Hangar Door

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ateamer

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ateamer
We're buying a home at an airpark (FD88, Aero Acres, Port St. Lucie, Florida) and will be having a hangar built. What is the best door? Sliding, bi-fold, or swing-up? We're expecting that the hangar will be 60x60, the maximum size permitted there.
 
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No experience with swing-up, but two things to keep in mind:

1. Sliding requires you to manually open the door.
2. Bi-fold doesn't, but if the electricity goes out or the motor breaks, you're not going flying until it's fixed.

I was going to mention that sliding doors can be hard to open when there is snow or ice on the ground, but that doesn't seem like a big problem in Florida!

ateamer said:
We're expecting that the hangar will be 36x36, the maximum size permitted there.
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36 x 36? That's it? What kind of airplane do you plan to put in it? A Cessna 172, for example, has a 36' 1" wingspan. A taper-wing PA-28 is 35'. Lots of other small GA singles are somewhere around this value.
 
Ugh...3600 square feet, which is 60x60. I'll edit it.

I don't mind pushing a sliding door. It can be just a part of my daily fitness routine.

I'm hopng to find an RV-8, but may well end up with a -6, as the -8 seeems to command a premium. As long as it's two seats, aerobatic and cruises at 120+ KTAS, the rest is negotiable. An RV-8 is my most realistic dream plane, but there are plenty of Experimentals that would work. Nothing certified, been there, don't want to deal with those restrictions again.
 
We love our door at BVS, remote operated, or inside push button. it was a horizontal bi fold operated by a winch and a big strap at two places on the door. it opened to 16'
I'd pull up to the gate, click the door, and flash my entrance card for the gate. by the time I got to my hangar my door was open. loved it.
 
When I built Anymouse Manor, I got a Schweiss Bi-Fold door. I have absolutely no issues with it, and would recommend them. The were extremely easy to deal with prior to the sale. Since the sale I haven't had a reason to deal with them, but I've heard good things.

https://www.bifold.com/

To address the concern that Russ had, Schweiss has a fairly cheap option to allow you to open or close the door manually if the power goes out. I'm not really concerned about getting the door open in the event of a power outage, but rather getting the door close. Most power outages are caused by weather, and I'd hate to have that door open while the weather that caused a power outage is coming.

BTW... One of my neighbors burnt out a motor on his hangar door (not a Schweiss). We got the door open with little effort using a cordless drill.
 
Messed with most all the different types of doors one could put on a hanger, if I were bulding a hangar Id go with a simple but WELL MADE dual sliding door. Funny, I've seen those giant old WWII sliders that still can be pushed open with one arm.
 
My favorite is a swing up door. Gives you a lot of shade in front of the hangar. I hang out at our local avionics shop, and even in a downpour we've been able to open the door enough to get a breeze going through. Probably the most expensive option though.

Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, where if the wind isn't blowing people fall over, we had very simple doors. There were two doors, and they would swing outward and you had a pipe in the ground where a pin on the door would drop into, and then your doors were 90 degrees out and made a good wind break. Not practical for most airports though.
 
This is the best hangar door I've come across. I think the family company in Michigan that designed and developed this have a manufacturing/distribution agreement with a company called AeroDoor located in Florida for those in the SE.

Uses two vertical hydraulic cylinders that don't require overhead building structure to support the weight of the door, as required for a bi-fold or swing up. Part of the door is inside the building when open which reduces the wnd exposure area. The last couple of inches of travel on closing are vertical, which locks it down for security. Friend of mine installed one on his hangar on his private airstrip.

http://www.hpdoors.com/
 
GRG55 said:
http://www.hpdoors.com/
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Interesting door system, but it does require some very early preplanning. The columns require the slab to be well over 6" thick where they are located. They install with Redheads with a hole depth of 5" minimum. Power is a 220VAC 30 amp circuit, so depending on what's available, that might be a problem. The big squawk that I have with one piece doors, is that you have to open the full width any time you move the door. I prefer being able to only open small sections at times and not have the whole hangar open.
 
120kts in an RV? I think pushing the throttle all the way in will fix that!

For doors, the convenience of a bi-fold is worth every cent. Sure, you may lose a fly day to power failure or motor issues, but no more frequently than you lose a laundry day to the motor in the washer.

Since you're building new, the rolling doors will probably work well but you lose storage since they need free space to stow in. I don't like the folding types because you need some clear space (half the panel width) Also, they tend to have more latches to deal with.

I'm spoiled with the remote controlled bi-fold at Candy Land. The other planes are in T's with two part rolling doors.
 
Timely thread.

I’ll be following it closely, as we’ll be in the market for a door soon as well.

If I’m not mistaken, electric bifold doors can be equipped with manual backups.
 
ateamer said:
We're buying a home at an airpark (FD88, Aero Acres, Port St. Lucie, Florida) and will be having a hangar built. What is the best door? Sliding, bi-fold, or swing-up? We're expecting that the hangar will be 60x60, the maximum size permitted there.
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You realize, of course, we are all jealous of your hangar now...:lol::lol:

Sounds like a cool project. Be sure to include some pictures of the door you choose.
 
