Operation: Hangar Renovation

Sinistar

Sinistar

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Brad
Well it took a while but we finally found a hangar! Its a fixer upper to be sure but mechanically sound. It sat idle for 10 years after the owner passed away. We recently purchased it from the widow - such a nice lady. It makes me wonder how many hangars out there are in this very same situation and condition.

What we liked about this unit is that its in an association where costs are very low. Our city rental hangar is $100/month (good) but very damp due to not fully paved and the hangar door can't be closed in the winter. Plus they are considering tearing it down. Our new hangar runs only $110/month for all taxes, fees, insurance, snow removal and light electrical use!!! Obviously winter heating will increase that - probably by another $60/month based on adjacent units that are heated. The other concession was being in a multi-unit vs standalone. However the last 2 standalone hangars sold for $44/sqft and this one was $18/sqft.

There are two rooms. Neither have water or sewer yet.

The front is 50ft x 35ft with a 42ft bi-fold door. Definitely big enough for most planes. A neighbor has a 414 in one. But probably not big enough for two planes unless both are small or maybe a high + low. Still figuring that out. The floor is pretty rough but will have to do.

The rear room is 50ft x 20ft with a 10ft garage door but totally unfinished.

The main plan goes like this:

- Find a used rolling safety ladder or scissor lift (14ft ceiling work).
- Complete demo including removal of the loft and 20yo flourescent fixtures.
- Adjust hangar door for 1ft more vertical travel
- Class 5 base and garage door opener in back room
- Change 36" front entry door with double doors (mc, 4-wheeler, snowblower, etc)
- Frame in ceiling, hang channeled metal roof and blow in heavy insulation
- Frame in all 3 walls and sheet rock.
- Insulate bi-fold door
- Get outdoor propane tank delivered and plumbed into front room.
- Install a 90,000+ BTU forced air heater
- (8) High power LED lights on ceiling, maybe led lights on walls to light floor
- (2) Large ceiling fans
- Media projector on ceiling, speakers and 16ft wide screen area on left wall :)
- Fridge and microwave from our house when we upgrade.
- One fixed tool bench and one rolling tool bench.

Before the Purchase...
20200502_113644.jpg

After 1st weekend of demo (loft and lights are all that is left)...
20200516_182211.jpg

East side is very clean. Yes, the RV4 is for sale!
20200516_161217.jpg
 
Now for the most important question, is it a south facing door, or is it the kiss of death north facing?
 
50x35'? You might get 3 aircraft in there with a little creativity. At my home field, there are several 41x24' hangars with two RV's in 'em.
 
champ driver said:
Now for the most important question, is it a south facing door, or is it the kiss of death north facing?
Click to expand...
North :(

Actually every private hangar on the field is north facing. However, 3 of the 7 in our unit have heated front aprons. This fall they (FAA+City) are slated to redo all the asphalt in front of all hangars. So we might do something then. Thankfully private hangars have more overhang and the sills don't heave up in the spring so they can still be closed..
 
kyleb said:
50x35'? You might get 3 aircraft in there with a little creativity. At my home field, there are several 41x24' hangars with two RV's in 'em.
Click to expand...
I am thinking you could get 3 RV4's in that hangar. But with the 182, maybe a low wing or a smaller taildragger. Our main goal was just for one. But it would be nice to be able to store one in a pinch if someone was on the ramp and storm was coming in. All other hangars on the field are either T-'s so only 1 fits or the bigger private ones have a plane plus boats, cars, skid-steers or these giant enclosed trailers in effect making them all single stall.
 
edo2000 said:
Congratulations. Lots of potential there. How much for the RV4...? :)
Click to expand...
I can't speak officially for the widow and the guy selling it for her. But I am pretty sure its between $20K..$30k and I thought I heard closer to the low end of that range. If you or someone you know is serious I can get you a phone number or email. They guy selling it was the one taking care of it every year after the owner passed away. So he knows all the details.

Its so cool to see the planes being restored and brought back to life. Only the Quickie that was in the loft was scrapped. There was a very nice J3 Cub knockoff (which I had posted about on here previously). I saw that one fly off about 3wks ago to a new owner after having been in suspended animation for 10yrs. So the guy selling did a lot to get it ready. The little plane in the first picture was just purchased. That owner will be replacing all fuel lines and tanks and he figures he'll take its first flight in about 2wks. So that leaves the RV4 which is the most valuable of the bunch so buyers are obviously a bit more careful. Also, our A&P was asking if it was a certain model that could be made into a Herman Rocket and this version/variant or whatever of this RV4 can not.
 
Sinistar said:
Well it took a while but we finally found a hangar! Its a fixer upper to be sure but mechanically sound. It sat idle for 10 years after the owner passed away. We recently purchased it from the widow - such a nice lady. It makes me wonder how many hangars out there are in this very same situation and condition.

What we liked about this unit is that its in an association where costs are very low. Our city rental hangar is $100/month (good) but very damp due to not fully paved and the hangar door can't be closed in the winter. Plus they are considering tearing it down. Our new hangar runs only $110/month for all taxes, fees, insurance, snow removal and light electrical use!!! Obviously winter heating will increase that - probably by another $60/month based on adjacent units that are heated. The other concession was being in a multi-unit vs standalone. However the last 2 standalone hangars sold for $44/sqft and this one was $18/sqft.

There are two rooms. Neither have water or sewer yet.

The front is 50ft x 35ft with a 42ft bi-fold door. Definitely big enough for most planes. A neighbor has a 414 in one. But probably not big enough for two planes unless both are small or maybe a high + low. Still figuring that out. The floor is pretty rough but will have to do.

