carousel hangars

In 1998 Ned Godshall published a description of a carousal hangar built by
the Alberquerque Sooaring Club. Said to be on the site of the South-West
Soaring Museum at Moriarty.

Does anyone out there know of it? Does it still function? Are there any
drawings available? did it throw up any snags? did the design ever get
patented? Anything to help us make up our minds if it would be a good
project.

On Wednesday, August 29, 2012 6:15:03 AM UTC-6, Peter Gray wrote:
In 1998 Ned Godshall published a description of a carousal hangar built by

the Alberquerque Sooaring Club. Said to be on the site of the South-West

Soaring Museum at Moriarty.



Does anyone out there know of it? Does it still function? Are there any

drawings available? did it throw up any snags? did the design ever get

patented? Anything to help us make up our minds if it would be a good

project.

My Mini Nimbus is in the hanger, located at the Moriarty Airport, as are 7 other sailplanes. I think it is a great working idea, that has been mostly trouble free for the last six years or so that I have been renting a space. Bob Carlton designed it, and hangers his Bonus Jet there. Mark Mocho is Ned's maintenance man in charge. The only problem I know of is that an electrical relay failed a couple of months ago, and was replaced within a few days of the part being ordered. So, quite trouble free for many years.

Mike

I saw a working example of this a couple of years ago when I was out at Moriarty looking at a glider for sale. Seemed like a neat setup. Robert Mudd was showing me the glider and had hangar access...why don't you try giving him a call and seeing what he knows about it?

Rob
ZAP

The caousel hangar at Moriarty is owned by Ned Godshall, not the
Albuquerque Soaring Club. The design is by jet sailplane designer and
airshow pilot Bob Carlton. It holds eight gliders, ranging from 20
meters to 13 meters. The carousel has been in continuous operation
since 1997 and apart from a few minor glitches, has been extremely
reliable. Recently we had an electrical relay failure that took a
couple of days to correct, but generally, it works very well. The only
damage any glider has ever suffered was from the users forgetting to
place the "bridge" from the glider track across the gap from the track
to the outside ramp, resulting to scrapes to the fuselage.

The drive rope is generally replaced every 3-4 years, but has not
failed in use. There are safety switches to prevent running the
carousel past the limits of the design limits. (The carousel does not
turn through a full 360 degrees due to the drive rope attachment
points. As a result, if the glider on track 1 has just pulled out and
yours is on track 8, the carousel has to be reversed through the full
range. Big deal- you have to hold the switch for about 2 1/2 minutes
while the carousel rotates to track 8.)

At one time, Bob and Ned tried to market plans, kits and full
installations, but few pilots and clubs expressed interest, as the
design was new and untested. Also, the decision to pursue a project
like this usually ends up with a committee, and there always seems to
be one Luddite who objects to anything mechanical and new.

The design offers a number of advantages including:

-One person can get his/her glider out or in without disturbing or
damaging any others. (NO hangar rash!)
-The square hangar is much more cost effective to construct than a
long skinny rectangle.
-You only need one door and one taxiway access point instead of full
length doors and access on two sides.

The only disadvantage I have seen is getting the users to operate it
properly. It is pretty foolproof, bu you know how that goes. The
biggest problem seems to be users leaving stuff on the floor that
interfere with the carousel rotation. The drive rope also tends to
stretch over time, necessitating a periodic adjustment of the
counterweight safety restraint cable.

Bob and Ned have moved on to other projects, but with the right
impetus, they might entertain the idea of resurrecting and updating
any plans to produce drawings and/or consultation. I have also
expressed interest in producing the components and offering
installation through my glider accessory manufacturing company
(www.mmfabrication.com). You can contact either me at the g mail
address or bob (at) desertaerospace (dot) com. With some interest, we
might add a link to some photos on one of our websites.

Just another vote of confidence. My LAK-17a has been in the carousel for
almost a year and it's the handiest thing I've ever seen in hangarage. The
only thing more convenient would be tying my ship out at the launch line but
that ain't gonna happen.


"Mark Mocho" wrote in message
...
The caousel hangar at Moriarty is owned by Ned Godshall, not the
Albuquerque Soaring Club. The design is by jet sailplane designer and
airshow pilot Bob Carlton. It holds eight gliders, ranging from 20
meters to 13 meters. The carousel has been in continuous operation
since 1997 and apart from a few minor glitches, has been extremely
reliable. Recently we had an electrical relay failure that took a
couple of days to correct, but generally, it works very well. The only
damage any glider has ever suffered was from the users forgetting to
place the "bridge" from the glider track across the gap from the track
to the outside ramp, resulting to scrapes to the fuselage.

