The Latest in Airport Modernization

More Americans than ever before are traveling by air, on scheduled airliners, on private business planes, and on pleasure and training craft. The boom in air passenger travel has increased the demand for airports of all shapes and sizes. 

To accommodate the growing demand for hangar space and to attract the best business, it’s important to make sure your facilities are up-to-date, attractive, and operating to their best potential. There’s a good chance you already have a hangar waitlist, but if not, a quick email to pilots within your service area can help you gauge interest in whether an investment in hangar upgrades or the construction of a new hangar is the best choice for your airport.

Upgrading Your Existing Hangar

If it isn’t feasible for you to expand your operations by building a new hangar, there are ways beyond regular maintenance and cleanliness that can help you attract and keep pilots.

Existing hangars can be expanded to accommodate more aircraft. Hangar expansions can provide more space for aircraft and increase the amount of space available for maintenance and repair capabilities. Steel framed, fabric covered hangar expansions are budget-friendly ways you can add space.

Airport site improvements can make the flight experience even more enjoyable. Alternate run-up areas to warm up planes, airplane wash-down areas, improved site drainage and water filtration systems, repaved access roads and taxi lanes, new or repaired sidewalks, and addressing the soil composition beneath uneven taxi lanes and aprons are all excellent ways to improve your airport.

Make your hangar more environmentally friendly and save money on energy bills. Install solar panels to generate electricity, rain barrels to reduce water consumption, LED light bulbs to reduce energy usage, and automation features to control the climate and detect motion for lighting. Compared to fluorescent bulbs, LED require 49% less power and save 32,256 kWh and 2.7 tons of CO2 annually. They also last 4 times longer than fluorescent lamps (10 years vs. 2.5 years) and are markedly brighter while using less energy than fluorescents.

Adding portable hangars for lease or purchase can increase your space without creating permanent structures. If you’re an aircraft owner who is looking for a way to hangar your aircraft, or if you own/manage an airport, “portable” hangars. These are a cost-effective approach to getting more aircraft out of the elements. Although these tent-like hangars protect your aircraft from sun and precipitation concerns, they can’t provide full climate protection since they don't have hangar doors. “RentHall” in both the USA and Europe can provide code-design hangar structure for rentals and leases with terms typically from three to ten years.

Replace existing hangar doors with a Para-Port® Door. If your old hangar door is ready to be replaced, Para-Port® Doors LLC is a great upgrade choice. Installing a Para-Port® Door can increase space for bigger aircraft, reduce maintenance costs, increase natural light, and improve reliability. 

Building a New Hangar

If you’re building new, technology advancements in hangar design and materials can make your new hangar both energy efficient and budget friendly. The sustainability upgrades above can certainly be applied to your new construction as well as these additional possibilities:

Plan wisely. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association published a thorough guide to your new hangar project. It provides steps to lead you through the planning process, funding guidelines, site preparation, and project execution.

Use engineered tension fabric for your roof. Engineered fabric roofs, like the ones provided by Rubb Building Systems are high quality and durable. According to Aviation Pros, a fabric roof “provides high solar reflectance, which keeps the roof cooler and reduces the overall heat island effect by deflecting sunlight and heat away from the structure. Fabric roofs also absorb less heat due to a high thermal emittance. During the summer months, these material properties contribute to keeping fabric roofs about 50 to 60 Fahrenheit degrees cooler than roofs built using conventional building materials. The end result is a far lesser need for air conditioning or other cooling inside the building.” These roofs also offer “about 6% translucency but can reach up to 20% translucency. The higher the light transmission typically the higher the heat transmission.” 

Install skylights. Don’t forget Thermohall®.  “When an insulated hangar is required, Rubb’s Thermohall® insulated cladding is a great option to consider.  This can be combined with skylights to increase the natural daylighting provided by Para-Port® Doors." The natural light improves visibility and atmosphere in your hangar while reducing your overall lighting costs.

Install Para-Port® Doors. Para-Port®️️ Doors will help you save money on construction costs. These doors are lighter, with minimal point loads, and require less overhead clearance, which will in turn reduce your overall steel requirements.

Whether you want to improve your existing hangar or construct a new one, choose the reliability, low maintenance, and energy efficiency of a Para-Port® Door.