What is Hangar?

A hangar is an enclosed structure designed to hold aircraft in protective storage. Most modern hangars are built of metal, but wood and concrete are other materials commonly used. The word hangar comes from a northern French dialect, and means "cattle pen."

Hangars protect aircraft from weather and ultraviolet light. Hangars may be used as an enclosed repair shop or, in some cases, an assembly area. Additionally, hangars keep secret aircraft hidden from satellites or spyplanes.

Aircraft storage halls on carriers are also known as hangars.

History

Carl Rickard Nyberg used a hangar to store his Flugan in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

In 1909, Louis Bleriot crash-landed on a northern French farm in Les Baraques (between Sangatte and Calais) and rolled his monoplane into the farmer's cattle pen. At the time, Bleriot was in a race to be the first man to cross the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, so he set up headquarters in the unused shed. After returning home, Bleriot called REIDsteel, the maker of the cattle pen, and ordered three "hangars" for personal use. REIDsteel continues to make hangars and hangar parts.

The Wright brothers stored and repaired their airplane in a wooden hangar they constructed in 1902 at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina for their glider. After completing design and construction of the Wright Flyer in Ohio, the brothers returned to Kill Devil Hill only to find their hangar damaged. They repaired the structure and constructed a new workshop while they waited for the Flyer to be shipped.

One of the largest hangars built was for the former Soviet Air Force. It has now been converted to house a rain forest. Other notable large hangars are Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand measuring 885x295x115 feet, NAS Sunnyvale in the United States measuring 1,133x308x198 feet and the Filton Aerodrome in England measuring 1,155x115x263 feet.

Airship hangars

Airship hangars (also referred to as "airship sheds") are generally larger than conventional airplane hangars, particularly in terms of overall height. Most early airships used hydrogen gas to provide them with sufficient buoyancy for flight, so their hangars had to provide protection from stray sparks in order to prevent the flammable gas from exploding. Hangars that held multiple craft of this type were at risk from chain-reaction explosions. For this reason, most hangars for hydrogen-based airships were sized to house only one or two such craft.

During the "Golden Age" of airship travel, mooring masts and sheds were constructed to build and house airships on their world travels. The British government built a shed in Karachi for the R101, and the Brazilian government built one in Rio de Janeiro for the German Zeppelins. The largest airship hangar, at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, was used for the construction of the USS Akron (ZRS-4) and USS Macon (ZRS-5). Its length was 1,175 ft (358 m) and its roof soared to 200 ft (61 m).

The US Navy established a total of ten "lighter-than-air" (LTA) bases across the United States during World War II as part of the coastal defense plan. Hangars at these bases are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures. Seven of the original seventeen hangars still exist, with one of them now housing the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, Oregon.

Sheds built for rigid airships survive at Moffett Field, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, Base Aérea de Santa Cruz (Rio de Janeiro), and Cardington, Bedfordshire.

Gallery

Hangars can be used to hold fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters), and lighter-than-air ships	Hangar No. 2 at the former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin measures 1,072 ft long, 292 ft wide, 192 ft tall.	An Airbus A 319 is being repaired inside a maintenance hangar.	Hangars for seaplanes of the Imperial Russian Air Force in Tallinn harbor - some of the first reinforced concrete structures
A F-16 in front of a Hardened Aircraft Shelter, a special type of hangar	Light aircraft hangars at Kemble Airport, Gloucestershire, England

References

See also

• Cargolifter Hangar

External links

• Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin at the California Military Musem website
• Photo history of British hangars