Living in an airport community is a dream shared by many pilots. It's a unique life style that few ever get to experience. The homes in such communities are called hangar homes. Their design is unique and if you're looking to do it you should hire a professional designer experienced in that type of design. Here is a checklist of several considerations to keep in mind when considering designing a hangar home.
1.Most airport communities are developed neighborhoods with their own covenants. These covenants will cover architectural styles, home sizes and, in the case of airport communities, hangar sizes, rules for blending the hangar with the home, space considerations to accommodate the wings of the aircraft that are Taxing nearby and the like. As with any design it is important to become familiar with these deed restrictions.
2.If you're looking at owning a large airport community lot setbacks are usually not a factor. However the smaller sites where the edges are close together will require a close understanding of the setbacks required. Lots are sometimes flat and sometimes have slopes to them. If your site has a slope it is usually best to place the hangar on the lower area of the slope and the home on the upper regions of the slope. This allows the architecture of the hangar and home to blend nicely. There are always exceptions but these are common considerations.
3.A key question is to consider how large to make the hangar. The first thing to consider is the 2000 square foot question. Most codes in the United States differentiate between hangars less than 2000 ft. and those that are larger. In general, commercial codes apply to larger hangars whereby easier residential codes will apply to the smaller hangars. This can affect the pricing.
4. Another common point to consider is whether or not to connect the hangar in the home. Connecting or not connecting each has its advantages and disadvantages. Connecting the hangar to the home is considered by most pilots to be quite advantageous. It allows one to stay out of the weather. It makes for some very interesting architecture. But if you're looking to build projects then you need to consider the impact made by these projects such as sounds and smells which you may not want to enter into the home. In such instances building the hangar and home separately may be the way to go.
5.One should consider how the hangar is going to be used in addition to storing the airplane. Do you want a workshop? Do you want to park your cars in the hangar or do you want to have them in a separate garage? Will you be storing other toys in the hangar such as boats or even a motorhome? Regarding a motorhome height can be an important issue. The height of a motorhome, as well as an airplane, can determine how high you want the ceiling of your hangar to be. Most consider a ceiling height of 12 feet above the floor to be absolute minimum. More commonly is 13 to 14 feet tall. If you intend to place a motorhome in the hangar keep in mind that modern motorhomes, with their air conditioners, can often exceed 13 feet in height. This, obviously, will require your door to be at least 13 feet in height. Also will you want your motorhome to use a separate door from the hangar door or have the motorhome come in and out the same door? All these are factors that should be considered.
6.Another important decision is to determine what type of the door you want. Hangar doors come, basically, in three types: hydraulic, accordion and bifold. There may be others but those are the most common. Hydraulic doors are usually hinged at the top and are opened as one single slab and in the open positions act as separate roof shielding the area just outside the hangar. These tend to be expensive but are very popular. Another common door is the bifold door. Bifold hangar doors normally have horizontal hinges, usually only one horizontally in the center. They are raised with belts or chains and tend to raise from the bottom up. Accordion doors are less common but are extremely practical. They require a track both at the top and the bottom and can be simply pushed to the side to open up the space. One advantage to accordion doors is that they do not require electricity to operate. Looking at various doors types is a good idea so that you can make an educated choice as to what type of door to select.
7.The structure over the hangar door is an important consideration. Hangar doors are usually quite wide varying from a minimum of 40 feet on up to greater than 55 feet wide. The header or beam spanning across the top of the door needs to be considered structurally. One way to handle this is by placing a steel I-beam across the door which will hold the weight of the roof. There are several disadvantages to this including higher construction costs due to the steel fabrication issues. Another disadvantage is that the beam bottom will usually fall well below the ceiling of the hangar causing the hangar door to be shorter than the ceiling height. Another, perhaps better, way to handle this is to use some sort of a gable roof or a modified gable roof over the hangar door. This allows the truss system of the roof to act as its own beam. Often the truss that spans over the door is a multi-ply truss and its bottom can be even with the ceiling height of the hangar. This allows the door to be higher and nearly the same height as the ceiling of the hangar. When designing the hangar discuss this aspect with the designer engineer who will work with you to determine the best solution.
8.Another thing to consider is fuel. This usually does not affect the design of the hangar but it is something to consider ultimately. Fuel can be stored in the hangar in tanks usually about 500 gallons of fuel capacity. These are plugged in and have electric pumps and dials to indicate quantity of gas delivered and are very convenient in topping off the airplane before you leave for a trip. Some airport communities have their own fuel farm, this is likely less common but if your airport community has this asset it is probably the best. And, of course, you can plan on flying out to get gasoline at public airports. This is certainly workable but requires careful planning.
There are many more considerations to keep in mind when designing a hangar home. Designing hangar homes is a specialized activity and is different than designing regular homes. It is best to contact a designer who has had significant experience in the area of hangar homes design; preferably one who lives in a hangar home his or herself. This is usually no place for internet purchased plans - the needs are too unique. And, once you've made the decision to design and build a hangar home you will find it, as many have in this country, to be one of the most thrilling and fulfilling adventures of your life.
