Hangar ideas for home airstrip

**acroeric** · 01-09-2022, 08:51 AM

Thinking of building a hangar here on our land (Burlington, NC) and wanted to solicit some ideas.

I (she) would want the hangar to resemble the house. The house exterior is a mix of brick, stone and board/ batten. Imagine a mountain style house. I know this would drive costs up considerably making the exterior of the hangar flow with the design of the house but it needs to be that way.

I am looking at 40' x 40' and plan to have just 1 airplane here.

Does anyone have a picture they can share of a similar project? Any recommendations for vendors of this type of building?

Thanks!

**cubdriver2** · 01-09-2022, 09:12 AM

With a hydroswing type door you can make it look exactly like the house when closed

https://powerliftdoors.com/our-produ...d904fe97b0a277

Glenn

**stewartb** · 01-09-2022, 09:17 AM

Get with a local contractor and establish a budget for a stick framed hangar. Exterior finishes will be easy to add.

**JWE** · 01-09-2022, 09:33 AM

No matter which route you go have a structural engineer look at the plans to be sure your hangar is engineered to accept the loads imposed on a hangar, especially the door area. While a residential home builder might be able to build a hangar, they may not understand the loads imposed on a hangar. Voice of experience.

**stoldriver** · 01-09-2022, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by acroeric

I am looking at 40' x 40' and plan to have just 1 airplane here.

I would not put less than a 45' wide door on. I don't know what kind of airplane you have now, but if you ever decide to change to anything bigger, you won't have a big enough building. A standard old cessna will need at least 40' of door and that will only give you very minimal wing clearance. A 40' building won't even give you a 40' door. Build it small, and you'll always wish you had built it bigger.

Wayne

**stewartb** · 01-09-2022, 10:01 AM

What Wayne said. Consider resale.

**DENNY** · 01-09-2022, 10:33 AM

I built a 32X50 shop next to my house. Used the same trim and siding as the house, scaled the 14 ft doors to match the small garage doors and it looks great. It is very easy to get your money back out of good looking property. Run all exterior facets to a central bib so you can do hot/cold/blended water as needed for lawn, washing ATV, or slip and slide out back. DENNY

**courierguy** · 01-09-2022, 10:42 AM

Washing a plane inside, in the winter, in a floor heated hangar is a guilty luxury. I should do it more. I'm doing some cowling work (putting one of these in front of the Rotax's oil cooler, to allow precise in flight control over my oil temps in single digit OAT's https://antisplataero.com/products/o...er-air-shutter, but I digress) and I couldn't help but notice that in mid January in Idaho, I still have summer bugs on it, lots of them.

Your door manufacturer should be able to perform the services of a structural engineer, for free. I do know that I failed to account for the HydroSwing's loading on my 14' high framed shop, and I am an experienced builder. It was easy enough to put the needed mods in later though, all good now.

**Utah-Jay** · 01-09-2022, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by courierguy

I'm doing some cowling work (putting one of these in front of the Rotax's oil cooler, to allow precise in flight control over my oil temps in single digit OAT's https://antisplataero.com/products/o...er-air-shutter

thread drift on

I am putting one of those on my oil cooler for exactly as you state, keeping the oil warm in the winter.

**acroeric** · 01-09-2022, 05:34 PM

Appreciate all the input. If anyone has a picture of theirs that sounds like what I am describing please send it my way! I'll probably keep it on the small side so it blends well with the house. I have a hangar at the local airport that I plan to keep for my non-STOL airplane. The strip here at the house will be a tad on the challenging side.

**JWE** · 01-09-2022, 07:33 PM

I'd suggest making it at least large enough for a 180 / 185 if for no other reason than resale. You'll also find that the hangar shrinks when you start storing lawnmowers, tractors, tugs, tool boxes, etc. Build it as large as your budget allows.

**courierguy** · 01-09-2022, 08:53 PM

Build it bigger then you need, and you FOR SURE will fill it up with other crap besides the plane! There is nothing wrong with building a hangar for THE PLANE ONLY. It will allow you to go really deluxe on it, rather then just a tin box. I have a big tin box, for all my other stuff, the heated and air conditioned hangar is for the plane. And one trailer. And my riding lawn mower and ATV, but that's it! 40' x 24', no regrets, my short strip precludes me getting a bigger plane anyway so I went small but deluxe. Just spent several hours in it, 15 degrees outside, cozy inside. In my rural area, no one knows I have a hangar, as such, as a lot of people have largish out buildings. I partially based my size on what I needed for the stuff I wanted in a conditioned space year round, all the other stuff does just fine in a separate, much cheaper to build, pole barn. Something else to consider, if fire breaks out, one big building may not fare as well as a couple smaller ones, the all your eggs in one basket thing, depending on your fire departments response time. I've got enough separation, hopefully, between the house, hangar and outbuilding to maybe not lose all of them if I had a fire in one of them.