The rear room is 50ft x 20ft with a 10ft garage door but totally unfinished.

The main plan goes like this:

- Find a used rolling safety ladder or scissor lift (14ft ceiling work).
- Complete demo including removal of the loft and 20yo flourescent fixtures.
- Adjust hangar door for 1ft more vertical travel
- Class 5 base and garage door opener in back room
- Change 36" front entry door with double doors (mc, 4-wheeler, snowblower, etc)
- Frame in ceiling, hang channeled metal roof and blow in heavy insulation
- Frame in all 3 walls and sheet rock.
- Insulate bi-fold door
- Get outdoor propane tank delivered and plumbed into front room.
- Install a 90,000+ BTU forced air heater
- (8) High power LED lights on ceiling, maybe led lights on walls to light floor
- (2) Large ceiling fans
- Media projector on ceiling, speakers and 16ft wide screen area on left wall :)
- Fridge and microwave from our house when we upgrade.
- One fixed tool bench and one rolling tool bench.

Before the Purchase...
View attachment 85873

After 1st weekend of demo (loft and lights are all that is left)...
View attachment 85875

East side is very clean. Yes, the RV4 is for sale!
View attachment 85874
Click to expand...
Gadzooks! Based on square footage, it's bigger than my house!
 
champ driver said:
Now for the most important question, is it a south facing door, or is it the kiss of death north facing?
Click to expand...

Here in SoFla, you don't want a southern exposure to the hangar door. Too much sun in the summer months. But....no, we don’t have any snow to deal with. BTW, my monthly rental fee for 30x38x12 is $700.00/mo.
 
Sounds like a PoA party waiting to happen!! :D
 
Congrats on the new hangar, nice to have your own to do what you want.
Buy a good shovel for the winter. I have to keep mine clean after every snowfall, and I try and get it done before the plow comes by.
If not, then the snow ridge can freeze the door shut. Or, the January thaw which can bring rain and a hard freeze after will do the same. If that door freezes shut then come March the melting snow or rain will flow under the door and into the hangar causing an ice rink or puddles inside. Hard to air it out if the door is shut.
It doesn't help that part of the ramp slopes toward the door too.
 
Cool new hangar and renovation project! I wouldn’t worry too much about the north-facing door. We have one of those here in ND, and it hasn’t grounded me yet.

I know someone who would want a look at the RV-4 if you can PM me some details or contact information.
 
Okay game on! The challenge is to end up with a floor that's nicer than the one in @Radar Contact 's hangar ;)
No shortage of PoA judges to, um, pass judgement. :)
 
Leave the hanger as is and cash the widow out of the RV-4. You'll thank me later.
 
Definitely not worried about this north facing. Our rental hangar is north facing. They made so many mistakes. First, only about 4" of overhang so it drips right down the door and the slow freeze. The new one has more overhang. And the rental heaves up meaning I can't shut it all the way either. Not gonna miss either of those. That's why I want to switch the front access door to a double so I can drive out the snowblower or 4-wheeler with plow (still deciding) while the big door stays closed and its warm inside.

I can pretty much assure the floor will never look that nice...I've already lost! I just want a bright, warm hangar. A couple movie nights and/or EAA events would be nice to host.
 
Update:

Almost 2 weeks later and some progress. The last of the old benches, cabinets and storage (all home brewed) are demo'd out and removed. The biggest push was the complete removal of the loft decking, framing and its 32ft long engineered steel truss. The other big effort was removal of (16) old flourescent light fixtures. Each bulb is about 7ft long. So I and down to 32 bulbs to "get rid of" and the 16 ballast modules - damn are they heavy. Another minor item completed was re-adjusting the travel of the door another 9" so that the skylane tail will fit if the strut should be totally deflated. So basically we now have a blank canvas to work with!

Last night we put the plane inside along with the RV4 and there was plenty of room to spare. But I am thinking a low wing Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pathfinder might not fit along with the high wing. My buddy has a cherokee 180 so I'll try it one day. They are longer than the RV4 and the noses might be a bit too high.

The only item that didn't go our way was getting the mud (turns out it is sand) removed from the rear room and replaced with gravel. Its still too mushy in there. My friend said even with tracks on his Bobcat he'd sink too much. So we're gonna try air it out really good try again mid summer. It can wait but would have been nice to get done now and use the space for stuff.

I decided to go with a rolling safety ladder for all the 14ft high work and it should arrive next week. The website I ordered with seemed shady so until I meet the freight guy and learn my fate I won't diss them.

I have now learned how to properly frame the ceiling for the metal roof - much easier than I had anticipate. And I believe I can avoid ugly external conduit for some of the lighting and receptacles by using a flexible conduit that already has the wire stuffed inside. So trying to learn more and also see if the cost is prohibitive. It deemed a commercial building so different rules.

Engineering wise the only add so far is needing to move the rear access door about 4" over so that the new 4" thick wall won't prevent the door from fully swinging open.

I think I have found a metal insulated dual 36" exterior door to swap out with the single 36" front door. The wider front access door actually leads to one of the more fun topics...an ATV or 50" wide UTV. I think a standard 4wd ATV with a hitch on the back and plow and winch on front would be fine. Plus used ones are a lot cheaper. But having a side-by-side would be more fun. Thoughts? Recommendations?

So next steps are to move the rear door, purchase and install the new front door and then start framing the walls up to the ceiling. Gonna work up a sweat there. As of now, it doesn't suck yet :)
 
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