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Airplane lift

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Bill Strahan

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
11
Location
Plano, Tx
Okay, color me a bit crazy, but I'm curious what others think of this idea. I've looked at lift-a-plane and similar, and it seems massive overkill for what I need. My 2 seater composite weighs just barely 1000 pounds with full fuel in the tanks, and nothing else in it. I need to lift it 2 feet for the wings to be high enough that I could get my Grumman AA5 in the hanger as well.

So, I looked at this: Vestil Manual Scissor Cart — 1000-lb. Capacity, 48in.L x 24in.W Platform, Model# CART-24-10-M | Hydraulic Lift Tables Carts| Northern Tool + Equipment

Here's my thoughts: Weld on some outriggers so the side to side stability is higher. Build a wooden/foam platform that fits on the cart and mates up to the bottom of my fuselage perfectly. Remove the handle so I can slide that cart/platform under the plane, and jack it up about 2.5 feet. That's about 3 inches less than max travel.

With the outriggers, there should be no tipping concerns as long as no one tries to climb into my plane. I would also drill some holes in the frame for some 1/4" safety pins so I could pin it in place once it was elevated. I'd do that before putting another plane underneath.

A second benefit would be having the plane elevated like this would make any work I do to wheels/brakes/wheelpants/lower part of the cowling/engine MUCH easier.

Thoughts?

Bill
 
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