Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/17/2015 8:16 PM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/16/2015 8:00 PM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/15/2015 8:07 PM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/14/2015 8:15 PM, Alex wrote:


The motor on that door had such a high gear reduction I think it
would
probably lift the front end of a car off the ground with no
problem.
The Harley was close to 900lbs and it lifted it off the back
of my
truck
like it wasn't even there.

If I remember correctly it took about 3 minutes for the folding
hanger
door to open halfway.




I can't believe the door didn't fold in half.


It did.


I meant horizontally - from the weight.


No way. The "garage" was actually a 32' by 46' aircraft hanger that
one of the properties we had in Florida had. The door was about 28'
feet wide and 16 feet high. It folded in half horizontally as it was
raised.

It had a very heavy duty frame (probably for hurricane codes) made of
square 4" by 4" steel tubing that ran horizontally and vertically
every four feet or so. Lifting a 900lb motorcycle was duck soup for
it to handle. The electric motor didn't even change pitch when
lifting it due to the high gear reduction.

During one of the hurricanes (we were not there) about 24 people who
lived in the gated community all moved into the hanger during the
worst of the storm because it was totally brick construction (other
than the door). From the stories I've heard they had quite a
hurricane party in it with generators sitting outside providing
power.




Nice! Did you have a community landing strip in that development?
There
are several scattered around FL.

There is a private airstrip in the community although our house was
not in that section. The hanger on our property was actually built
for helicopters.


I have always wanted to learn to fly. I have two friends who are GA
pilots and live in communities like that. There is one about 100 miles
north of me that has home sites on about 3 acres for only $30K. One
friend has a place there, too. I'm seriously considering grabbing o
to build on later. It might push me to get a license and a little
plane. He's offered space in his hangar if I want to do it.

I had always dreamed of getting a pilot's license since I was a kid
and finally pursued it when I was in my early 50's. Once I had my
ticket though I began to realize that the fun was the challenge of
learning to fly. I had no purpose for flying other than recreational
sightseeing and found that it wasn't exactly "relaxing". I continued to
rent a Cessna or a Warrior for a few years but also got into boating
which I found much more to my liking.

I'll try a few flights with one of my friends and then decide to move on
with the license. At this point I don't have the time for long trips
(days) so flying might be a better choice.