local hardware store
and lumberyard and returned home with some
8-foot lengths of 1 x 3-inch pine strips.
Using the lumber, I made a ladderlike base
framework. To that I stapled and hot-glued a
pair of heavy corrugated-cardboard triangles
that were notched to support the fuselage,
front and rear. I lined the notches with 2-inchthick
batting material and put the fuselage
into the notches.
During that operation, I realized that I was
going to need to remove the landing gear. I
would have preferred to leave it on for the
additional protection it would have afforded
the fuselage from underside damage, in case
of mishandling.
I removed the landing gear and taped it to
the fuselage support, after which I covered the
airplane with more batting. I covered the
batting at the front and rear of the model with
wide cardboard strips.
I secured the assembly to the base frame
using lots of “McGuyver grade” duct tape.
The Golden Era was secure in its cradle, but it
needed protection from being crushed from
above. For that, I constructed a “roll cage”
frame from the wood strapping.
I duct-taped a small box containing the
cowl and hardware, as well as samples of the
composite material I used in the wings, to the
roll cage, and then I lowered the assembly
into the larger box. The wooden frame was
designed to fit snugly so that it couldn’t shift
within the enclosure. I bid the bipe a fond
farewell and closed its container.
Then I turned my attention to the wings. I
had purchased a 14-cubic-foot bag of packing
peanuts from Postal Center USA to protect
them.
My wife, Lol (short for Lorraine), helped
me pour a 4-inch layer of peanuts in the
bottom of the smaller box. I placed the
bubble-wrapped lower wing on top of the
peanuts and poured in more peanuts, covering
the wing under a thick coating.
Then I placed the upper wing, also
encased in bubble wrap, in the box. I poured
in the rest of the peanuts, filling the box to
capacity.
I added a manila envelope that contained a
few additional parts and a note for the “lucky”
recipient. Last, I sealed both boxes with glue
and tape, added labels, and included the
address information.
Now for getting the boxes to Muncie.
Budget-Wise Shipping: Following
Michael’s suggestion, I went to the
Greyhound Web site and clicked on “Package
Express.” Fully expecting the boxes to be
rejected because of size, I keyed in the city of
origin and destination, size, and approximate
weight data. The only size restriction was that
the largest dimension couldn’t exceed 80
inches.
The estimated price for overnight priority
delivery to the Anderson, Indiana, Greyhound
terminal was only roughly $100. I was
ecstatic! After I settled down from my
excitement, I checked the schedules.
It was Saturday, and the buses run seven
days. According to the timetable, if I got the
packages on the bus at 10:30 a.m. Sunday,
they would reach the Anderson terminal the
following morning at 10:20 a.m.—just 23
hours and 50 minutes later.
Anderson is 20 miles from AMA
Headquarters, and Michael said it would be
no problem for him to pick up the boxes.
(Editor’s note: Fred was sending me an
airplane to test; it was the least I could do!)
Sunday morning, Lol and I got up early
and loaded the van. We almost had to put one
box on the roof rack but found that we could
stack them inside by sliding the smaller box
in through the side door.
It’s 20 miles to Worcester (we pronounce
it Wussta, with a New England accent), where
the Greyhound terminal is. It has street level
access, so we off-loaded the boxes and toted
them down a long hall to the ticket window.
“Can I help you?” asked the ticket clerk, a
short, stout lady.
It had to be obvious, since we had the
coffin-sized boxes in tow. I explained that
they were fragile and needed to go to
Anderson, Indiana, by Priority Express,
ensuring a one-day trip.
The clerk opened a door and directed us to
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 43
bring the boxes inside. Then a young man,
who looked like he had had a rough night,
entered and punched in for work. The lady
told us that he was a new hire and that she
would help him through the transaction.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I said again.
The man weighed the boxes on a portable
electric scale and recorded them as 35 and 16
pounds. I was getting antsy, because it was
almost 10:20 and the process was going at a
snail’s pace.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I reiterated.
I might as well have been talking to the
tiled wall. The process crept along, until, at
last, the clerk asked for my credit card. She
swiped it, had me sign, said, “Thank you for
using Greyhound!” and handed me a receipt.
