An idea for a hangar lift....

[DeltaRomeo]

.....smarter-than-me types (pretty much everybody), please mull over this.

V/r,
dr

[Mike S]

Tail sling rope to a pulley mounted on the floor at the base of the lift, and then the rope goes up to the lift.

As the lift goes up, it will pull the rope automatically.

Whatever you do, make sure the main wheels are locked into the lift.

[Bruce]

Doug,
I like it.

4x8 plate metal 1/4" thick between beams.

4" I beam 15' long welded to plate metal.(Bob Avery)

Should work fine.

Drill 4 holes in plate and secure with bolts.

Look at the post of RV3 in hangar.

[David Paule]

A friend of mine suspends his homebuilt, the size of a J-3 but heavier, from the ceiling of his hangar. He welded up two large C-shaped frames. One is positioned under the outboard end of each front strut. A cable runs from each to a pulley on the ceiling, then a pulley at the back of the hangar, and down to a winch. Besides those two cables, he has another for the tailwheel. All three cables are ganged to the same winch drum.

The L frames are welded up from what's probably 6" x 3/8" steel tube, well oversize.

When the homebuilt is raised, which only takes a few moments, it's at least ten feet above the floor.

The advantage of this system is that it leaves the floor available.

The whole hoist was made from scratch, with no analysis. He merely made it stout.

Dave

[Kyle Boatright]

Why not just bolt a "T" shaped beam to the pads on the lift. The top portion of the "T" would capture the mains and the base of the "T" would capture the tailwheel. The balance should be reasonable and the brace you sketched (or braces anchored the floor) would take care of any balance issues.

A question I have after scanning the website is: "What mechanism(s) does the manufacturer use to lock the lift in the "up" position and what fail safe systems do they have to prevent differential lifting or other potentially scary problems?

[GLPalinkas]

Doug, Don't know if you have ruled this approach out but I have seen old photos of Taylorcraft's and J-3's stacked close together with this method. I can't find any in my library but I know they are there. Here is an example.





[ed. Googling 'cub nose stacking' came up with some interesting ideas! If I chocked it properly I could just use a hoise to raise the tail. Thanks Gary. That might be the ticket.
Another pic: http://cdn.j3-cub.com/forum/attachme...bs_stacked.jpg
dr]

[DaAV8R]

Bolt a sheave to the bottom of the post. The cable runs from the tail, to a sheave in the roof structure, down to the sheave at the bottom of the post and anchors to the arm on the lift.

Maybe you could locate the lift in such that the tail could be taken thru the lift uprights so the wing trailing edge was near the uprights. Place the mains on the lift pads and cantilever a member across the lift arms to support the tail.

No heavier than the plane is you could probably cut up one auto lift and make two airplane lifts with the post anchored to the floor and wall.

[Russ McCutcheon]

Originally Posted by DaAV8R

No heavier than the plane is you could probably cut up one auto lift and make two airplane lifts with the post anchored to the floor and wall.

That's what I was thinking,,, with a little fab work you could have two lifts!

[GLPalinkas]

Originally Posted by GLPalinkas

[ed. Googling 'cub nose stacking' came up with some interesting ideas! If I chocked it properly I could just use a hoise to raise the tail. Thanks Gary. That might be the ticket.

Yep, that photo is what I was thinking. Old guys rule
Make the floor brace like in the photo. Has to be the least expensive route. Let us know what direction you go.

[Jaypratt]

Doug,

Larry, across the taxi way from me has one of those car lifts, if you want to see it?

[ed. Thank you Jay! I *think* Phil down from Randy at our airport has same. Will check Tue. br,dr]