How to hang a glider from the ceiling of a hangar

On Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 2:13:43 PM UTC-6, Chris wrote:
Thank you all for the responses. Mark, would you be able to send a picture via PM when you have a chance. Thanks!

Easiest is to send me a phone number thru my email (on website mmfabrication dot com) and I can text some shots to you.

On 2019/06/11 21:16, Chris wrote:

We are looking to put a 1-26 on a lift or hoist. Its a steel building with a very beefy structure.
This is commonly done in Europe. Has anybody experience and sketches/pictures/BOM for such a construction and is willing to share?
Thanks.


My LS3a lives suspended from the hanger roof. There are about half a
dozen gliders suspended from roofs around our club, all of them use
similar devices.

There are webbing slings behind and in front of the wings. These hang
from a steel frame which is suspended above the glider. There is a cable
from the frame over a pulley in the roof, around a couple of other
pulley's and onto a chain block which hangs near the hanger wall. When
you wind up the chain block it pulls the cable and lifts the glider.

Then there is a light support rod which bolts to the tail dolley and the
hanging frame. It's job is to ensure that the frame lifts from exactly
above the glider CG. The length of the rod was adjusted to achieve this.

Last component is a set of light cords which support around the wing
tips. They route over some small pulleys and are then attached to the
main lifting cable. When the cable is pulled the wingtip cords move in
unison to keep the wings level.

When the glider is parked, there are two chain slings hanging from the
roof which are hooked around the lifting frame as protection for the
cable and hoist. We also have a cord that hangs down from the ceiling
and is attached to the tail dolly to prevent the glider swinging while
parked. The tailplane pushes up against padding on the roof.

The chainblock, cable, pulley's etc as well as the support structure
have all been designed for lifting a design load of 500kg with a safety
factor appropriate for lifting purposes. They get inspected
periodically. We keep a step ladder in the hanger so we can conveniently
check things at any time. We monitor for funny sounds and behaviour
while lifting - this is normally the first evidence of pending equipment
failure.

Lifting and lowering takes about 10 to 20 min, depending on whether
there is another glider that has to be moved. Our downstairs neighbour
is an LS4 and that can go upstairs, depending on which a/c is expected
to be flying more frequently.

If you do it properly, there should be no problems. I am not aware of
any incidents with any of the hanging gliders in our club in the last 10
years or more. During lifting/lowering, there should be no people, cars
or aircraft underneath. Thus only one glider is at risk. When it is
parked there are safety chains etc to provide redundancy for all
potential failure points.

You need to carefully check everything in 3 dimensions to ensure it will
fit and you need someone with engineering and/or rigging experience to
check what you are doing.

But there is some training required and it is is only suitable for
privately owned gliders. If random club members had to start lifting and
lowering gliders, there could be a lot more hanger rash.

Ian