Does anyone know how an aircraft hanger door works? We want to put one on our pole shed instead of a conventional garage-type door, but aren't sure how to go about it. Can't find any plans to make one, so thought I'd check here. Thanks!

 

Type 'aircraft hanger bifold doors' into your favorite search engine. Lots of websites will pop up.

 

Hangar (note spelling) doors are sliding, not bifold. I have never seen a bifold hangar door.

Before overhead doors were invented, some garage doors wheeled horizontally on rails just like a hangar door. I restored one on a 1910 garage, one of few in an older neighborhood that had not been demolished or converted to an overhead door. (The garage opened to an alley so there was no room for a carriagehouse door.) It had rails on the top and the bottom. The hardware was still good, it just needed cleaning and lubricating. If it needed replacing, I don't know how I would have found the parts. Its advantage was that it didn't have to be fully opened to walk out.

 

You might also try this;http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...+doors&spell=1

 

have two that you can go to. Hydroswing Doors

http://www.hydroswing.com

Then try Erectatube

http://www.erct-a-tube.com

I like the last one they "Bifold" up. The top is the hinge part of the door

ED

 

The Erectatube type sounds like what we're looking for, but the url doesn't work. We aren't looking for a company that makes them, though. We want to find plans to make one ourselves. I checked several sites on search engines, but can't find instructions to make the door. Does anyone know where to find them?

 

You could call them and see if they have just the parts.
then another one is Schweiss Bi-Fold no www. phone is 507-426-8273

ED

 

Do not go with a hangar door because you think it will be easier or cheaper than a traditional garage or barn style door. If you need a big door for a tractor, semi., buss they make very large roll up doors that are easier and cheaper. I would only consider a hangar style door only if you have a real need to totally open up one side of the building.

Hangar doors are huge (since they have to make a very large hole in a building for a plane to fit though). You basically have a whole side of the building that moves. The building has to be stronger because: that great big hole weakens the structure; and the weight of that moving wall has to be supported by the rest of the building. The doors are heavy/strong since they have to support their own weight, survive the stresses of moving, survive the wind loads and still be straight enough to close again.

There are two main styles of hangar doors. Some are sections that are rolled on tracks to the side much like a sliding glass door. The other bi-fold style has the main hinge up at the roof and another hinge in the center of the door. A motor turns a drum that pulls on cables running from the ceiling down to the door near the floor. When the cables pull up the center hinge is designed so the door breaks/folds out. The bottom outter corners of the door ride in tracks on the side of the building. The door will not close all the way on it's own since it is simply hanging from the roof and the hinges leave it slightly folded/bent so there are usually latches on each side the pull the door close to the building, straightening it out, and hold it in place.

 

I think this is the url you were looking for:

http://www.erect-a-tube.com/