A hangar is a metal, wooden or concrete structure designed to hold one or many aircraft in protective storage. Hangars may be used to protect aircraft from weather or enemy fire (if in a wartime environment) when they are not being used or are undergoing repairs. Any type of aircraft can be housed in a hangar—some very large ones were constructed to house dirigibles during refueling and boarding. The word Hangar comes from a northern French dialect, where it means cattle pen.
History of hangars
In 1909, Louis Bleriot crash-landed on a northern French farm in Les Baraques (between Sangatte and Calais) and rolled the 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 his personal use. REIDsteel continues to make hangars and hangar parts to this day.
The Wright brothers were the first to store and repair a functional airplane in a protective structure. They constructed a wooden hangar in 1902 on Kill Devil Hill for their glider. After completing design and construction of the Wright Flyer in Ohio, the brothers returned to Kill Devil Hill to find their hangar damaged. They repaired the hangar and constructed a new workshop while they waited for the Flyer to be shipped. After every disappointing run they returned to the hangar for repairs.
Airship hangars
With World War I on the horizon hangar technology had to catch up with changes in aviation. Airships were becoming a standard for transoceanic travel, the Germans used Zeppelins to bomb Paris and London and the British used Blimps to patrol their coasts. Airship hangars must be much larger than standard airplane hangars which makes their design more challenging. Many airships used hydrogen to give them buoyancy so, the Hangars provided protection from stray sparks to prevent the flammable gas from exploding. Hangars that hold multiple craft can be at risk for a chain reaction of explosions. For this reason most hangars for hydrogen ariships hold only 1 or 2 crafts.
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Last updated: 06-01-2005 21:27:01