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FastEddieB said:
If I’m not mistaken, electric bifold doors can be equipped with manual backups.
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Yep! As I mentioned in a previous thread, one of my neighbors had his motor go out. We got the door opened up by using a drill. It was a redneck solution but it's a lot easier than the crank they give you.
 
I live in an air park and just installed a door last year. Most of my neighbors have bi folds and wish they didn't. Single hydraulic doors seal much better and handle hurricane winds better. Bi folds let you park closer to the door and are sometimes cheaper.

My door came with two remotes. It's awesome to pull up and open the door from the plane. My door is from Powerlift and I recommend them. They really provide a personal touch. They even called me and reminded me to install the wind pins before Irma came through and called back to make sure we were ok afterward. https://www.facebook.com/FloridaPowerlift/

They aren't cheap, but I think the concrete walls would come down before the door.
 
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I have had a Schweiss for ten years. No problem with it. I got my garage door guy to finish it to match the garage doors as well:
img
 
Craig said:
Interesting door system, but it does require some very early preplanning. The columns require the slab to be well over 6" thick where they are located. They install with Redheads with a hole depth of 5" minimum. Power is a 220VAC 30 amp circuit, so depending on what's available, that might be a problem. The big squawk that I have with one piece doors, is that you have to open the full width any time you move the door. I prefer being able to only open small sections at times and not have the whole hangar open.
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:confused:o_O

I have never heard of anybody building a large hangar without pre-planning. Usually drawings of footings/foundations, grade plan and structure are required for municipal permits. I'd much rather Install a footing or piles for the vertical load of the two hydraulic cylinders than pay for the structure required to hold up the door over a 50 or 60 foot clear span.

It's not the answer if you are building a wood pole structure at a rural strip with no utilities. But the OP said he was building a 60 ft X 60 ft structure (which I assumed is all steel) and you wouldn't catch me investing that kind of money without power (and where I live water & gas) to the site.

There is nothing magical about hydraulic cylinders. You can stop the door opening and suspend it at any point in its travel. My neighbour and friend who has one of these regularly cracks it open a few inches to a few feet to ventilate it, or let in the sunlight when he's working on the RV-8 he's building (His other airplane is a Tiger Moth he restored). In a high wind any sort of door that protrudes from the building is a risk when open.

I have a 20 ft high bi-fold on the 55X65 hangar my plane is in. The overhead truss to suspend this door is pretty impressive, and required some serious foundation pads for the columns that hold it up. I'd trade that cable operated door for this type.
 
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BTW... Another hot tip. Put a pedestrian door on your hangar door so you don't necessarily have to open the entire thing to get in and out. Don't know about others, but Schweiss does this for a relatively low uptick in the price when they build the door for you.
 
GRG: The reason I mentioned it, is I know of some hangar builds that had to have rework done due to changes in door selection prior to install. A couple of them, the door vendor went out of business while the structure was going up and the door had not delivered. Way easier to select a door system, and have an alternate already figured out, should the original one go defunct prior to the install. Cheaper to build in the “just in case” sometime, over having to tearout or specialty engineer a fix.
From the way I’ve some hangar slabs done, the deep holes near the edges of the door area, can break the edges if not accounted for in the slab design.
 
Anymouse said:
BTW... Another hot tip. Put a pedestrian door on your hangar door so you don't necessarily have to open the entire thing to get in and out. Don't know about others, but Schweiss does this for a relatively low uptick in the price when they build the door for you.
Click to expand...
Powerlift does the same. I had a door in the side of my hangar already, so not always needed.
 
GRG55 said:
:confused:o_O

I have never heard of anybody building a large hangar without pre-planning. Usually drawings of footings/foundations, grade plan and structure are required for municipal permits. I'd much rather Install a footing or piles for the vertical load of the two hydraulic cylinders than pay for the structure required to hold up the door over a 50 or 60 foot clear span.

It's not the answer if you are building a wood pole structure at a rural strip with no utilities. But the OP said he was building a 60 ft X 60 ft structure (which I assumed is all steel) and you wouldn't catch me investing that kind of money without power (and where I live water & gas) to the site.

There is nothing magical about hydraulic cylinders. You can stop the door opening and suspend it at any point in its travel. My neighbour and friend who has one of these regularly cracks it open a few inches to a few feet to ventilate it, or let in the sunlight when he's working on the RV-8 he's building (His other airplane is a Tiger Moth he restored). In a high wind any sort of door that protrudes from the building is a risk when open.

I have a 20 ft high bi-fold on the 55X65 hangar my plane is in. The overhead truss to suspend this door is pretty impressive, and required some serious foundation pads for the columns that hold it up. I'd trade that cable operated door for this type.
Click to expand...
In my case the guy that built the hangar ran out of money and never had the door he designed for installed. A decade later, that company was out of business, but most all designs out there can fit into a prebuilt opening. Some designs work better depending on the type of opening.
 
Anymouse said:
BTW... Another hot tip. Put a pedestrian door on your hangar door so you don't necessarily have to open the entire thing to get in and out. Don't know about others, but Schweiss does this for a relatively low uptick in the price when they build the door for you.
Click to expand...
Better to place it adjacent to the door. One's in the door are good if that's the only option. I have one just to the left of the door (you can't see it in the picture).
 
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