I have mostly lived (my adult life) in the South Pacific and Micronesia (on sailboats, powerboats, small dwelling). I know very little about pre engineered steel buildings, AKA aircraft hangars. Since traveling has now opened up for me (no more quarantine etc.) I’m back thinking about building/buying an aircraft hangar.

My ultimate hangar (lower 48 western states):

R44 & Scout (or PA18)
Full utilities, lighting & compressed air
Insulation and heating
Small motor home inside

Here’s my questions:

What are the (5) biggest mistakes someone can make building a hangar?

I don’t want to be a downer but, just a reality check!

Mahalo.

Not putting a door on both sides, if it's an option

Lucky wrote:Not putting a door on both sides, if it's an option

That’s totally valid! Moving all the aircraft out to get to the car can get old! A small utility door is minimal.

Building it to small. It's never big enough! Build it as big as you possibly can.

A1Skinner wrote:Building it to small. It's never big enough! Build it as big as you possibly can.

My wife would hoard paper towels and clothes in our hangars in Hawaii. There is always a possibility of a “dock workers strike” or other logistical breakdowns living on a small island!

In the Marshall Islands the barge sailed once a month. And nobody knew what was actually going to be delivered! Everything was hoarded!

not having a drain in the floor is a mistake. and of course too small a hanger..... It's never too big, always too small.

Tangogawd wrote:not having a drain in the floor is a mistake. and of course too small a hanger..... It's never too big, always too small.

Nice to wash the aircraft with warm water inside the shop when it’s cold and dark outside in the winter! I have seen drains inside and loved them.

It’s interesting however to seen the large corporate hangars in Honolulu, completely clean and empty (nothing inside except for a tug) waiting for a G5 to stand proudly on the glistening white floor.

Put the doors on the gable ends so you dont have to fight everything coming off the eaves.

Put a taller door than you need....I sized mine for a 182...at 12 feet I wish I had 14-15...opens the resale market considerably.....and doors on both gable ends

All excellent points! David's comment on building bigger than you need, is extremely spot on!! A person seems to accumulate stuff at a surprising rate.

Water and electric are a given, but it's nice to have a restroom included, unless that is what you mean by full facilities.

Hangar door...do NOT skimp on a well built, tight sealing door.

x2 on a good door, I deal with a cheap door regularly and it’s a real pain. There’s days I skip flying because I don’t want to deal with it.

My Dad has a 54’x60’ which houses:
Cessna 170
Aviat Husky
18ft camper
Full bathroom and kitchen
1979 Lincoln Continental
tons of tools/junk

I really like it and will build one the same size, plenty of useable space but not obscenely expensive.

If it's built on an airport, not having clear expectations as far as the duration of agreement and leaseback arrangement.

A door under the tail height of a Beaver on floats.

Assuming it is an 'investment' and not a liability. Depending on where you are, you could consider a subletting arrangement or building a multi-tenant unit.

Do the math on renting vs owning. The hangar I rent is about $3000 a year. Buying that hangar would be perhaps $80K and $1000 a year to own in taxes, insurance, and ground lease. Presently, I can invest the 80K and pay the hangar rent with some left over. Why tie up the money and reduce flexibility for something that -at best- is on the under side of breaking even.

Not understanding the ground lease/ownership rules, runway access rights, and through the fence rules.

Not understanding the operational rules of the airport at which you are located. The gentleman across the way from our current hangar built a palace, complete with a high end living space inside. He then had a rental tenant throwing parties, who got caught after a particularly wild night. To nobody else's surprise, living on our federally funded, port owned municipal airport is a no-go. There's now a hangar for sale for $300K with comps of $150K.

Believing that your airport will exist in 10 years. We built two hangars on a public airport (S95 Vista Field) that bailed on a 10 year plan 1 year into it. We've got a nice 50x100 and a 50x50 that are glorified storage sheds now...

Not building to code. With a building that might have half a million dollars worth of stuff in it, are you willing to discuss your handiwork with an insurance company after it burns down?

Not sealing it well enough. We live in a dusty area. Spray foam insulation goes a long ways to keeping things out.

Putting in the wrong door for your area. The hangars we built had a bifold on one and a hydroswing on the other. When it snowed, the bifold was preferred, as it could be raised and the plow tractor driven out. The hydroswing could push light snow, but it was always sketchy with a lot of heavy, wet snow. On the other hand, the hydroswing was amazing with a remote control in the airplane to open it as you taxi up. The bifold has manual locks inside that preclude the use of an opener.

Width is better than depth - and doors on both sides...

dar636 wrote:Width is better than depth - and doors on both sides...

This is interesting. In some ways you are right. But we have 2 hangars here, one is 52wX60d, and one is 60wx52d. The 60 wide one is nice because with 2 planes in you can get one out without moving the other. But mine that is 52 wide will fit more planes in easier. Really depends on what you want with it. A door on each side fixes the problem.

Make sure you have read the land lease agreement, fully understand it, and your ok with what it says. Don’t believe a word from anyone unless it is stated in the contract.

Personally I’m not sure I’ll ever buy a hangar on a land lease again. Hard to see how it could be considered anything buy a liability.

To further what others have said about door size: Make sure the door is high enough for amphib floats and at least wide enough for a Skywagon with extended wings. Even if you don't have either one, it helps with resale. Lots of hangar doors cannot accommodate either one.

Ross

CParker wrote:If it's built on an airport, not having clear expectations as far as the duration of agreement and leaseback arrangement.

^This.
I was going to say "Not owning the dirt you build a hangar on".

The motor home may or may not be a show stopper on an airport that gets FAA funds. Many of the fun police airport managers will whine about non-A/C use. Might look at private airparks.