A Simple and Cheap Way to Store Your Planes

by Marsmann11 | July 10, 2016 | (0) Posted in How To

Due to the increased need of space for my models, I have created a system for storing and displaying my current hangar. It moves all of the bigger planes into one area and allows for easy access and looks good as well.

The idea was to have two wires stretch across the room, close to the wall and ceiling so it is out of the way. I was able to put the planes so high up because of the tall ceiling height. 


I started by measuring the length of the room that the wire would cross, and how big my planes were so that I could have proper clearance for the tail/rudder. Next, I found steel "rope' or wire and had them cut it to length for me. Home Depot also has a kit for making loops with this steel wire and attached those to large eyelets. The eyelets then went into the wall with some plastic foundations and it was very sturdy.

Before I routed all of the wire, I put pieces of acrylic tubing on the wire to soften the digging into the foam or "hangar rash".

If you tighten the wire enough, it won't sag as much and is not very noticeable because it does not expand the same as rope. I then experimented with different types of airplanes and wings, as it was designed for.

A variety of planes can fit on here, and even multi-rotors if they are big enough. My UMX Radian was a little too small for this exact storage system.


I decided to keep only full airplanes on it to keep it looking nice and orderly.
Some aircraft types do not work well for this setup, because I put it too close to the wall. I forgot to measure the distance that the tail sticks out on my Apprentice and Night Visionaire, so I had to tie down the tail of the Apprentice and the NVA had to be put on it with the motor facing the wall.

This is how it looks complete, with fully assembled planes on display.

An under-side view to see where the wire was placed in relation to the planes.


Overall, this was a very cheap project. All of the material was collected for about $30. For this money, I think it has provided a reliable solution to storing my planes. My only problem in this build was how far away from the wall I installed the wires, because some of the tails stick too far out to be placed facing forward on the two wires without assistance. If someone was to build this, I would recommend making sure your measurements of where the wires are connected to the wall are exactly the same on both walls to keep the wire perfectly flat, and to make sure you know how far the tail section sticks out over the wires. If you install the wires far enough away from the walls, you can hang extremely large airplanes up there, provided they are not too heavy.

 

COMMENTS

d2it4me on July 29, 2016
Nice job. Might want to cover that registration number though.
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J.C. on October 23, 2016
Nice!
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Yogenh on July 29, 2016
I love it and will have to check into using it. But I do have some big ones. Like 1/4 scale.

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Desert Wings on July 29, 2016
In the living room? oh no. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not apposed, I just personally would not get away with planes in the living room. You must have a very understanding wife.
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Marsmann11 on July 30, 2016
Actually, this is in another room that is separate from the living room, so it's all good.
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Desert Wings on July 31, 2016
I like the idea and hope to do something similar. I also, fortunately, have an "other" room.
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Yogenh on July 29, 2016
LOL I know what you mean. Me I would do that in every room but the wife?????? Well you know!!!! LOL
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alibopo on July 29, 2016
Nice solution - and I feel like Mr Killjoy now, but do make sure nobody gives it a 'wee downward tug' in the middle - 'just to see how strong it is'. WHY? well, they'll pull the hooks from the wall! In 'olden times' one method for moving very heavy weights, like a ship on the end of a line, was to anchor the far end of the line and then apply a force at right angles to the centre of the line. Moving the line sideways or up or down (instead of trying to pull it) gave an incredible 'mechanical advantage' - allowing a small team to move some very large weights. We used the same 'mechanism' to raise sails on sailing yachts, instead of pulling down on a halyard (the rope that raises a sail), we put a turn around a cleat and then pulled the halyard away from the mast - as we released the tension we quickly gathered-in the slack we had created, drawing it around the cleat. Once you got into a rhythm it was reasonably quick, and instead of needing a couple of folks pulling on the halyard, one person could manage it on their own. It's a very powerful mechanism - just a word of caution!
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A Simple and Cheap Way to Store Your Planes