Aircraft hangar doors are much more important than people may realize. It may be easy to take for granted a “good” hangar door, but having a bad one can lead to terrible outcomes for your aircraft. Here, we will break down the different kinds of aircraft hangar doors, all of which have their own pros and cons and can be the best for your needs if you trust in the experts.
Hangar doors come in three main types: hydraulic, bi-fold, and rolling doors.
Hydraulic Hangar Doors
Hydraulic hangar doors are a door that is lightweight and allows for a lot of headspace in the opening of the hangar, making it possible to make your hangar’s initial build height lower because of the amount of space it allows. Hydraulic hangar doors are simple and functional: the door moves from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open one using hydraulic cylinders for quick opening and closing. These doors are also meant to seal tightly without the need for any sort of lock, making them much easier to operate and much more reliable in terms of security. However, because they have to be lightweight, hydraulic doors are best for environments without high winds, because these winds could interfere with their sealing.
Bi-Fold Hangar Doors
Bi-fold hangar doors are another great option for security and convenience. They open by folding two separate sections of the door into a V shape outside of the hangar using heavy nylon straps or steel cables. These doors are known for their ease of operation as well as their relatively lower costs. They are much easier to operate than a hydraulic system, although they move slower. Because this type of system is older, it is also less expensive. However, this system requires a hangar with a lot more vertical headroom in order to be used, because the folding opening takes up a lot of headspace in almost every type of hangar.
Rolling Hangar Doors
Rolling hangar doors are an easy option that has been around for many years and is still reliable to this day. These doors work by rolling along a track at the door bottom with roller wheels, simply going from side to side in order to open and close. Rolling hangar doors are perfect for incredibly large hangars because the other two types of doors would be impractical due to the necessary weight of a larger door. These doors can be powered or unpowered, and the unpowered types are very low maintenance. However, these doors are extremely heavy and can get stuck due to jams in the track, which is something to keep in mind.
Conclusion
Knowing all of this, what is the best aircraft hangar door? That is for you to decide. Whatever you choose, make sure that you trust the aircraft hangar door experts at Well Bilt Industries from design to installation. We will stop at nothing to make sure that your aircraft hangar door is of the top quality of the industry, because we want to make this experience as smooth as possible for you.