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Hangar Ramp (Alternative to Aerolift)

Oh, rats! Now you are giving me ideas how to get another RV into my hangar that already has 3 aircraft & 3.5 projects in it...
 
Yeah, definitely takes up floor space but does offer a low cost solution to a very expensive lift solution to fit 2 planes in a 39' T hangar.

D
 
hmm... that's actually not a bad idea, the only problem is that it takes up all that floorspace.

You could make the ramp portion separate so you could stack them in the corner. or turn sideways. Just make sure they latch somehow to the platform so they don't slip away by accident.
 
good call on the ramps. I will be doing a mock up soon to see how it works. I am planning on putting a tailwheel on the ramp and the 6a on the ground. We shall see.

D
 
Strategic Ramps

A couple of well placed ramps allowed us to get two similar low-wings in a standard t-hangar.

Wings1.jpg
 
Genius! How hard was it to move the Blue RV around? It looks like it's in at an angle. Hard to get in and out?
 
...How hard was it to move the Blue RV around? It looks like it's in at an angle. Hard to get in and out?

Very easy in and out but the ramps had to be placed precisely. Yes, the RV ramps are at a slight angle. It took a lot of time with graph paper and cutouts of the airplanes and then a couple of hours refining the design and adjusting the amount of lift on the right wheel of the Grumman. The 2x6s for the RV main gear lifted the RV tail just enough to clear the Grumman wing.

Flew 3-4 days a week with that setup for about a year until I got my own hanger. My hanger mate with the Grumman (Marine Corps F4U Corsair Carrier Pilot) rarely flew but we could still get his in and out with one person.
 
thanks Larry! do you recall what the width of the tail section of the hangar was? I have a 39' T with the back end at about 17' wide (estimate).

Thanks,
D
 
thanks Larry! do you recall what the width of the tail section of the hangar was? I have a 39' T with the back end at about 17' wide (estimate).

I don't remember the width of the back section but it was not an issue. The horizontal stabs overlapped as the tail of my RV was raised by the 2x6 ramps for the main gear. The big limiting factor for the fit was the total available depth of the hanger. I still have a small spot of chipped paint on the tip of my spinner from the sliding hanger door :mad:. You can see the right wing of the Grumman back as far as it will go. The right wing of my RV was as close to the prop as possible. An extra foot of depth would have made it an easy fit. Like I mentioned, we spent considerable time planning with cutouts and knew it would be close. We then spent several hours building and rebuilding the ramps to get the fit just right. I would definitely do it again to keep my RV from being on a tie-down for a year. In fact, I'll soon have two RVs in my hanger (which is much larger) so I'll start the planning again :eek:.
 
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