Hangar Homes

Hidden Valley Airpark in North Texas

by Engineer Designer on February 15, 2014

Hidden Valley Airpark is located just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area in northern Texas. It sports a 2650’ x 35’ asphalt runway and has a 500 foot overrun on the south and. The CTAF  is 122.9 and this frequency also acts as the switch to turn on the runway lighting. In case of IFR weather the airport is only 8 miles West- Northwest of the Denton municipal Airport which has a full IFR landing system. Hidden Valley From the Air . The community has 125+ sites of which, as of this writing in early 2014, 17 are currently available for sale. It is a gated community with over 100 acres of common area. It's 25 minutes north of the Dallas Fort Worth airport in near Denton Texas. This community is actually in the town of Shady Shores and given its  country location has property taxes lower than surrounding cities. It’s near restaurants and shopping and within 2 miles of a 27,000 acre lake called Lake Lewisville. All lots are one acre plus and many have trees. The neighborhood has been here for about 40 years and has construction dating from as recently as one year ago. For those with horses, there is a 25 acre horse pasture and a set of stables on the property. As is common in many many flying communities, the airplanes and cars share the same roads/taxiways. This is easy to manage with a simple rule that airplanes always have right-of-way. The runway is centrally located to the neighborhood and is buffered from the various homes. I have looked at many of the homes in the area and can tell you that this is a neighborhood of diverse architecture which is a definite plus point for any looking to get away from the typical boxy homes. Homes range in style from stone two-story, to contemporary, to very simple one-story structures. According to their website, hangers may be on the property with the home or may be placed in common areas. This community has been around since 1965 - one of the the more mature communities of its kind in the county. It began with a 600 foot above sea level grass strip which was used by an individual in his aerial photography business. Since then, the neighborhood has grown to some 90 families and only 2 of the original founders are still associated with the property. While starting out with approximately 10 acres today there are over 300 acres that are owned by the Hidden Valley Airpark Association. All in all, this is an excellent community which has  matured into a well designed, well managed Airpark. It is uniquely located near the fast-paced metropolis of Dallas-Fort Worth but is far enough away to have the advantages of a small town. Fly-in communities are unique, when compared with any other kinds of neighborhoods in the country, with a shared camaraderie and a shared love for a single passion of aviation. Even the most divergent set of people find common ground and common interests and friendship aligned around this common interest. If you are considering where to set up house with your airplane, you should check out Hidden Valley. Their website is  www.hiddenvalleyairpark.org.

Hidden Valley Layout

   

When Considering A Hangar Home Design These Points Should Be Kept In Mind

by Engineer Designer on November 18, 2012

Hangar HomeFor pilots, living with your airplane and living in a hangar home is a dream that they may have had for many years. Most never do it, but those who do are in for a lifestyle like no other they have experienced. Hangar homes are unique. If you're looking to design and build one, here is a checklist of some of the items that you will want to keep in mind prior to and during the design.

1.Most aviation communities have architectural covenants. It is important to know these rules. Many are unique to these types of communities such as issues regarding street sign heights, taxiway clearance and the like. Most covenants include requirements for sizes of the homes and even the hangars themselves. Some communities dictate whether the hangar can face the runway directly or not. Some address issues such as whether or not the hangar must blend in with the home. These are all factors that need to be considered before one begins the adventure of designing and building a hangar home.

2.Hangar home sites vary in size. You'll find very large sites where placement is not much of an issue, and you'll find smaller ones where you need to know the setbacks. Slope of the site is also an important factor. Generally on sloped sites, it is best to place the hangar on the low side and the home on the high side of the site. This can add harmony and balance to the combination of the hangar and the home.

3.Hangar size is also something to consider. There is an important distinction between hangars that are up to 2000 square feet and those that are larger. In most codes which govern hangar homes in the United States hangars up to and including 2000 square feet can be built with less restricting standards than larger hangars. Larger hangars usually require more commercial-like code standards. When deciding on the size of your hangar you should keep that in mind. However the function of the hangar is, of course, tantamount. If you intend to have several aircraft then having a size greater than 2000 ft. might be required. See below for other uses of hangars which can affect the required size.

4.You'll have to make a decision whether or not to connect the hangar to the home or to build it separately from the home. There are several considerations. Hangars that are connected to the home tend to be slightly cheaper to build, and are considered quite desirable by many pilots. An advantage, of course, is to be able to avoid the weather and walk straight from the house into the hangar to see your airplane. If you intend, however, to build projects in your hangar then separating it from the house may be the most desirable. Building projects often create sounds and smells which are best separated from the house. There are also architectural factors that come into play when connecting a hangar in a home and these, too, should be considered. Hiring an experienced hangar home designer will make this easy.

5.Hangers are not only for airplanes. While almost all hangers eventually become storage bins of some sort, many are used quite intentionally for functions such as workshops, storing their boats, storing race cars and, quite, commonly, to store motorhomes. Motorhomes and airplane sizes are usually the determining factor as to how high to make the ceiling of the hangar. Motorhomes, especially the modern ones, are usually taller than 13 feet in height. So when considering the design of your hangar keep in mind any uses you intend to put it to beyond that of storing your precious airplane.

6.Another important decision is to determine what type of the door you want. Hangar doors come, basically, in three types: hydraulic, accordion and bifold. There may be others but those are the most common. Hydraulic doors are usually hinged at the top and are opened as one single slab and in the open positions act as separate roof shielding the area just outside the hangar. These tend to be expensive but are very popular. Another common door is the bifold door. Bifold hangar doors normally have horizontal hinges, usually only one horizontally in the center. They are raised with belts or chains and tend to raise from the bottom up. Accordion doors are less common but are extremely practical. They require a track both at the top and the bottom and can be simply pushed to the side to open up the space. One advantage to accordion doors is that they do not require electricity to operate. Looking at various doors types is a good idea so that you can make an educated choice as to what type of door to select.

7.What kind of a beam one is going to have over the hangar door is an important factor. Hangar doors are, typically, well over 40 feet wide and often as wide as 50 to 55 feet. Spanning that distance over the top of the door can become a structural problem. One way to solve it is to place a steel I-beam over the door and let the I-beam support the weight of the roof over the hangar. This can be cumbersome in the fact that the beam will have to generally extend down into the space of the hangar thereby requiring the ceiling of the hangar to be significantly higher than the top of the door. An excellent way to handle this, is to use a gable or a modified gable crossing over the opening. With a properly designed roof a gable truss, generally several plys, can be placed over the hangar door and act as a beam and a major advantage of this is that the bottom of this beam does not protrude below the ceiling level of the hangar. In this instance the hangar door can be pressed more closely to the ceiling and give one greater clearance for motorhomes or airplanes.

8.Another thing to consider is fuel. Do you want to keep fuel in a fuel tank that you will keep inside your hangar? Perhaps there is fuel on the property that is maintained by the Association; this can be an excellent way when available. Of course, one can always fly out for fuel and this is workable most of the time but it does require careful organization of one's flights and fuel stops.

These are only a few points to consider in the design of your hangar home - there are many others. Due to the uniqueness of hangar homes design it is recommended that you choose a designer who has had ample experience in designing hangar homes and who preferably lives and a hangar home personally. If you're looking for designs on the Internet, you will likely become frustrated. If you're intending to invest in a hangar homes to be built, it is best to find a designer to custom design a plan uniquely for you. Regardless of what type of design you end up building, your decision to design and build a hangar home will be, without doubt, one of the most thrilling and fulfilling actions you will take a pilot.

Aircraft Hangar Homes Are Unique. There May Be More Around Than You Realize.

by Engineer Designer on August 1, 2010

There are many airport communities in the United States. I have heard that Florida, Texas and California have the most of them. However I've heard of these places in most every state. I live at one myself and usually am met with wide-eye'd surprise when I mention the fact. Most people have similar questions so I though I'd answer a few of them here: What are Airport Communities? These are neighborhoods that own and use one or more runways. These runways are often owned and maintained by the community. They can be paved runways or just grass strips. What are hangar homes? Hangar homes are regular homes like you see anywhere in the United States with the exception that they have an airplane hangar either connected to or separately located on the property. Are hangar homes different than other, regular homes? No. These are regular old homes, large and small, every architectural style, every layout you can imagine, every color - some have garages for cars, some put their cars in the hangar. The main distinction is that these homes have hangars on their property, either attached to the home or not. Do these homes follow the same Building Codes as the other ones? You'll find that the Codes for the homes are the same. The hangar are usually treated as over- sized garages. There are exceptions to this in some areas. In Florida, a hangar greater than 2000 square feet in area will need to adapt to several commercial code provisions. How to the airplanes get to the runways? Most communities either have the houses right up against the runway or they are on regular streets. When they want to drive (taxi) their airplane out to the runway they use the same streets that the cars do. How do the cars and airplanes share the streets? Everyone one gives the airplanes right of way. If you are driving down the street in your care and see an airplane coming, you just drive into a neighbor's driveway or off the street and let the airplane go by. They are almost always your friend and there is lots of waving. Is it noisy at Airport Communities? Rarely is noise a problem. But like anything, there are exceptions. We have fly-ins sometimes where many airplanes will fly in for lunch or a meetings. Also, homes today are pretty tight and noise from outside does not easily get through. But, for sure, airplane pilots usually love the sound of airplanes. When my wife and I do hear them we always delight and wonder who it is flying in or out. Do you store things in the hangar besides your airplane? Of course. Like everyone else we tend to get carried away with various levels of "junk". Gotta stay on top of it. Are Hangar Homes Ugly? They can be. But they can also be beautiful. My own home, if you were driving by the front, would not even be recognizable as a hangar home. The entry to the hangar is in the rear. From the front it looks like a regular home. The way I designed it architecturally softened the hangar portion of the home and you honestly can't tell it is one. Drive around to the back and you'll see the large hangar door. Are Airport Communities Tower Controlled? Very few are. In our community we have two grass strips. Each pilot announces when he or she is getting ready to use the runway. It is a smooth running and safe operation. Are there only one kind of person that live at these airport communities? Diversity is the common thread among owners of hangar homes. You will find diverse interests, backgrounds, skills, knowledge, professions and the like. The one thing we hold in common - we love and own airplanes. How big are the homes and how big are the hangars? I've seen sizes ranging form puny to huge. I've seen hangars from spaces a bit bigger than a car garage all the way to gigantic 4000 plus square foot structures. Are airplanes always expensive to own and to fly? Planes, like anything, can range widely in type, expense, etc. Some can be very expensive. Some are pretty reasonable to own and fly. Many folks choose to build their own airplane - right there at their homes. There are owners, like John Travolta, who have very expensive jet airplanes at their airport homes. But jets are rare at fly-in communities. Travolta's runway is very long and wide and likely one of a kind in the United States. Doesn't John Travolta live in an Airport Community. Have you met him? You're right. He does. He actually lives a few miles from me. You can likely find pictures of his home on the internet. Yes, I have met him. Seemed to be a very personable guy. Sure loves aviation. He wondered how long our runways are here at my neighborhood. I had to think for a second - I had never really thought about it. Difference between flying big airplanes and small ones. I've found that most pilots have heard of these places. Many have likely thought it pretty expensive. But you will find, if you research it, that it can be an amazingly affordable lifestyle. It is really a matter of researching what is out there and learning a bit about the types of homes you can buy or build. Once you have decided to do this, you will likely find many resources of help and advise. It is, indeed, a lifestyle like no other. You'll make friends like never before.

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