Important Design Considerations for Hangars – Part 1

Hangars have been an integral part of the aircraft industry since the dawn of aviation and flight. Over the years, the need for cutting edge facilities has made the designing of today’s hangars more complicated and expensive than ever before.  This is mainly due to the increased regulatory oversight, many technological advancements, and strict project schedule requirements.

A well-designed hangar has durability, versatility, low cost per square foot, all the essential supporting facilities, and the capacity to accommodate any aircraft. There are numerous considerations involved when mapping out the design of an aircraft hangar, and it is imperative that the designing team and the future owner of the hangar are on the same page from the very start.

Facility Space Requirements

There are typically 5 important areas in a hangar facility:

1.       Hangar/Aircraft Area

2.       Warehouse Area

3.       Building Utilities

4.       Administration/Office and Specialty Areas

5.       Shops Area

Following are the important considerations that should be made in order to seamlessly design a hangar facility.

The Aircraft Fleet

During the initial stage of designing, it is important to know about the aircraft fleet that will be maintained in the hangar. The type of aircraft and the number of aircraft of each type are some of the important considerations. Moreover, you should also consider the possibility of future aircraft that may be accommodated in the hangar.

The Hangar Space

For determining the hangar space, create different design layouts representing the floor plans and aircraft on the same scale. Now arrange those layouts in different combinations according to the flow of maintenance operations to make the most efficient use of the hangar space. Moreover, it is important that you consider the width and height of the hangar doors, tail heights, the movements of tow vehicles associated to aircraft maintenance, and the structural depth of trusses and columns.

Other important considerations include the minimum distances between two adjacent aircraft and the distance between the components of the hangar and the aircraft.

Warehouse and Maintenance Shops

The maintenance shops include air frame repair, aerospace systems repair, fabrication shops, cryogenics maintenance, battery servicing area, engine repair, non-destructive testing laboratory, and interior finishes repair areas. The warehouse is used for storing the equipment and spare parts required for performing these activities. The space allocation for both of these areas and their distance from the hangar needs careful consideration, as they can significantly affect the efficiency of the maintenance tasks.

Administration/Office Area

The Administration/Office area is an essential part of any hangar facility. According to general office building standards, about 175 to 250 sq. ft. of usable space should be allocated per person.

These are just the facility space requirements that need to be considered when designing a hangar facility. Other important design considerations are discussed in the 2^nd part of this article.