Regulations and requirements

The Federal Aviation Authority -- FAA passed the "Vision100 - Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act," which among other regulations also allowed for the allocation of the AIP funds for the facilities like hangars and fuel farms. This is stated in the law that the secretary can pay the funds "apportioned to the airport sponsor under section 47114 (d) (3) (a) and if the Secretary determines that the sponsor has made adequate provision for financing airside needs of the airport." ("Airport Improvement Program," 2004) Therefore all planners and builders are required to submit a business plan. In the event where the promoter of the proposed airport is not requiring the genera fund, still considering these guidelines will help in determining the profitability and the types of facility and structures required. The foremost concern is to evaluate the need. The plan must show the demand envisaged for the facility. There must be clear documentation that shows the intent to rent hangar space. There must be a very clear idea about the revenue that can be generated from the hangar or facility. There must be a comparison with other airports that provide similar facilities. "For hangars, the plan should show the rental fees for hangar space and the basis for determining those fees. For fueling facilities, the plan should show the amount of projected fuel sales, the amount of revenue to be received from each gallon, and the basis used to determine that amount." ("Airport Improvement Program," 2004)

The construction must comply with all federal, state and local regulations especially if federal funding is involved. All hangars will have to comply with the requirements that where the hangar is delegated for management to the FBO, then the FBO is entitled to management fees. The hangar is to be used only for parking the aircraft and the facility must not be used for other services like maintenance, painting etc. There cannot be any discrimination between users of the hangars. ("Airport Improvement Program," 2004) While some of these regulations apply to the funded projects, they also fit the general principles of the air port management. The considerations for selection of a site for developing an airport other than the Fixed Base Operator -- FBO rules will include passenger accommodation, aircraft facilities, hangar space, maintenance, fuelling facilities, flight crew and office space, the volume of traffic, noise laws, the runway, instruments and the mode of operation and security issues. The designs of hangars have to be in such a way that the moving of aircraft to accommodate another is minimized so as to avoid the damage that could be caused. Most companies prefer their own hangars or shared hangars that are leased out to the known players for security reasons. (Sheehan, 2003)

There is a need to evaluate the plan carefully because once invested there is a resistance to change. The existing structures or those already built cannot be easily abandoned and there is a general resistance to such moves. The funding for renovation and change may also be tardy. (De Neufville, Odoni, 2002) Therefore care must be taken over the existing structures and the proposed plan and both must be considered almost unchangeable. Hangar development plans follow the general development plans, and mostly relate to regulations and legal requirements, environmental issues, and the type of the airport. There are no general principles that can be applied at all situations and airports. A hangar development project essentially is like any other business development plan. The most important aspect in the development of the airport plan is the understanding of the existing facilities and the requirements concerning the airport and the systems like the regional transportation system. ("Airport Ground Access Planning Guide," n. d.)

This involves analyzing the improvements needed for airport ground access. That is the important place to begin, for without proper access the airport is rendered useless for practical purposes of civil aviation. The NFPA 409 regulation for hangar fire protection with regard to various groups of hangars like Group 1, 2 and 3 type of hangars are as follows: The group I types are required to be protected with foam-water deluge system. The hangars housing giant craft like the Boeing 747 should have an additional...

The fire fighting system must be able to sprinkle foam to blanket the whole hangar floor space for the group II types of hangars, the foam-water deluge system is recommended and they can also use the high-expansion foam system or sprinklers or even the water sprinkler system. The group III system does not require the fire protection system but if this type of hangars is used for hazardous purposes like fuel transfer, spray painting, welding etc. The group II requirements will apply. The tremendous cost of the systems and the clean up procedures for the accidental discharge as stipulated by the Environmental Protection Agency -- EPA will cause tremendous increase in the cost of the overall state of the cost ratio. (Reese, 2000)
Hangars and airports

Hangars are an important part of aviation and the need was perceived from the first aircraft to be built, and a hangar, or the first hangar was created by Louis Bleriot on crash landing in Northern France in 1920. The plane was stored in a farmer's cattle pen. The word "Hangar" in French means the cattle pen. It was Louis Bleriot who first ordered Hangars to store the aircraft. ("History of Airplace Hangars and REIDsteel," n. d.) Airports without hangars are unthinkable today as not only storage spaces but also the hangar today has come a long way from the cattle barn types that were used to house planes. Today hangars are centers that provide a host of services to aircrafts which are absolutely essential. Therefore in creating any airport, there must also be commercial plans to create the hangar and hangar facilities, without which an airport will be almost crippled. Planning hangars is dependent on the plan and capacity of the airport itself. The type of airport determines the need for hangar space. Large volume airports that cater to different types of planes need bigger and complicated hangars as compared to air ports that have lesser traffic and are limited to smaller planes. The cost, expansion and other aspects of the hangar thus depend on the airport.

Planning Airport Hangars

There are more aircrafts than hangars. Hangars are important revenue earning facilities at airports. The type of hangar and the facility it offers often determine the profitability of the airport. There are many things that have to be considered before embarking on a hangar development project. The current state of the airport or the plan for developing the airport is very important in planning hangars. The need for hangars, the type of hangars required is very important. Especially for those who wish to invest in the hangar as a commercial activity. The airport hangar waiting list is a good source to asses the demand for hangars, where the analysis is being done for development of the hangar with the airport the parameters will of course depend on type of demand for the airport. At any case, the objective is to arrive at the reasonable demand forecast and the type and requirement of the structure for the hangars. Once this is achieved, a SWOT -- strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats Analysis is to be conducted with the available information for the proposed hangar. At this stage the funding options and the interaction and airport developer's concurrence is obtained. The rentals and other financial formalities are also worked out.

The type of hangar and the facilities offered determines the outlay of the operations. It is good to be wary of the environmental issues and the mode of obtaining the environmental impact report -- EIR. The issues "include noise, traffic, water runoff, water use, soil impact / degradation, visual impact, and vegetation or animal impacts." ("Aircraft Hangar Development Guide," n. d.) Some ecosystem requirements will make the whole project unviable and it is better to be aware of it in the first stage of planning itself. A well planned hangar system can help reduce the airport's trade deficits and augment its income. This is so because airports can generate income from fuel sales and rents. In case of a private company owning the hangars on lease, or where the airport owns it, in both the cases the hangars are the medium of revenue for the airport, the other being proceeds from sale of fuel. Therefore sound planning in development of the hangar and fuelling facility is a must for the development and viability of the airport project. ("Aircraft Hangar Development Guide," n. d.)

The Considerations for Hangars

Commonly aircraft hangars are thought of as garages for planes. There are many types of hangars from providing simple shade to complex facilities. The air force has developed the concept of hangars as seen in the history of aviation. The considerations for selection of a site for developing an airport other than the FBO rules will include passenger accommodation, aircraft…