Hanging multiple planes together from ceiling - How to?

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:02 am

Hi,
I am going to be rearranging my aircraft that are hanging from my basement ceiling. I only have a finite amount of space/hooks to do this with and MANY planes...

I would like to utilize the space with 2 planes in a dogfight type position.
But how do I do that with only limited amount of hooks?
Is there something I can used to attach both planes (let's say a Corsair and Zero) so that they are hanging from the same hook, but one behind the other one? Has anyone tried to do this? Is there something you made or bought??
Let me know hear about your sucess or failures on this, so I can learn how to do this...
Thanks!
Razor

CENT-ONE · Post by **CENT-ONE** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:08 am

Maybe try something like a mobile where you have a strong vertical rod hanging from the hook and a plane hanging from each end of the rod. You'd definitely have to play around with the amount of cantilever on the vertical rod in order to balance out the different weights of the planes but in theory this sounds like the best way to get two planes on one hook in a dogfight scenario.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:11 am

buy more hooks

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:16 am

CENT-ONE wrote:Maybe try something like a mobile where you have a strong vertical rod hanging from the hook and a plane hanging from each end of the rod. You'd definitely have to play around with the amount of cantilever on the vertical rod in order to balance out the different weights of the planes but in theory this sounds like the best way to get two planes on one hook in a dogfight scenario.

Thanks, Cent-one.
I will take a look at this option.

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:25 am

i think the mobile idea is full of potential problems, given the weight of these planes.

There is no way to hang two planes one behind the other from the same hook. The best you can do is to share hooks so that you have 2 planes hanging from 3 hooks. So, plane A is hanging from hooks 1 and 2 and plane B is hanging from hooks 2 and 3. That way you essentially increase your available hooks by 50% but the planes will be very close together; not really at a realistic dogfight distance, which is hard to do with 1/18 sized aircraft i've discovered.

But the simplest approach is to put up more hooks. My ceilings are peppered with them. No biggy.

B-29 · Post by **B-29** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:31 am

Here's what I did:

I put up a long rod with multiple rings on it. Then I attached fishing line to the rings to hang planes behind each other. The distance isn't very realistic, but it doubled my hanging space.

mikeg · Post by **mikeg** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:46 am

On the side of our house nearest the boat door, I've still got rafters showing- no dropped ceiling- so--- using two screws and black upholstery-curtain thread, I make two loops for each plane, each plane hanging below the other, starting about 4 inches from the wood; so every 2 feet or so I have 5 AC one above the other- that black curtain threads' some good sh*t, all 4 of the spits have been hanging for years, among others. As far as dogfighting positions go, where the spacing between the joists occasionally doesn't match what I want, I'll just cut a piece of wood, screw it from either side and go from there if I wanted to. You need to get more planes and then you won't have to ponder what positions to consider, the issue then being only to hang them, hang them all- MIB my arse!!!!!!!!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:27 pm

If your hooks are stout enough you can do the mobile idea. . But you may have to put up another string kind of like a jib boom support.

Have a rod or dowl tied to the main support string over the top of the first plane.

Say use a 36" rod at the end of the dowl/rod tie your second plane.

Then tie another string were it connects to the second planr . Run it up to the main support hook at an angle.

This is about the only way you could do it.

olifant · Post by **olifant** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 4:05 pm

I recently began work on my manclave and was going to install conduit support with adjustable hooks in the channel. In the end it would have been about $150 and I decided to go with good ole ceiling hooks instead. Hope to God I never need to pull them out and patch!

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:05 pm

B-29 wrote:Here's what I did:

I put up a long rod with multiple rings on it. Then I attached fishing line to the rings to hang planes behind each other. The distance isn't very realistic, but it doubled my hanging space.

That is really a neat way to display the planes.
Thanks for sharing the pics with us.
For some reason any pic people post on photobucket I can't see them at work. Must have them blocked or something. So, I am only now seeing these pics you posted earlier today.
Very nice.
Razor

flyboy_fx · Post by **flyboy_fx** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:16 pm

Let me clean my room and i will show my pics of my planes.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:14 am

Hmm... I kind of like that bar idea. I, too, have a finite amount of display space on my ceiling with only five planes hanging, but the desire to hang more without damaging the ceiling with hooks.

I once had 14 XD planes hanging (plus about 20 other model kit aircraft), but the ceiling was about ready to fall in, and so I replastered it and filled in a ton of holes, limiting myself to five planes. The bar idea seems promising

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:33 am

I have 3 larger hooks in one room in a triangle shape, with a FW-190, Me-109, and a P-47 hanging from a piece of heavy fishline along one side of the triangle, and 2 F-86's and a Mig-15 hanging from another side. The third side is plane free. Each plane is suspended from the heavier line using two pieces of lighter fishline (one just in front of the wing, and one just in front of the tail. To keep them from sliding and sagging together, I used small fishing weights as stops where the thinner line is tied to the heavier line.
I like this approach because I can easily create difference in bank angle, roll, altitude, etc. just by adjusting the lengths of the lighter fishline.

And I have had them hanging like this for 3 years now, with no issues except dust. I will note that I used fairly heavy hooks with longer thread shafts, and I drilled pilot holes through the plaster into the lathe board above it. In a modern house, heavy-duty drywall anchors would work fine.

CENT-ONE · Post by **CENT-ONE** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:42 am

I like the bar idea! One variant of that I can see would be to use perforated angle iron so you wouldn't have to worry about the rod sagging with extra weight. Just anchor one side to the ceiling and then clip the planes into the holes on the other side. It would allow you to rig the string harness for your plane while it's on the ground. Just add a clip to the top string loop and the clip it into any of the holes so you can rearrange your planes with ease. spray paint it white to blend in with the ceiling.

Plus it should be pretty cheap at lowe's home depot.

flyboy_fx · Post by **flyboy_fx** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:48 am

Good ideas but i just use the hole in the ceiling trick.

I have a textured ceiling so you dont see it as bad.

CENT-ONE · Post by **CENT-ONE** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:09 am

My old place in Queens had 11 foot ceilings so there was plenty of headroom to hang planes. The only problem was anchoring into plaster that had been there since 1917 can be sketchy at best. I ended up hanging them on the walls using fishing line hooked to the picture rail moulding. The pic below was one wall around 2004. I eventually ended up with 50 something planes on different walls. I thought it worked really well as a way to showcase all the variants without feeling claustrophobic and cluttered.

Pa Deuce · Post by **Pa Deuce** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:05 pm

It may sound dumb - but if you have a drop ceiling situation like I have with metal framing around the tiles - you can tie fishing line to large binder clips and clip them to the metal frame. It only lifts the tile very slightly and they will not move, even with excessive force. It makes it a simple matter to reposition the models and change your layout.