Finally We Are Getting Some Design Alterations in Hangarage
In the aviation sector the standard, or not so standard, hangar has hardly altered in over 50 years. Whereas aircraft building itself has moved forward on the “larger the better” road with developments in resources and engine technology allowing the ostensibly impossible to be possible, here I’m thinking of the huge A380, C130 , and AN-225 actually getting into the air. All that flies must have a hangar – if only for maintenance.
The problem in hangar builds has for ever been quite simple, deliver the appropriate sized opening to get the required specification of plane through and at the same time incorporating the appropriate space within the unit to allow maintenance and service activity to happen with ease.
The issue is that the size of the hangar Doors opening normally exceeds the requirement for the majority of the rest of the unit, especially in the height dimension. To house the tail of the A380 for instance the height of the door has to be nearly 14m higher than the height needed to house the rest of the body. Incorporating an additional 14m into the height of the unit across the foot print is a real capital outlay.
The logical shape for an aircraft hangar would be one which is higher at one gable end than the other, allowing the plane to use the area efficiently and lower dramatically the capital cost of the project. As yet this rather sensible idea has not been built in any numbers.
There are some types of efficiency taking place, differing hanger door ideas have a differing impact on the pinnacle and flexibility of the unit and it appears that this is where engineers and architects are using their brain power in trying to ensure that maximum height and width is available in the opening by having door solutions which do not use any of the valuable gable end. For example sliding doors on outriggers and hydraulic gable ends which lift in their entirety to give unhindered access.
These minor alterations will develop the design of hangars but when will they become more popular?
