Creating RV hangar space

[RONSIM]

Has anyone come up with a creative way to "stack" an RV (-8A specifically) on top of another airplane/car/boat in a standard T-hangar? I have seen the Aero-lift and a couple of other commercial jobs but would like something more innovative --- any ideas?

Thanks,

Ron

[Vern]

I recognize your question was for an 8A, but for tail wheel birds, we'd take Cubs, T-craft,etc and stand them up in a padded wooden cradle on the floor that the prop would lie on. In other words,pick up the tail and stand it on its nose so you could squeeze in more planes per square foot.

Only works with tail wheels and RV's are much heavier and might need several guys to try this. Probably should slide a mattress under the nose the first time you try it with an RV.

Since you are dealing with a standard T hangar, you do not have much strong structure to use for lifting, so an Aerolift or your version of it might be required.

If it has some stout steel framing, you might could use several electric hoists/ units similar to a bi-fold door suspending several 'swing set seat' rails under the main gear with a front crosspiece for the nose gear.

Go to a powerboat storage facility and see how they do it.

Caution though: one slip could have awful results.

Since personnel and another machine will be under it, make sure it is strong and has a safety system.

None of this is really a good idea unless you have no other choice.

[GSchuld]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1

I can't see why you couldn't build a new "tray" to fit the RV-8A's wheel track to a run of the mill two post auto car lift such as the example above. I've seen deals for nice two post take outs for as little a few hundred bucks. You would just need to make sure that the space between the two posts are wider than your horizontal stab. If people trust them to store their classic cars up in the air, they should be well capable of lifting 1/3 to 1/2 their usual weight in an RV.


George

[DakotaHawk]

Ron, what are you sharing the T-hangar with?

I have a standard size T-hangar and have my RV-7 and a Dakota Hawk (high wing taildragger) stacked. The -7 rolls out of the hangar in less than a minute. The Dakota Hawk rolls out with about 5 minutes of prep (get the -7 out of the way and use a hard-mounted boat trailer winch to lower the Dakota Hawk down the ramp).



The Dakota Hawk is on a plywood platform that is only about 12" tall. There is a boat winch bolted to the tail end of the platform - I use the winch to roll the plane up and down the removable ramps. The Dakota Hawk wing is about 4" above the RV-7 rudder as I roll the -7 in and out of the hangar.

[corbinace]

I bought an old 5K pound forklift and built a sturdy rack that slips onto the forks. I have everything that is hydraulic backed up by safety cables or steel struts so it has the pressure relieved cannot fall. The added benefit is that after about 40 minutes of reconversion my storage rack can be used as a forklift. Good excuse to get a forklift if nothing else

[TSwezey]

Ron you can just stack the -8 in my hangar. That should give you plenty of room.

[RONSIM]

Unfortunately, my hangar "Partner" is a boat as well as my workshop which, together, take a lot of floor space and I can't quite edge the -8A in and still be able to move around. So, either the boat or the -8A have to stack. I am looking at the car racks and trying to figure out how to make that work as far as space and lift height.

Todd, I appreciate the suggestion and will trade you the -8A for your very nice -10.

Regards,

[terrykohler]

Ron:
This was covered some time ago on VAF. Pictures of a pretty elegant solution are shown on the thread:
http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ht=switzerland

Make sure you check your hangar agreement to make sure that you can add an overhead I-beam. That's the only thing that stopped me.
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP