Where Should You Build an Aircraft Hangar? Site Planning and Airport Considerations

If you’re planning an aircraft hangar, choosing the site isn’t just about finding a block with enough room for the building.

You need to be able to get the aircraft in and out comfortably, allow enough room for the apron and taxiway connection, manage drainage and vehicle access, and understand any airport or airspace restrictions that could affect where the hangar sits or how high it can be.

There is also the longer-term question: will the site still work if you change aircraft, need more apron space or want to expand the hangar later?

Working through those questions before you settle on the building position gives you much more flexibility when you get to concept design.

Start With Your Aircraft

Before you position the hangar, start with the aircraft that needs to use it.

You should know its wingspan, overall length and tail height, but dimensions alone don’t tell you everything. Think about how you actually use the aircraft.

Will you taxi into the hangar or tow it? How much room do you need outside the door to line it up? Will more than one aircraft use the building? Do you need room around it for maintenance or equipment?

Then think a little further ahead.

If you’re building a hangar you expect to use for many years, it makes sense to consider whether you could move to a larger aircraft or add another aircraft later. You don’t need to design around an aircraft you’re never likely to own, but you also don’t want the site to unnecessarily limit your options.

This is the same approach we take when developing our TechSpan aircraft hangars: understand the aircraft, how the building needs to operate and where you may need flexibility in the future.

Allow Enough Room Around the Hangar

Once you know what the aircraft needs, you can start looking at the site itself.

The hangar footprint is only one part of the space you need.

You also need to consider:

The apron in front of the building
Taxiway or taxilane connection
Aircraft turning and manoeuvring
Wingtip clearance
Vehicle access and parking
Ground support equipment
Drainage
Services
Emergency access
Nearby buildings, fences and infrastructure

CASA’s apron safety guidance emphasises sufficient clearance between aircraft and objects such as buildings, equipment, vehicles and other aircraft. It also notes that parking positions need to suit the size, weight and operation of the aircraft.

CASA Apron Safety Management guidance

There isn’t one clearance figure that works for every hangar and every aircraft.

A better starting point is to map how your aircraft will actually move across the site, then position the hangar around that movement.

Think About How You’ll Get Through the Door

A site can have plenty of room for the hangar itself and still be awkward to use.

Imagine bringing your aircraft from the taxiway to the proposed hangar.

Can you approach the door reasonably straight, or do you need to make a tight turn immediately outside it?

If the aircraft is being towed, is there enough room for the tug and aircraft to manoeuvre together?

If you have several aircraft, can one leave without having to move everything else first?

And are there fences, light poles, vehicles or neighbouring buildings that could become an issue for the wings?

These questions are worth working through on the site plan before you settle on the building position.

CASA’s current Part 139 framework provides standards and guidance covering aerodrome facilities and operations at applicable aerodromes, including apron safety. The requirements that apply depend on the aerodrome and its operations.

CASA Part 139 Aerodrome guidance

Plan the Apron With the Hangar

The apron shouldn’t be treated as whatever space happens to be left in front of the door.

It is part of how the hangar works.

Depending on your operation, you may need room to turn, park, tow, load or work around the aircraft before it enters the building.

The levels matter too.

The apron needs to work with the hangar floor level, door threshold and surrounding drainage. If those elements are designed separately, you can create unnecessary problems at the point where the aircraft moves between the apron and the building.

For larger projects, this is something to work through with your civil engineer and airport operator while the site layout is still flexible.

If You’re Building at an Airport, Talk to the Operator Early

If your proposed site is at an existing airport or aerodrome, speak to the operator before getting too far into the hangar design.

Ask about the site itself, but also ask what is planned around it.

You may need to understand:

Lease boundaries
Airport development requirements
Airport master plans
Existing and future taxiways
Apron requirements
Building setbacks
Services
Security
Construction access
Operational restrictions
Future hangar or airport development

A vacant site may look suitable today but sit beside a planned taxiway, future development area or other infrastructure.

Understanding the airport’s longer-term plans gives you a better basis for deciding where the hangar should go.

Check Building Height and Protected Airspace

The space above your hangar can matter just as much as the land underneath it.

Australia’s National Airports Safeguarding Framework provides national guidance for planning and development around airports. It covers issues including protected airspace, building-generated windshear and turbulence, lighting, wildlife hazards and aviation facilities.

For your hangar, that means you may need to check whether there are restrictions affecting:

Overall building height
Roof ridge height
Rooftop equipment
Antennas
External lighting
Other structures
Construction equipment

NASF Guideline F specifically addresses development that may intrude into protected airport airspace, including Obstacle Limitation Surfaces and PANS-OPS surfaces.

Australian Government NASF Guidelines

It’s much easier to understand these constraints while the hangar is still a concept than to reduce the building height after you’ve already designed around a particular aircraft and door opening.

Don’t Only Check the Finished Building

The hangar might fit comfortably within the site’s height constraints, but what about the crane needed to erect it?

Construction equipment can extend considerably higher than the completed building.

If you’re building on or close to an operational airport, talk to the airport operator about crane operations and construction restrictions early.

This can influence how the structure is erected, where cranes can be positioned and when certain work can take place.

Consider the Hangar’s Relationship With the Runway

If you’re looking at a site close to an operational runway, building position and geometry can introduce another consideration: wind.