Lol and I waited in the van outside the
area where the buses offload and onload
passengers, until a Greyhound arrived. After
the people disembarked, a cart with the bipe
boxes on it was trundled up. A large
compartment was opened in the side of the
bus, and it easily swallowed the boxes. The
porter seemed to do his job with all possible
care.
We waited for the bus to depart. I felt
good on the way home, thinking that the
model was in good hands.
Sunday passed, and Monday morning
arrived. When the clock hit 10:45, I called the
Anderson depot. A man with a curt attitude
said that the boxes hadn’t arrived. I was upset
and asked where they might be. After a spate
of verbal sparring, he gave me a number to
call.
After the usual, “Your call is important to
us … ” spiel, a woman answered. She asked
for the order number. When I recited it to her,
she said that the boxes weren’t sent priority
and that it could take anywhere between two
and 10 days!
I am basically harmless but capable of a
righteous rant when sufficiently agitated—
and I was agitated! I explained to the poor
woman in a less than polite tone that I had
definitely requested priority shipping. Then I
asked where the boxes were.
“We don’t track non-priority shipments,”
she said apologetically.
If I was agitated before, I was now
furious. I slammed the phone into the cradle
with such force that the caller-ID box
bounced off the side of the desk and clattered
to the floor.
On the Internet, I located the telephone
number of the Greyhound home office in
Texas and dialed it. After the usual dose of
elevator music, a woman with a pleasant
voice and a Texas drawl answered.
Maintaining my cool, despite wanting to
scream, I explained the situation.
She said softly:
“Oh, you poor dear! I don’t blame you for
being upset. Unfortunately these things
happen and what I suggest is to wait until
5:30 p.m. when the Anderson terminal
reopens and call again. There’s every chance
your shipment will be there then. Is there
anything else I can do for you?”
My mind raced; this wonderful, caring
creature made me want to curl up in her lap
and purr. I forced myself back to reality.
I called the Anderson terminal at 5:45
p.m. The same annoyed tone as before
spilled from the telephone, and I was again
propelled to high orbit. Almost before I
could speak, he growled “Not here” and
hung up.
I was reminded of a recent conversation
with a friend who had shipped auto parts to
California via Greyhound. He said:
“Took three weeks! I tried to get the
location of my stuff, but nobody knew. I had
just filed a claim with Greyhound when my
contact in California called to tell me the box
arrived and it was in good condition!”
I didn’t know what to think. Had I made a
huge mistake by sending my precious MA
construction article prototype by
Greyhound? Exasperated beyond words, I
got on the telephone with Michael Ramsey.
He told me to calm down and that if anything
happened to the airplane, it could be fixed.
“After all, we’re modelers!” he said.
“Handling little surprises is what we do!”
Somehow I felt better.
In the morning, Michael e-mailed me,
reporting that the Golden Era Bipe was in
Indianapolis and that, because the local bus
service couldn’t handle the packages’ sizes,
it would assign a courier service to deliver
them directly to AMA Headquarters.
Someone had finally read the “Priority
Shipment” sticker on the box!
To my profound relief, the boxes arrived
in perfect shape. Miracles do happen; all was
well with the world again.
When the boxes were being prepared for
shipping, a yellow “Priority Shipment”
sticker was affixed to them as I requested.
However, the new hire in Worcester made a
mistake while checking in the packages; I was
charged for standard (GLI) rather than priority
(PPP) shipping, and the amount was $86.60.
I thought the lower price was because the
combined weight was only half of what I had
estimated using the Web site calculator. The
result was that the Greyhound company
offices thought the shipment was GLI and
handled my telephone queries accordingly.
The people moving the packages saw the
priority sticker and handled it appropriately.
As it turned out, the boxes arrived at AMA
Headquarters the next day. That was one heck
of a bargain!
Moral of the Story: Maybe you will sell a
model on eBay or need one shipped to a
contest location. I’ll fill you in on some things
I’ve learned and advice you should take from
my diary.
Package the contents so that they can be
stored at almost any angle. Even though the
box might be marked “Top,” the directions
could be mistaken.
Boxes with double-wall thickness are well
worth the money. If you make your own
boxes, line them with an extra layer of
cardboard, attached with hot glue. Inside a
rigid wood frame, the contents are less likely
to endure a container collapse.
