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Hangar Construction Project
Added
1/8/10 , updated 7/28/10. Click on any photo for a larger view.
Like many pilots,
I have long dreamed of an airstrip in the back yard and a hangar next to the
house. With the house almost done, I'm in the process of building a hangar at a
private
residential airstrip
in Virginia. To keep costs down, I'm doing as much of the
work as is practical myself. You may follow my progress on this project here.
For those considering building a hangar, perhaps seeing how I did it will be
helpful. If
you'd like to start at the groundbreaking, scroll down to the bottom and work
your way back up. There are many photos, so be patient while the page
loads.
July 28, 2010. I
installed a finishing touch...
July 27, 2010.
Here's another shot of the finished front of the hangar. This morning was
clear and calm and reasonably cool, so I took the Chief up for exercise.
The air was absolutely still and it was beautiful on the Northern Neck.
Returning from flight, my practice is to taxi unto the apron from the side, then
use the taildragger dragger to swing the tail towards the hangar.
July 26, 2010. With
the exterior painting finished, today I installed the hardware on the loft door.
Yestereday I re-installed the light fixtures. Next on the agenda will be
gutters and landscaping.
July 16, 2010. The
siding gets painted with two coats of exterior latex house paint - same as the
house. The paint is by Benjamin Moore, the color is called "Ticonderoga
Taupe." It looks brown to me. It's a big painting job, and we're ready for
this project to be done, so we hired some help. We had about 11 gallons
extra left from the house, but the job will take about 9 more gallons.
July 11, 2010. Today
I secured the rubber top hinge cover to the door. Rather than just screw
the bare rubber to the door as suggested by Hydroswing, I had some aluminum trim
shaped with a ten foot metal brake to form a drip edge. I think this gives
a more finished appearance.
June
27, 2010. The siding is now done on all four walls. After doing the west and south walls ourselves, we hired some help for the last
two walls. The pros sure do work a lot faster!
May 25, 2010. My
friend Mike Roe helped me finish hanging the west wall siding. Still have
caulking and painting to go on this wall.
May 2, 2010. Today I
did some electrical work, adding flood lights on the gable above the main door.
With high temperatures and humidity in the region, I worked with less enthusiasm
than other days, but also continued the siding work on the west wall.
May 1, 2010. A
marathon week of siding work. The south gable wall is done, with just
caulking and painting to go on the main door side. My wife Sukey helped
with most of the siding, including the gable work done using two 28 foot
extension ladders. At the peak, the gable is about 23 feet above ground level.
Only three more sides to go! To add some character and break up the
expanse of siding on the gable, I used some left-over Miratec trim to add "faux"
loft doors. I will add hinges and latches so the doors appear to be
functional.
April 23, 2010.
Yesterday I installed the rubber seal at the top of the door. The seal
covers the hinges. The standard seal supplied by Hydroswing is of heavy
black rubber, the same as the bottom seal, but I ordered a seal made of heavy
white rubber for aesthetic purposes. Today I installed the Miratec trim
around the door - 1x4 on the sides and 1x6 at the top.
April 21, 2010. I
spent a rainy day organizing things in the hangar, adding some shelving for
"stuff." I reinstalled the seal at the bottom of the door. I moved the
Chief to a back corner of the hangar to test how it would fit there and leave
room for other airplanes. It looks like I will have plenty of room
for the Stinson. I believe I could eventually fit three planes in the
hangar if one were a low-wing type.
April 14, 2010. A
milestone day. With the hangar closed in, it was time to move the airplane
into the hangar for the first time. I've also started moving some of my
other "stuff" into the hangar, including struts and control surfaces from the
Stinson project, stored in the trusses. Special thanks to my neighbors at
VA99, Mike Roe and John Federhart, who generously allowed me to house the
Chief in their hangars while I built my own.
April 3, 2010. Today
we finished skinning the door. Now we're ready for the trim and siding on
the door wall.
April 2, 2010.
Yesterday the metal for the door sheathing arrived. Also, my neighbors at
Cockrell's Marina brought
their arc welding equipment and reinforced the frame splice plates.
Hydroswing is now
recommending that the splices are welded for all doors, not just the larger (18'
and taller) sizes. With the welding completed, I wire brushed the welds
and repainted. Today, with help from Sukey,
I started installing the metal sheeting. I used 26 gauge metal from
Union Corrugating Company,
purchased from my local lumber yard. Each piece covers three feet of width and
is precut for the full height of the door. Self tapping screws are easier
to drive if a pilot hole is first drilled.
