Hangar

Diagram of a hangar

Iberia hangar structure of 155m of light

The hangar is a place used to store and maintain both aircraft and airships, generally large and located at airports.

It is also called a hangar, in aircraft carriers, to the place where, with a similar purpose, the planes spend the night and are assembled. This can be armored, to protect against air attacks, or it can be dispensed with to gain space, as was the case with the Japanese aircraft carriers, these being more vulnerable to air attacks. In any case, it is a highly functional part of aircraft carriers, since it is where aircraft maintenance is done.

The structures for hangars must have wide entrances for the aircraft, the larger the aircraft, the greater the opening in the air zone (door opening zone). For this reason, they are structures made by specialists, both from the structural point of view and from the point of view of installations. For example, doors for hangars are a world apart from conventional doors, having to allow their operation admitting the deformations of the structure, they can be vertically opened with canvases and horizontally with metal plates.

Hangars can be classified by the distance left for the entry of aircraft, that is, the width of the air zone that remains without pillars:^{[citation required]}

The XXL hangars allow the entry of the largest aircraft in the world, in addition to being able to accommodate a greater number of smaller aircraft in their facilities. As regards size, it is important to note that the tail height is related to the wingspan of the aircraft, so large aircraft, in addition to needing pillar-free enclosures, require a high headroom. In the case of larger aircraft, this free height can be as high as 30m.

Maintenance hangars usually have a set of overhead cranes and/or telescopic platforms capable of covering the entire surface of the hangar. These elements are installed by hanging from the structure, transmitting the load to it.

Hangars, in addition to the structure with long spans and large doors, usually have complex fire protection installations, special floor surface finishes, powerful lighting systems, etc.

Hangars on board ships

The helicopter hangar of a class destroyer Akizuki.

Many warships carry aircraft and have hangars for storage and maintenance. Such hangars may be located next to the flight deck on cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes, or they may be concealed below the flight deck and have elevators for storing aircraft aboard aircraft carriers, helicopter carriers, and warships. amphibious assault.

Images

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  The Graf ZeppelinIn his hangar in 1909.

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  Hangar of the Wright brothers.

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  Hangar maintenance of Boeing 747 aircraft belonging to China Airlines.

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  View of the hangars for helicopters of the Argentine icebreaker ARA Admiral Irizar.

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  Interior of the helicopter hangar of the German oceanographic research vessel Polarstern.

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  Military Hangar in Poland

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  USS Dallas Underwater Cover Hangar.