Strap down loose items or store them
inside an interior box. Untethered items could
damage the other contents in the box.
Protect the aircraft’s finish against
buffeting with soft material such as the batting
I cited, Polyethylene Foam material, or bubble
wrap. The airplane’s outside points, such as
the rudder, fin, and stabilizer, should be
packed at least 1 inch from the container sides
and shielded with a foam or soft cover in case
the contents shift or the box is shocked.
Using Greyhound was a new experience,
so tracking the shipment was more nerveracking
than it would have been otherwise.
The employees did their jobs well—and at a
price that no other professional carrier service
was willing to offer.
I learned that all packages should be
shipped with some lead time, to allow for
handling difficulties that can occur even with
premium services. I recommend this service,
and I hope that this story will help you with
any shipping dilemmas you might encounter.
The next time you open the box containing
a new ARF or RTF, notice the content
arrangement and packing used. The methods
those manufacturers use are typically good
examples of how to ship model aircraft. MA
Fred Randall
[email protected]
Sources:
Custom Made Boxes
(515) 309-6155
www.custommadeboxes.com
Greyhound
(800) 739-5020
www.greyhound.com
Postal Center USA
www.postalcenterusa.com
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:50 AM Page 44
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 40,41,42,43,44
Ship Model Aircraft
Successfully
40 MODEL AVIATION
I WAS KIDDING—or perhaps I only
thought I was. When MA Editor Michael
Ramsey expressed a desire to fly my
Golden Era 60 Bipe (the subject of a
February 2009 MA RC construction
article), I replied by e-mail, “Fine … I’ll
ship it and you can test fly it!” I hadn’t
expected the reply I got.
“I Double Dog Dare Ya!” he wrote.
I try to be a sensible person, but I took
this as a challenge. I suppose it has
something to do with my Celtic ancestry.
“I’m serious; where do you want it
sent!?” I e-mailed back. So it began.
A search ensued for a suitable container,
or containers, for the model’s bulky and
odd-shaped components. I determined that
I would need two boxes; one would
measure 60 x 32 x 24 inches and the other
would be 60 x 24 x 18 inches.
My first stop was one of the local
shippers, which serves as an agent for UPS,
FedEx, and DHL. The results were
Above: Not so much as a boot print or caved corner was
detected when Greyhound’s PackageXpress service delivered
the priority shipment.
Right: Since the Golden Era 60 Bipe isn’t a cabbage-patch model,
the holes are a considerate feature that the author built in so
that the shipping agents could handle the packages properly.
Below: This box was void of foam packing peanuts (thank
goodness), yet it still arrived with the cargo totally secure. The
secret is in binding the contents.
by Fred Randall
Tips for sending your large assembled
treasures across the country
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:14 AM Page 40
Left: Double-layered
corrugated cardboard is
just that: two layers of
ribbed material and
three skin barriers. It’s
tough as nails and
should be specified when
custom-ordering shipping
boxes.
Right: It’s good to use a
strong tape on the inside
flaps and seams.
Above: See? Duct tape can be used for almost
anything, as long as “anything” doesn’t need to
move—such as a completely assembled model
fuselage.
Right: The author made an interior frame from 1 x
3-foot framing material. It both supported the
outer box and lent a structure to which the
contents could be bound.
Below: Folded cardboard supported the airframe
so it could be 2-4 inches away from the box sides,
thus safe from turbulent impact. Foam batting
prevents chafing.
disappointing; it had no boxes big enough for the
airplane’s parts.
Not only that, but the clerk informed me that
neither UPS nor DHL nor FedEx handles packages
that large. UPS would ship the smaller of the two
boxes for $200—more than I wanted to pay. Besides,
I wanted to keep the boxes together.
Now I had two problems: finding containers for
the Golden Era and finding a shipper to take them to
AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana!
I searched the Internet and found a Web site
proclaiming that it could box and ship almost
anything. Prominently displayed on the home page
was a picture of a 1/4-scale, maybe larger, Extra 300
fuselage, mounted on a wooden pallet and ready for
shipping. Terrific!
June 2009 41
Photos by Michael Ramsey
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:16 AM Page 41
42 MODEL AVIATION
Loose pieces should be safely housed in a
box that can then be secured within the
confines of the larger shipping container.
