Building Hangar, what are things to consider

TimRF79

TimRF79

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Tim
I plan on Building a Hangar in the near future.
Have a 182S, would not need it to be big…
But there are no restrooms at the airport, hence i thought about making it big enough for an Rv to be parked in there with the plane.

What size and door size, have you all found to work best for a 182?
 
No restrooms at your airport? Dang.

What is the local procedure for building a hangar? Ground lease? I’m assuming you can’t get sewer there either?
 
TimRF79 said:
I plan on Building a Hangar in the near future.
Have a 182S, would not need it to be big…
But there are no restrooms at the airport, hence i thought about making it big enough for an Rv to be parked in there with the plane.

What size and door size, have you all found to work best for a 182?
Click to expand...
Mancaveliness
 
Make provisions for a ceiling hoist.
Ceiling fans and plenty of light.
Lots of outlets and at least one 220v.
I like my 50’ door for wingtip clearance.
An overhead door opposite the big door is nice.

No toilets? Look into a composting toilet. No plumbing required.
 
Make sure there is a slight downslope (or some other drainage feature) along the entire entrance so that water can't flow into the hangar when wind blows rain against the doors. The hangar I bought did not have that and I had to glue/screw a roughly 3/8 inch water barrier along the front of the floor.

(That would have to be a gigantic hangar to fit an RV in along with a C182.)
 
Who owns the land the hangar will sit on? If it’s a municipal airport, start at city/county admin, and be prepared for a very long drawn out process before breaking ground.
 
TimRF79 said:
But there are no restrooms at the airport
Click to expand...

No restrooms at the airport.?? How did that happen.??

I would buy a truck load of rubber doggie do and place several at the entrance to the FBO early every morning...

Otherwise.... honey bucket.
 
TimRF79 said:
I plan on Building a Hangar in the near future.
Have a 182S, would not need it to be big…
But there are no restrooms at the airport, hence i thought about making it big enough for an Rv to be parked in there with the plane.

What size and door size, have you all found to work best for a 182?
Click to expand...
The old hangar we purchased is 50ft wide x 35ft deep. It has a 42ft wide door. I think that is about the smallest I would recommend for the Cessna's with 36+ ft wings. I think Cubs and Champs and Chiefs might even be like 37ft. Have arouond 4ft clearance on both sides is nice as you pretty much don't need to think about it and if you are off a foot or a bit more i really doesn't matter.

I like the advice about building as much as you can afford. I really wish ours was 50x50 but we got a nice deal and its mega cheap for yearly expenses. In our 50x35 I have had the skylane and a rv6 and they fit pretty nice but the skylane needs to pulled out to get the rv6 out. We have had a cherokee 180 in with it as well but really, really tight and would be for emergency help only.

If we wanted to spend more money and were going to build from scratch these would be my core requirements

1. Big enough to have a two high wings (or 2 low wings) and be able to get one out without moving the other.
2. Just big enough that any large tow behind of self driving camper or boat or cars will fit inside.
3. I like the hydraulic single piece doors that fully stand on their own frame (not dependent on building structure)
4. If you have heavy/cold winters make sure the hangar door faces south if at all possible
5. Make sure the peak of the roof runs from front of hangar to back so no run off from water or snow or ice drips by the ig door.
6. If you have heavy/cold winters or plan to air condition - you don't need a 14ft or higher ceiling. Go with a 12ft ceiling. It does give it a bit of a low ceiling cave like feel. But that is a lot less air to heat or cool.
7. If you ever think you will have a camper or are just designing for optimal re-sale make sure the hangar door can open high enough for something like a 414 or a large camper with the vents and ac units on the roof.
8. Lots of and lots and lots of LED light!!!
9. A 10ftx8ft (or larger) garage door in the back so you can drive your car right in. Go even wider and taller if you plan to pull a ski boat or camper into that door.
10. We are in mid stage of finishing ours and its gonna have PoE ethernet wiring to make it easier to have security camera and or ethernet based equipment in more places.
11. I think it would be awesome to have several windows located way up for more natural light.
12. Metal clad cable will let you bury all the power wires into the walls like a house. But more expensive.

...its just money.
 
All of the above, plus:
- Make the door at least five feet taller than the highest point on your current plane. You never know what you’ll have in the future.
- Put in double the number of light fixtures that the plans call for. Half of the lights on one switch, half on another. Use commercial LED fixtures. They’re brighter and will probably last forever with typical personal hangar use.
- Fully insulate the hangar - walls, ceiling, door.
- If you’re in a humid climate, put in a dehumidifier and keep it below 45% relative humidity. Go with a model at least one size bigger than recommended, especially in Florida or a similar climate.
- Lots of outlets, all doubles or quads, and on as many separate breakers as they can do.
- Decide before building if you’re going to leave the floor plain, or if you’ll put on epoxy, tiles such as Racedeck, or some other finish. Once the hangar is full of stuff it’ll be a gigantic pain to do anything to the floor.
- A rollup door opposite the big door is a nice plus, especially if it’ll be doing double duty as a garage.
 
14’ door and 14’ ceiling. I wouldn’t go any shorter on either. At 55’ x 60’ I can fit my two planes but there’s no way to move the back one out without moving the front one first. Budget for a tug!


IMG_1592.jpeg
 
Houston area….drainage & humidifier already pointed out. Also consider you’re in hurricane region and build appropriately. Check on insurance.
 
TimRF79 said:
I plan on Building a Hangar in the near future.
Have a 182S, would not need it to be big…
But there are no restrooms at the airport, hence i thought about making it big enough for an Rv to be parked in there with the plane.

What size and door size, have you all found to work best for a 182?
Click to expand...
What airport, and what is your budget?
 
ateamer said:
Lots of outlets, all doubles or quads, and on as many separate breakers as they can do.
Click to expand...


Consider having some outlets in the ceiling and some flush-mounted in the floor so you’re not always stringing extension cords out from the walls.
 
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