Warbird Information Exchange

Hi guys,

Do any of you know offhand the height requirement for a hangar door to clear a T-6? My Harvard manual and Wikipedia show the height to be around 12-13 feet; what I can't determine is if they're figuring the height of that big-ass radio antenna mast in that figure. I'm in the planning stages of having an airpark home and hangar built and am trying to come up with a door size that will fit the biggest ship I can see needing to hide in there. No need for a King Air/Citation/Caravan, but I could possibly see a T-6 or a shared T-28 in there sometime down the road; I'm thinking there aren't many T-6s around these days with that big mast antenna, so don't need a hangar door to clear it...


Thanks!
John B
Houston, TX

For what it is worth we are planning on installing the antenna on the SNJ-3 we are restoring.
Also, when we built this hangar we built it to be big enough for a Falcon 900 size. We will never operate one but for resale value we built it to suit what the market wanted in the industry.
I would advise to make it bigger for a King Air C-90 size. The cost isn't much different going from 13' to say 16' height and it will have a resale value that could make it easier to sell if that is needed at some point.
Also a little bigger usually allows more storage of parts, a mezzanine or shop equipment. Things that will easily accumulate in a hangar.
The T-6G sez 11' for 3 pt height, 42' wingspan and 30' length.
Off hand I don't recall what a T-28 stands (IIRC around 13' ht and maybe 42' wingspan, 32 length?) but probably not much different than a King Air 90 at 15' ht, 51' wing and 36' length.
If for some reason you do a gear retract on the six in the hangar add another foot for ceiling ht. On a T-28 I would add at least 18" with it on jacks for ceiling ht.
Good luck on your project.

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Rich Palmer

Remember an Injured Youth
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I would second making it big enough so the hangar will be more usable to more aircraft types. I little more sidewall costs very little to get the extra height. Do not forget to allow for any signifcant slope outside the hangar to allow for the tail of something like a T-28/King Air rising as the nose drops down a slope. I am not sure a hangar can be too big!! Good luck.

Good point! When was the last time you heard someone say "you know, I should have built a smaller hangar..."

The type of door is also important. A bi-fold loses x amount of the opening height depending on the cased opening size. New one piece hydraulic doors open almost all the way and have gotten way cheaper than what they were a few years ago.

We have a bi-fold door on our hangar, but after seeing how well neighbors do with stack doors, if I ever built another hangar, I would seriously consider a change. In case you aren't as familiar, here are a few thoughts.

Our bi-fold was disabled by a nearby lightning strike; thankfully it was down, but no matter where it is when you lose power or any portion of the motor/microswitches/etc fail, it is stuck in position. Due to a delay in troubleshooting and getting parts, I didn't fly for a month. Because of the way it is geared, it would be a tremendous job to crank it closed or even physically get to where you could access the components. The one benefit I've seen others take advantage of is that you can put a remote opener on it. Otherwise, I'd steer clear.

The stack doors can be opened one panel at a time for ventilation, sunlight, etc. On a rainy day, one panel can be cracked open so you can walk in/out. The bi-fold door (unless you have a pedestrian door installed into the face of the door) has to be opened at least to crouching height for you to slip in and out. I heard that ensuring that the installation is perfectly plumb is the key to a happy stack door - otherwise I'm not aware of any complaints. Just my .02.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Only problem with stack doors is $$$, otherwise are a good option.