The Future - Clear Span Hangars 2km long by 100m wide?

One of the most important requirements for a large aircraft hangar is that it should have the widest possible door opening so as to be able to accommodate the biggest aircraft flying or a mixture of many types, large or small, whose comings and goings will not be restricted by widths of door openings, or by having to manoeuvre past other aircraft.

After many years research we have now designed a hangar whose clear doorway opening can be the entire width of the hangar, whatever its span. For instance, an entrance could be 100 metres or 500 metres or more without intermediate support columns. This is achieved with a special steel structure and frontal lattice beam. This design places the highest part of the hangar just where it needs to be - at the front - to accommodate the tail section inside the hangar, without the need for a special tailgate door.

The electrically controlled individually operated doors roll on bottom rails. At the top, vertical rollers operate within precision made guide channels, so that any single door or number of doors can be moved to any part of the ground track and if necessary onto outriggers. The design allows large areas of workshop and office space at the rear inside the hangar, where the wings do not intrude. Foundations are reduced to a minimum.
 

BUTTERFLY

Wide entry Aircraft Hangars

At the same time that commercial aircraft need bigger, wider spans, this century will see more and more private owners needing hangars for small single aircraft or multiple lock-ups for clubs and hangarage companies.

Archspan - Single Archspan 200m Wide?

These interior views clearly illustrate the Archspan system

Archspan is not a new system, but the concept has been refined over the years, allowing us to increase the clear span. The increasing size of the civil and miltary aircraft has given the hangar designers no option, but to follow suit and build clear spans even greater. Spans of 200 metres are possible.

3 Boeing 747's parked wing to wing require a clear door opeining of 200 metres, which is possible with Archspan frames.