1.Most airport communities are developed neighborhoods with their own covenants. These covenants will cover architectural styles, home sizes and, in the case of airport communities, hangar sizes, rules for blending the hangar with the home, space considerations to accommodate the wings of the aircraft that are Taxing nearby and the like. As with any design it is important to become familiar with these deed restrictions.
2.If you're looking at owning a large airport community lot setbacks are usually not a factor. However the smaller sites where the edges are close together will require a close understanding of the setbacks required. Lots are sometimes flat and sometimes have slopes to them. If your site has a slope it is usually best to place the hangar on the lower area of the slope and the home on the upper regions of the slope. This allows the architecture of the hangar and home to blend nicely. There are always exceptions but these are common considerations.
3.A key question is to consider how large to make the hangar. The first thing to consider is the 2000 square foot question. Most codes in the United States differentiate between hangars less than 2000 ft. and those that are larger. In general, commercial codes apply to larger hangars whereby easier residential codes will apply to the smaller hangars. This can affect the pricing.
4. Another common point to consider is whether or not to connect the hangar in the home. Connecting or not connecting each has its advantages and disadvantages. Connecting the hangar to the home is considered by most pilots to be quite advantageous. It allows one to stay out of the weather. It makes for some very interesting architecture. But if you're looking to build projects then you need to consider the impact made by these projects such as sounds and smells which you may not want to enter into the home. In such instances building the hangar and home separately may be the way to go.
5.One should consider how the hangar is going to be used in addition to storing the airplane. Do you want a workshop? Do you want to park your cars in the hangar or do you want to have them in a separate garage? Will you be storing other toys in the hangar such as boats or even a motorhome? Regarding a motorhome height can be an important issue. The height of a motorhome, as well as an airplane, can determine how high you want the ceiling of your hangar to be. Most consider a ceiling height of 12 feet above the floor to be absolute minimum. More commonly is 13 to 14 feet tall. If you intend to place a motorhome in the hangar keep in mind that modern motorhomes, with their air conditioners, can often exceed 13 feet in height. This, obviously, will require your door to be at least 13 feet in height. Also will you want your motorhome to use a separate door from the hangar door or have the motorhome come in and out the same door? All these are factors that should be considered.
6.Another important decision is to determine what type of the door you want. Hangar doors come, basically, in three types: hydraulic, accordion and bifold. There may be others but those are the most common. Hydraulic doors are usually hinged at the top and are opened as one single slab and in the open positions act as separate roof shielding the area just outside the hangar. These tend to be expensive but are very popular. Another common door is the bifold door. Bifold hangar doors normally have horizontal hinges, usually only one horizontally in the center. They are raised with belts or chains and tend to raise from the bottom up. Accordion doors are less common but are extremely practical. They require a track both at the top and the bottom and can be simply pushed to the side to open up the space. One advantage to accordion doors is that they do not require electricity to operate. Looking at various doors types is a good idea so that you can make an educated choice as to what type of door to select.
7.The structure over the hangar door is an important consideration. Hangar doors are usually quite wide varying from a minimum of 40 feet on up to greater than 55 feet wide. The header or beam spanning across the top of the door needs to be considered structurally. One way to handle this is by placing a steel I-beam across the door which will hold the weight of the roof. There are several disadvantages to this including higher construction costs due to the steel fabrication issues. Another disadvantage is that the beam bottom will usually fall well below the ceiling of the hangar causing the hangar door to be shorter than the ceiling height. Another, perhaps better, way to handle this is to use some sort of a gable roof or a modified gable roof over the hangar door. This allows the truss system of the roof to act as its own beam. Often the truss that spans over the door is a multi-ply truss and its bottom can be even with the ceiling height of the hangar. This allows the door to be higher and nearly the same height as the ceiling of the hangar. When designing the hangar discuss this aspect with the designer engineer who will work with you to determine the best solution.
8.Another thing to consider is fuel. This usually does not affect the design of the hangar but it is something to consider ultimately. Fuel can be stored in the hangar in tanks usually about 500 gallons of fuel capacity. These are plugged in and have electric pumps and dials to indicate quantity of gas delivered and are very convenient in topping off the airplane before you leave for a trip. Some airport communities have their own fuel farm, this is likely less common but if your airport community has this asset it is probably the best. And, of course, you can plan on flying out to get gasoline at public airports. This is certainly workable but requires careful planning.
There are many more considerations to keep in mind when designing a hangar home. Designing hangar homes is a specialized activity and is different than designing regular homes. It is best to contact a designer who has had significant experience in the area of hangar homes design; preferably one who lives in a hangar home his or herself. This is usually no place for internet purchased plans - the needs are too unique. And, once you've made the decision to design and build a hangar home you will find it, as many have in this country, to be one of the most thrilling and fulfilling adventures of your life.
About the Author:
Ken Risley, the Engineer Designer, is an expert in Hangar Home Design. He can help you turn your residential design dream into reality.
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