The box containing mainly the fuselage contents
is laid next to the box and interior frame. The
nose spinner is great for engine protection.
Above: Loading the wings was the easy part, since they would
lay flat. Protective bubble wrap prevents chafing the wing
panels, which were packed surrounded by foam peanuts.
Right: From a different perspective, it’s easy to think that
shipping a model inside a smaller box might be possible. Extra
padding is an investment you’ll never regret.
The day after its arrival, the Golden Era 60 Bipe was
assembled and taken on its maiden flight. The shipping
project was a valuable lesson—and a successful one—that
didn’t cost a fortune.
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 42
June 2009 43
Containers
• 60 x 32 x 24-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $34.13
• 60 x 24 x 18-inch double-wall corrugated cardboard box: $32.46
• Shipping and handling: $27.50
Total: $94.09
Packaging Materials
• 14 cubic feet of packing peanuts: $28.30
• Eight 1-inch x 3-inch x 8-foot spruce furring support frame: $10.17
Total: $38.47
Shipping Costs
• Express: $75.75
• Insurance: $4
• Fuel surcharge: $6.85
Total: $86.60
Total Materials and Shipping: $219.06 MA
—Fred Randall
Shipping Materials and Estimates
It was Sunday, so I e-mailed the company,
explaining my dilemma in detail. Monday
morning, I received a phone call from a
gentleman who represented the shipping
company. He said he would be able to
accommodate the bipe. Including pickup at
my home, on-site crating, materials, labor,
and transportation to Muncie, the cost would
come to only $800.
I told him I’d check with “my people” and
get back to him. The price was way more than
I wanted to pay, and I gave up on that option.
I got back on the Internet and looked for a
source for containers.
After many telephone calls and e-mails,
with less than encouraging results, I received
a return e-mail from Custom Made Boxes in
Des Moines, Iowa. I was informed that the
company could provide custom-made,
double-thick corrugated boxes for the model
at a reasonable cost.
After a series of e-mails and telephone
calls between Kim Weier and me, I ordered
the boxes. The cost, including shipping to me
at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was just less than
$100.
While I waited for the boxes to arrive, I
queried trucking companies, asking for the
cost of shipping the packages to AMA
Headquarters (a distance of 893.3 miles,
according to MapQuest). I figured a weight of
a bit less than 100 pounds for the two
packages.
I received quotes that were in the
neighborhood of $300 from all of the
shippers, and I’d have to take the boxes to the
terminals. All cited the cost of diesel fuel at
well more than $4 per gallon as the reason for
the high price.
I exchanged e-mails with Michael
Ramsey, discussing the problem. One of his
suggestions was to check with the Greyhound
(bus lines) PackageXpress. I’ll tell you more
about this later.
Packing Recommendations: When the
boxes arrived, I devised a plan for securing
the bipe’s fuselage in the larger of the two. I
made a quick trip to the local hardware store
and lumberyard and returned home with some
8-foot lengths of 1 x 3-inch pine strips.
Using the lumber, I made a ladderlike base
framework. To that I stapled and hot-glued a
pair of heavy corrugated-cardboard triangles
that were notched to support the fuselage,
front and rear. I lined the notches with 2-inchthick
batting material and put the fuselage
into the notches.
During that operation, I realized that I was
going to need to remove the landing gear. I
would have preferred to leave it on for the
additional protection it would have afforded
the fuselage from underside damage, in case
of mishandling.
I removed the landing gear and taped it to
the fuselage support, after which I covered the
airplane with more batting. I covered the
batting at the front and rear of the model with
wide cardboard strips.
I secured the assembly to the base frame
using lots of “McGuyver grade” duct tape.
The Golden Era was secure in its cradle, but it
needed protection from being crushed from
above. For that, I constructed a “roll cage”
frame from the wood strapping.
I duct-taped a small box containing the
cowl and hardware, as well as samples of the
composite material I used in the wings, to the
roll cage, and then I lowered the assembly
into the larger box. The wooden frame was
designed to fit snugly so that it couldn’t shift
within the enclosure. I bid the bipe a fond
farewell and closed its container.
Then I turned my attention to the wings. I
had purchased a 14-cubic-foot bag of packing
peanuts from Postal Center USA to protect
them.
