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Re: Ed de Chazal's request for more info on lifting the front of the
airplane using the engine hoist ring:

If you already have the main wheels off the ground by placing jacks
under the wing spars, there won't be much to lift up front since the
spars are pretty close to the center of gravity for the 320/360.   Just
use caution in two areas:
    1). Before doing any jacking (around), make sure a saw horse or
something is in place to keep the tail from striking the floor.  This
support should not be in contact with the airplane prior to jacking, but
should be within about 6 to 8 inches below the rear fuselage.
    2).  If jacking the whole airplane off the ground, for example to do
a gear check, always lift the mains off first.   This does two things.
It removes most of the weight off of the nose gear, assuming your jacks
are placed along the wing spars, and it keeps  the rear bottom fuselage
from bearing down on the sawhorse or other support before you start
lifting the nose wheel off the ground.   You must be careful not to let
the rear of the plane touch the sawhorse while lifting the nose,
otherwise you will be trying to lift half of the weight of the plane
from the engine hoist ring.

As Ed mentions, it is a question of load paths.  When the mains are on
the ground and with a  sawhorse placed under the rear of the fuselage
with little or no clearance, as soon as you start to lift the nose the
rear fuselage will come in contact with the sawhorse, and every pump of
the jack handle will be removing weight off the mains and increasing the
load on the engine hoist ring.  Also, the nose weighs a lot more with
the aircraft resting on the mains instead of on the jack stands under
the spars.  I do not recommend you try lifting the nose with the engine
hoist ring under these conditions.  Don Goetz warned me of this and I
have heeded his warning.  He told me that one or two builders have
lifted the nose that way and have broken the engine case where the hoist
ring was attached.

If you want to lift only the nose off the floor IT IS MUCH SAFER TO JUST
PUT A SAWHORSE UNDER THE REAR FUSELAGE WITH ABOUT A FOOT OF CLEARANCE
AND APPLY ENOUGH WEIGHT TO THE TAIL TO PUSH IT DOWN TO THE SAWHORSE AND
HOLD IT DOWN.  ITS QUICKER AND IT'S MORE SAFE.

Also, hydraulic engine  hoists are really bad about bleeding down and
letting the prop come in contact with the floor while you are out eating
dinner.

Be safe,
Ken  N15KH