Will It Fit?

[gtmize]

I'm relocating my plane and looking for a hanger. Found one 41.5' wide .. so I can get the wings in but

Distance from door to T wall is only 13.5' and I can't find that dimension in POH or maintenance manual

Help please.

thanks

[curts63]

Hi,
I have the same type hangar. Your plane will fit, but it's going to be snug. I asked the airport to allow me to paint lines on the hangar floor. This makes sure that I'm not off to one side or the other when pushing the plane back into the hangar. The 13.5' from hangar door to the T wall should be sufficient.

Curt

[Rich]

It's actually in the POH (sort of). Look carefully at the drawing in 6.4.1, which is to scale. This hangar does seem unusually shallow. I've had mine in several hangars (down to a nominally 40 ft-wide one) and I don't recall this particular dimension being this tight. Of course the trailing edge sweeps forward so there is more space out away from the fuselage.

[Don]

From front of spinner to back of wing root is less than 12 feet. Looks like it will fit.

[Sandy]

I not only painted lines for the main gear (Note that there’s no need to do so for the nose gear, which is offset to the left of the plane’s centerline by about two inches, anyway.), but I also affixed a winch to the floor. See https://youtu.be/5BShoqQG2G8

The winch allowed me to get into a hangar only 39’ 10” wide with only inches on either side. I now have a hangar that’s 40’ 6”, so it’s much easier.

When asked about installing the winch or painting the lines, I remind the person who asks that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, or, as I always say... Never ask a question that you don’t want to hear the answer to.

Sandy

[gtmize]

I've been spoiled having my Atlantic move my plane in / out of my hanger at KFMN
I'm not looking forward to wrestling it around to line it up to hanger floor lines .. fly solo a lot so its just me
Are you guys with similar hangers using a Tug? Seems the towbar would be a real challenge

thanks again

[Rich]

For grins I measured this dimension in my hangar - it's just over 16 ft. Lots of room. But if it were 2-1/2-ish feet shorter, there wouldn't be as much leeway in positioning the plane in the hangar. The nose would wind up closer to the door, etc. It strikes me that this would be an even tighter squeeze for some other aircraft, such as PA28's, which had a wing chord of around 5-1/2 ft.

[Lou]

"Are you guys with similar hangers using a Tug? Seems the towbar would be a real challenge"

I hand bomb mine every flight, but some days, especially if it's full of fuel, it's a bear. I wouldn't get a tug - I would get a used hydrostatic riding mower. Cheaper and more versatile. I have been shopping them as I consider changing to my own hangar.

[Rich]

"Are you guys with similar hangers using a Tug? Seems the towbar would be a real challenge"

I have a 44 ft. wide hangar, so more leeway than some. I usually use my Power Tow without starting the engine to pull it out. No big deal (It's easier to use as a tow bar than the tow bar.) But if there's ice in front of the hangar, I may power it up. I do power it up for backing the plane in and in some special cases, such as staging the plane for Young Eagles flights, where the staging area is a couple of hundred feet straight out from the hangar door.

I don't need a reference line inside the hangar. Once I get it lined up with the line on front of the hangar (air intake, not the nose wheel), I have a nice big "X" of bracing cables in the center of the back of the hangar to aim the tail plus a drip pan to aim my nose wheel toward. Plus that extra couple of feet per side leeway, which is very, very, very, very nice.

[creativewebz]

I made tracks for my plane on hinges that flip out to guide the plane into the hanger, and flip them closed to close the door. It is practically impossible to hit the wing along as you have the mains in the track!