March 23, 2010.
Today I worked more on the siding installation, which I began yesterday.
I'm using fiber cement siding by
James Hardie
with a six inch reveal. This will be painted to match the house. For
cutting the siding, I use an SS204
Snapper Shear, which avoids the excessive and harmful dust that would be
created by using a saw. I use a tool designed by Allyn Rehm called a
Hang-N-Nail that holds the siding in the
proper position, making it possible to work solo. And finally, a
Hitachi NV 65AH pneumatic siding nailer drives the stainless nails to the
correct depth.
3/21/2010. Visitors
at VA99! Jud Rupert stopped by with his 1950 Cessna 170A. Jud is
based at St. Mary's Airport in southern Maryland.
March 20, 2010. I
painted the truss portion of the door. This will be exposed after the
metal sheeting is installed. The truss gives strength to the door and
prevents sagging when in the open position. There is a slight outward bow
to the truss - Hydroswing calls this their "patentented Hy-Brow truss system."
March 12, 2010.
After adding more hydraulic fluid to the resevoir, I cycled the door all the way
open. The Hydroswing provides for a large clear opening and also serves as
an awning when open.
March 12, 2010. I
finished the electrical hookup and hydraulic line plumbing for the Hydroswing
door and partially cycled the door for the first time. It works!
March 9, 2010.
Neighbors help with the grunt work and I find myself up on a ladder again. Half inch bolts attach the header,
half inch lag bolts attach the jambs. Hydroswing did a good job - the fit
was excellent.
March 9, 2010.
Today we hung the door - a bit of a milestone. Andy Cockrell mans the
crane to lift the door into position.
February 15, 2010. I
finished assembling the door frame, using a come-along, a hydraulic jack, and
large bar clamps to pull the door frame sections together and align the uprights
at the splice points. The bare frame weighs about 2500 pounds, or as much as
three Aeronca Chiefs. Inside the hangar I mounted the hydraulic pump/resevoir
and control box. Notice that I assembled the door with the truss facing
up. I think that made it easier for me to assemble the door working solo
using without a forklift. Hydroswing recommends that the door is
positioned with the truss facing down and adjacent to the hangar, which would
make it easier to lift the door into position if using a forklift for that.
Also, positioning the door the other way (upside down?) would make it feasible
to install the hydraulic lines on the header before raising the door. Our
method worked out okay since we used a crane, but I suspect the Hydroswing
recommended method is probably better. If you're installing the door
yourself, give it some careful thought.
February 9. The door
in position for assembly. Heavy splice fittings and bolts are used.
February 9. Once at the
hangar, the door was unloaded from the trailer and positioned on the apron.
February 9, 2010. With
the ground frozen, we decided it was a good time to bring the door frame from
the marina to the airstrip. It was a little tricky making the turn into the driveway.
Andy Cockrell of Cockrell's
Marine Railway did a fine job maneuvering in tight spaces.
February 4, 2010. A
big day as the door arrives. This is a 42'x12' door by
Hydroswing. The two
42 foot long sections will bolt together to form a one piece door that operates
hydraulically. With heavy truck access to the airstrip limited because of
melting snow and soft ground, we made the decision to offload the door at the
nearby marina. Once conditions permit, the door will be be moved to the
airstrip on a smaller trailer.
February 1, 2010.
Winter strikes again and progress slows. We had at least 12 inches of snow
on the ground by the end of the day on January 30th, unusual for this part of Virginia.
I installed some of the overhead fluorescent
light fixtures that you can see here. I chose to go with T-8 fixtures for energy
efficiency. I will start with nine overhead fixtures (four 48" tubes in
each fixture) and expand to fifteen fixtures if necessary. Outlets are
installed on the east and west walls.
January 27, 2010.
Today we finished installing the Tyvek on the gable wall above the main door.
Scaffolding and long ladders are necessary tools. Up on the ladders with
me was my "most able assistant," best friend, and partner of more than 30 years,
wife Sukey. Earlier in the week, I added some internal cross bracing to
strengthen the door opening, and also made more progress on the electrical
installation.
January 20, 2010.
Today I worked on the trim. This included trim around the doors and
windows as well as the corner boards. I'm using a product called
MiraTEC.
These are treated, composite, water resistance trim boards. The same trim
was used on the house.
