zsmith3rd(at)earthlink.ne
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 Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:48 am Post subject: Hangar Door (cheap version) |
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Tommy,
Some years ago I needed to enclose a lean-to which was built onto another building. Since vertical bi-fold was out of the question because of limited overhead clearance and there was no way to accomodate sliding doors regardless of the number of sections, I stretched a 3/8" cable the entire forty feet width just under of the eave and put up a "curtain" for a door.
The netting used by truckers to cover loads of gravel, sand, garbage, etc, is really tough. A firm which makes these truck covers made one to my needed size, with 2" nylon webbing/strap around the perimeter and the same reinforcement sewn vertically where the six-foot-wide netting was spliced. They put 3/4" ID gromets about 18" apart along the top, 24" apart along the sides, and 36" apart across the bottom.
Heavy-duty rings (not cheap shower curtain rings) will support the top; ties of your chioce at the sides. I borrowed a hammer drill and put down six tie-down rings in the concrete across the bottom.
Untying one side and the bottom allowed me to slide the curtain open (like a giant shower curtain) and roll the plane out.
I did make a few mistakes: (1) The curtain should have been shorter in the vertical dimension to keep it from dragging on the concrete. (2) The thing should have been two pieces.....slide one left, one to the right. Not nearly as much pulling & tugging required. (3) I should have used smooth steel guy cable instead of the very flexible winch cable.....there is a LOT of drag on the cable I used whereas the guy cable (see the cable used to steady a power pole) is nicely smooth.....the rings slide much better on smooth cable.
Put a turnbuckle at one end to tension the cable. Put a couple of "j-bolts" along the top in line with the cable. You leave the cable hanging on these and, using a stick of appropriate length, you can un-hook the cable from the j-bolts to slide the curtain open. Design of the stick is left to the builder.
The netting material survives on dump trucks, so it'll do just fine for a see-through door....comes in various colors, and best of all, I spent only about $200 total.
Only problem I ever had was that it is difficult to heat the hangar.....but there is good ventilation.
Regards,
Zed
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