My wife, Lol (short for Lorraine), helped
me pour a 4-inch layer of peanuts in the
bottom of the smaller box. I placed the
bubble-wrapped lower wing on top of the
peanuts and poured in more peanuts, covering
the wing under a thick coating.
Then I placed the upper wing, also
encased in bubble wrap, in the box. I poured
in the rest of the peanuts, filling the box to
capacity.
I added a manila envelope that contained a
few additional parts and a note for the “lucky”
recipient. Last, I sealed both boxes with glue
and tape, added labels, and included the
address information.
Now for getting the boxes to Muncie.
Budget-Wise Shipping: Following
Michael’s suggestion, I went to the
Greyhound Web site and clicked on “Package
Express.” Fully expecting the boxes to be
rejected because of size, I keyed in the city of
origin and destination, size, and approximate
weight data. The only size restriction was that
the largest dimension couldn’t exceed 80
inches.
The estimated price for overnight priority
delivery to the Anderson, Indiana, Greyhound
terminal was only roughly $100. I was
ecstatic! After I settled down from my
excitement, I checked the schedules.
It was Saturday, and the buses run seven
days. According to the timetable, if I got the
packages on the bus at 10:30 a.m. Sunday,
they would reach the Anderson terminal the
following morning at 10:20 a.m.—just 23
hours and 50 minutes later.
Anderson is 20 miles from AMA
Headquarters, and Michael said it would be
no problem for him to pick up the boxes.
(Editor’s note: Fred was sending me an
airplane to test; it was the least I could do!)
Sunday morning, Lol and I got up early
and loaded the van. We almost had to put one
box on the roof rack but found that we could
stack them inside by sliding the smaller box
in through the side door.
It’s 20 miles to Worcester (we pronounce
it Wussta, with a New England accent), where
the Greyhound terminal is. It has street level
access, so we off-loaded the boxes and toted
them down a long hall to the ticket window.
“Can I help you?” asked the ticket clerk, a
short, stout lady.
It had to be obvious, since we had the
coffin-sized boxes in tow. I explained that
they were fragile and needed to go to
Anderson, Indiana, by Priority Express,
ensuring a one-day trip.
The clerk opened a door and directed us to
06sig2.QXD 4/22/09 10:17 AM Page 43
bring the boxes inside. Then a young man,
who looked like he had had a rough night,
entered and punched in for work. The lady
told us that he was a new hire and that she
would help him through the transaction.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I said again.
The man weighed the boxes on a portable
electric scale and recorded them as 35 and 16
pounds. I was getting antsy, because it was
almost 10:20 and the process was going at a
snail’s pace.
“The contents are fragile and they must be
in Anderson tomorrow!” I reiterated.
I might as well have been talking to the
tiled wall. The process crept along, until, at
last, the clerk asked for my credit card. She
swiped it, had me sign, said, “Thank you for
using Greyhound!” and handed me a receipt.
Lol and I waited in the van outside the
area where the buses offload and onload
passengers, until a Greyhound arrived. After
the people disembarked, a cart with the bipe
boxes on it was trundled up. A large
compartment was opened in the side of the
bus, and it easily swallowed the boxes. The
porter seemed to do his job with all possible
care.
We waited for the bus to depart. I felt
good on the way home, thinking that the
model was in good hands.
Sunday passed, and Monday morning
arrived. When the clock hit 10:45, I called the
Anderson depot. A man with a curt attitude
said that the boxes hadn’t arrived. I was upset
and asked where they might be. After a spate
of verbal sparring, he gave me a number to
call.
After the usual, “Your call is important to
us … ” spiel, a woman answered. She asked
for the order number. When I recited it to her,
she said that the boxes weren’t sent priority
and that it could take anywhere between two
and 10 days!
I am basically harmless but capable of a
righteous rant when sufficiently agitated—
and I was agitated! I explained to the poor
woman in a less than polite tone that I had
definitely requested priority shipping. Then I
asked where the boxes were.
“We don’t track non-priority shipments,”
she said apologetically.
If I was agitated before, I was now
furious. I slammed the phone into the cradle
with such force that the caller-ID box
bounced off the side of the desk and clattered
to the floor.