NASF Guideline B specifically addresses building-generated windshear and turbulence at airports. The Australian Government notes that significant structures close to runways can affect wind flow in some circumstances.

That doesn’t mean every aircraft hangar needs a specialist wind study.

It means that if your proposed hangar is large or positioned relatively close to a runway, it is worth establishing whether windshear or turbulence needs to be considered before the building position and height are locked in.

Your airport operator or aviation consultant can help determine whether further assessment is required.

Choose the Orientation Around How the Site Needs to Work

There isn’t one correct orientation for an aircraft hangar.

Aircraft access may drive much of the decision, but you should also consider:

Taxiway position
Door orientation
Site levels
Drainage
Prevailing weather
Wind-driven rain
Solar exposure
Existing infrastructure
Vehicle access
Future development

Sometimes these requirements pull the building in different directions.

That’s where an early site plan becomes useful.

Rather than starting with a rectangle showing the hangar, map the aircraft movement, apron, access, services and likely expansion around it. Then work out where the building makes the most sense.

Plan Drainage With the Site Layout

A large hangar creates a large roof catchment, so water management needs to be part of your early site planning.

The basic calculation is straightforward: 1 mm of rain falling on 1 m² of roof is approximately 1 litre of water.

For a 2,000 m² hangar, a 50 mm rainfall event represents around 100,000 litres of water falling on the roof.

That doesn’t tell you how to design the stormwater system, but it does show why drainage shouldn’t be left until the end.

Depending on your site, your civil design may need to consider roofwater collection, gutters and downpipes, water storage, stormwater connections, on-site detention, apron drainage, overland flow and discharge points.

Your site levels and finished floor level can all be influenced by that work.

Understand What’s Under the Building

Ground conditions can also influence the suitability and cost of a site.

A geotechnical investigation can provide information about:

Soil profile
Bearing conditions
Reactive soils
Existing fill
Groundwater
Foundation conditions
Pavement design inputs

You don’t necessarily need the final foundation design before discussing your hangar concept.

But if the site has difficult ground conditions, significant fill or major earthworks requirements, it’s better to know that early.

It gives your structural and civil teams better information to work with and gives you a clearer picture of what the site may require.

Keep Aircraft and Vehicle Movements in Mind

Your aircraft won’t be the only thing moving around the site.

You may also have cars, delivery vehicles, fuel vehicles, maintenance equipment, emergency vehicles and ground support equipment.

Think about where those movements happen and how they interact with the aircraft.

For some projects, it makes sense to keep vehicle parking, offices and deliveries toward the landside of the building, leaving the airside area clearer for aircraft operations.

The right layout depends on what you’re doing inside the hangar and how busy the site will be.

Make Sure You Can Actually Build It

Site planning isn’t finished when you’ve found the perfect position for the completed hangar.

You also need enough room to construct it.

A steel hangar project can require space for:

Material deliveries
Steel storage
Crane setup
Elevated work platforms
Concrete works
Construction vehicles
Temporary fencing and site facilities

At an operational airport, those activities may need to work around aircraft movements, security requirements and airport operating procedures.

The best location for the completed hangar therefore also needs a practical construction pathway.

Think About What You Might Need Later

If your site gives you options, don’t only plan for the first day you use the hangar.

Think about where you would go if you eventually wanted:

A larger aircraft
Another aircraft
A wider or longer hangar
More apron
A workshop
Offices or amenities
Additional storage
Another hangar beside the first one

You don’t have to build any of that now.

The aim is simply to avoid positioning today’s building in a way that makes a sensible expansion difficult later.

TechSpan’s Singleton project is a useful example of how aircraft operations can shape the building itself. Hunter Valley Gliding Club needed access for aircraft with large wingspans, so the resulting 15 m x 60 m hangar used large openings along both long sides to allow individual aircraft to be removed without having to move the others.

See the TechSpan Singleton aircraft hangar project

What Should You Check Before Choosing Your Hangar Site?

Before you commit to a building position, try to answer these questions:

What aircraft will use the hangar now?
Could you accommodate a different aircraft later?
How will the aircraft get from the taxiway to the hangar?
Is there enough apron and manoeuvring space?
What does the airport operator require?
Are there restrictions affecting building height?
How will vehicles access the site?
Where will roof and apron water go?
What are the ground conditions?
Can cranes and construction equipment access the site?
Is there somewhere sensible to expand?
What planning and building approvals apply?

You may not have every answer when you first start looking at the site.

That’s okay.

What you want to avoid is committing to the building position before you’ve identified the things that could materially change it.

Where TechSpan Fits

Once you understand the aircraft, site and airport constraints, we can start working through the building with you.

Through our 3C Advantage, we approach that in three stages.

Concept

We start with your aircraft, site, access requirements, clear opening, intended use and future plans.

Configure

We develop the structural solution around those requirements and coordinate the building geometry with the information coming from your project team.

Construct

Once the design and project requirements are agreed, we detail, manufacture and construct the structural building package.

Our role isn’t to replace your planner, civil engineer, airport operator or aviation consultant.

It’s to work with you and those specialists to develop a hangar that makes sense for the aircraft, the site and the way you plan to use it.

You can explore more of our aviation building solutions or talk to the TechSpan team about your aircraft hangar project.