January 18, 2010. If I were a carpenter.... Here
I'm taking advantage of an unseasonably warm day in January to mark the openings
and cut the sheathing for the windows. In the second photo, more
progress on the Tyvek housewrap, all windows and walk doors are installed. The
Andersen Frenchwood sliding door with transom window was originally installed on the house, but was
removed when we changed the design. I decided to recycle it for the
hangar.
January 8, 2010. A
cold snap on the US East Coast has slowed work on the hangar project. With
temperatures in the teens, outdoor work is uncomfortable, so I have shifted work
back to finishing details on the house. Before the snow, we had a few good days.
My wife Sukey helped me install some of the Tyvek house wrap. Still lots
more to go. I installed and flashed the third of ten windows. The windows
are fixed panel, double pane vinyl units by Atrium.
December 29, 2009.
Finally, all of the sheathing is done. I used 1/2" CDX ply on the corners
and OSB in between.
November 17, 2009.
Here, I'm installing sheathing using my old Bostitch pneumatic framing nail gun. Notice the frameouts for the windows and doors.
November 11, 2009. I
hired an electrician to bring 200 amp service into the hangar from the house.
He also buried a conduit between the house and hangar for telcom/data lines and a
second conduit for future high voltage lines so I could control lights or other
devices in the hangar from the house. I will finish the electrical work
myself.
Local codes here allow homeowners to apply for a permit and do work on their own
place.
October 30, 2009. A
view of the hangar door opening from the inside. The clear opening is 42'
x 12'. Temporary diagonal braces are in place to help keep things square
until the framing and sheathing are complete.
October 26, 2009. After
the concrete pour, my first project was to frame in the corners so they can be
sheathed with CDX plywood. Ply in the corners provides strength to avoid
racking. 2x6 studs are installed between the 6x6 posts on 24" centers. The
studs and posts are then faired out with 2x lumber to match the footprint of the band board and header.
Framing it this way will allow the future installation of insulation and
drywall, if I decide to someday finish the interior.
October 13, 2009.
With the main slab complete, work moves to the 20' x 32' apron.
October 12, 2009. I
hired a local concrete finisher to pour the 5" slab. The band board serves
as a former. Care is taken not to damage the tubing.
October 7, 2009. I laid out the tubing for the radiant
heating prior to the slab pour. After the base is prepared, a layer of
double-bubble reflective insulation is laid down. The insulation rolls up
the side of the band board. Once the insulation was down, the concrete
contractor laid down one layer of rebar in a grid pattern, 48" on center.
Once the rebar was down, I laid out the tubing in 6 equal length loops, each
connected to the input and output sides of the manifold. After all
connections were complete, I pressure tested the system. Following the
tubing installation, a second layer of rebar was laid down in an offset grid
pattern, 48" on center, so that the final rebar grid is at 24" on center.
Thus the tubing is sandwiched between two layers of rebar, helping to keep it in
position. The tubing is attached to the rebar with zip ties. The box around the manifold serves as a former for the concrete pour. Rags
are stuffed around the tubes where they enter the box to prevent the concrete
from flowing into the manifold box. After the cement set, the box was
cut out. I ordered the materials for the radiant heat from
Radiantec.
October 2, 2009.
Here, the contractor is laying the Fabral metal roofing over the reflective
insulation. A one foot overhang and soffit all the way around provides some protection
for the walls and improves looks.
October 1, 2009.
Purlins made of 2x4's provide support for the roof insulation and roof metal.
September 30, 2009.
A super-sized fork lift is the right tool for putting the trusses in place.
The span is 50'. Trusses are set on 4 foot centers. A double truss
is placed over the large door opening. After several designs, some that
included an attached shop, I finalized on a simpler design to reduce costs.
The south facing main door faces away from the prevailing northwest winds.
September 22, 2009.
A serious post hole digger is required. There are 22 6"x6" pressure
treated posts. Each post sits on concrete and is protected with a plastic
sleeve called, somewhat predictably, a "Post
Protector."
September 7, 2009.
The trusses are delivered first, then the other materials. I contracted
with National Barn Company to put up
the posts, trusses, and roof. The hangar will be 50'x50'x14'. Roof
pitch will be 4/12.
August 17, 2009. The
project begins with some fill dirt. The hangar is sited in a low area, so many
tons of fill will raise the floor to keep things dry. A local contractor
provided the fill dirt and skid steer work, and leveled the site using a
transit. Previously, I cut and removed about 15 trees to allow for the
necessary 125 foot setback of the hangar from the runway. As with the
house project, the goal was to remove no more trees than necessary.
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