On the Internet, I located the telephone
number of the Greyhound home office in
Texas and dialed it. After the usual dose of
elevator music, a woman with a pleasant
voice and a Texas drawl answered.
Maintaining my cool, despite wanting to
scream, I explained the situation.
She said softly:
“Oh, you poor dear! I don’t blame you for
being upset. Unfortunately these things
happen and what I suggest is to wait until
5:30 p.m. when the Anderson terminal
reopens and call again. There’s every chance
your shipment will be there then. Is there
anything else I can do for you?”
My mind raced; this wonderful, caring
creature made me want to curl up in her lap
and purr. I forced myself back to reality.
I called the Anderson terminal at 5:45
p.m. The same annoyed tone as before
spilled from the telephone, and I was again
propelled to high orbit. Almost before I
could speak, he growled “Not here” and
hung up.
I was reminded of a recent conversation
with a friend who had shipped auto parts to
California via Greyhound. He said:
“Took three weeks! I tried to get the
location of my stuff, but nobody knew. I had
just filed a claim with Greyhound when my
contact in California called to tell me the box
arrived and it was in good condition!”
I didn’t know what to think. Had I made a
huge mistake by sending my precious MA
construction article prototype by
Greyhound? Exasperated beyond words, I
got on the telephone with Michael Ramsey.
He told me to calm down and that if anything
happened to the airplane, it could be fixed.
“After all, we’re modelers!” he said.
“Handling little surprises is what we do!”
Somehow I felt better.
In the morning, Michael e-mailed me,
reporting that the Golden Era Bipe was in
Indianapolis and that, because the local bus
service couldn’t handle the packages’ sizes,
it would assign a courier service to deliver
them directly to AMA Headquarters.
Someone had finally read the “Priority
Shipment” sticker on the box!
To my profound relief, the boxes arrived
in perfect shape. Miracles do happen; all was
well with the world again.
When the boxes were being prepared for
shipping, a yellow “Priority Shipment”
sticker was affixed to them as I requested.
However, the new hire in Worcester made a
mistake while checking in the packages; I was
charged for standard (GLI) rather than priority
(PPP) shipping, and the amount was $86.60.
I thought the lower price was because the
combined weight was only half of what I had
estimated using the Web site calculator. The
result was that the Greyhound company
offices thought the shipment was GLI and
handled my telephone queries accordingly.
The people moving the packages saw the
priority sticker and handled it appropriately.
As it turned out, the boxes arrived at AMA
Headquarters the next day. That was one heck
of a bargain!
Moral of the Story: Maybe you will sell a
model on eBay or need one shipped to a
contest location. I’ll fill you in on some things
I’ve learned and advice you should take from
my diary.
Package the contents so that they can be
stored at almost any angle. Even though the
box might be marked “Top,” the directions
could be mistaken.
Boxes with double-wall thickness are well
worth the money. If you make your own
boxes, line them with an extra layer of
cardboard, attached with hot glue. Inside a
rigid wood frame, the contents are less likely
to endure a container collapse.
Strap down loose items or store them
inside an interior box. Untethered items could
damage the other contents in the box.
Protect the aircraft’s finish against
buffeting with soft material such as the batting
I cited, Polyethylene Foam material, or bubble
wrap. The airplane’s outside points, such as
the rudder, fin, and stabilizer, should be
packed at least 1 inch from the container sides
and shielded with a foam or soft cover in case
the contents shift or the box is shocked.
Using Greyhound was a new experience,
so tracking the shipment was more nerveracking
than it would have been otherwise.
The employees did their jobs well—and at a
price that no other professional carrier service
was willing to offer.
I learned that all packages should be
shipped with some lead time, to allow for
handling difficulties that can occur even with
premium services. I recommend this service,
and I hope that this story will help you with
any shipping dilemmas you might encounter.
The next time you open the box containing
a new ARF or RTF, notice the content
arrangement and packing used. The methods
those manufacturers use are typically good
examples of how to ship model aircraft. MA
Fred Randall
[email protected]
Sources:
Custom Made Boxes
(515) 309-6155
www.custommadeboxes.com
Greyhound
(800) 739-5020
www.greyhound.com
Postal Center USA
www.postalcenterusa.com
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