The drive rope is generally replaced every 3-4 years, but has not
failed in use. There are safety switches to prevent running the
carousel past the limits of the design limits. (The carousel does not
turn through a full 360 degrees due to the drive rope attachment
points. As a result, if the glider on track 1 has just pulled out and
yours is on track 8, the carousel has to be reversed through the full
range. Big deal- you have to hold the switch for about 2 1/2 minutes
while the carousel rotates to track 8.)

At one time, Bob and Ned tried to market plans, kits and full
installations, but few pilots and clubs expressed interest, as the
design was new and untested. Also, the decision to pursue a project
like this usually ends up with a committee, and there always seems to
be one Luddite who objects to anything mechanical and new.

The design offers a number of advantages including:

-One person can get his/her glider out or in without disturbing or
damaging any others. (NO hangar rash!)
-The square hangar is much more cost effective to construct than a
long skinny rectangle.
-You only need one door and one taxiway access point instead of full
length doors and access on two sides.

The only disadvantage I have seen is getting the users to operate it
properly. It is pretty foolproof, bu you know how that goes. The
biggest problem seems to be users leaving stuff on the floor that
interfere with the carousel rotation. The drive rope also tends to
stretch over time, necessitating a periodic adjustment of the
counterweight safety restraint cable.

Bob and Ned have moved on to other projects, but with the right
impetus, they might entertain the idea of resurrecting and updating
any plans to produce drawings and/or consultation. I have also
expressed interest in producing the components and offering
installation through my glider accessory manufacturing company
(www.mmfabrication.com). You can contact either me at the g mail
address or bob (at) desertaerospace (dot) com. With some interest, we
might add a link to some photos on one of our websites.

Does anyone have overall dimensions of this hangar? Any thoughts on
whether it could handle 2-3 towplanes + a couple of gliders? (I'm
wondering about load and balance issues)

Thanks,

--Noel

On Aug 29, 7:26*am, "noel.wade" wrote:
Does anyone have overall dimensions of this hangar?

OK, so Google first; then post... The internets tell me its 84' x 84'.
Still - any thoughts on whether it could handle a couple of towplanes?

--Noel

I doubt that including towplanes on the carousel is feasible with the
existing design due to the fact that the glider wings need to overlap
to utilize the space efficiently. The difference between a single main
wheel and tricycle or tailwheel and two main wheels also changes the
requirements for the single main track, We have worked on an all
airplane design that allows for this, but it requires alternating high
wing and low wing airplanes. Also, the higher maintenance requirements
of towplanes may result in more inconvenience for gliders, as the
carousel cannot be rotated with anything left on the floor. (i.e.
cowlings, tools, oil etc.) It would probably be better to size the
hangar to allow towplanes to reside in the corners independently of
the rotating carousel.

I would also contact Ed Byars (ED).

Ed designed and built a carousel hangar to house his power planes over twenty years ago at his home outside of Clemson, SC. Ed is a professional engineer and retired as Dean of Mechanical Engineering at West Virginia University. He is widely known for his love of competition soaring and was the co-founder of Soaring Symposia along with Bill Holbrook (WH).

On Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:15:03 AM UTC-4, Peter Gray wrote:
In 1998 Ned Godshall published a description of a carousal hangar built by

the Alberquerque Sooaring Club. Said to be on the site of the South-West

Soaring Museum at Moriarty.



Does anyone out there know of it? Does it still function? Are there any

drawings available? did it throw up any snags? did the design ever get

patented? Anything to help us make up our minds if it would be a good

project.

On Aug 29, 12:05*pm, wrote:
I would also contact Ed Byars (ED).

Ed designed and built a carousel hangar to house his power planes over twenty years ago at his home outside of Clemson, SC. Ed is a professional engineer and retired as Dean of Mechanical Engineering at West Virginia University. He is widely known for his love of competition soaring and was the co-founder of Soaring Symposia along with Bill Holbrook (WH).







On Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:15:03 AM UTC-4, Peter Gray wrote:
In 1998 Ned Godshall published a description of a carousal hangar built by

the Alberquerque Sooaring Club. Said to be on the site of the South-West

Soaring Museum at Moriarty.

Does anyone out there know of it? Does it still function? Are there any

drawings available? did it throw up any snags? did the design ever get

patented? Anything to help us make up our minds if it would be a good

project.

Make sure to ask Ed about his "Dial a Plane" control system that
automatically brings a specific spot into the door position. Ed calls
his design for obvious reasons the Pentagon Hangar.