Building the Hangar

    Below are pictures of the building process of the third bay garage addition (the Hangar).  I had a professional pour the foundation and the floor.  I completed the rest of construction a little at a time.  The major task was to get rafters built so that the new roof line would exactly meet the old roof line, which it did.  It would have been very easy to drop down a 8 to 12 inches and add the addition.  However, the height of the original garage ceiling is 9 feet and 3 inches.  It was important to maintain that height in the Hangar in order to have enough height for the GlaStar.

    Framing went as planned because the floor was laid perfectly.  I installed a back door, a back window, and an oversized, overhead front garage door with a side window.   The rafters were installed with the help of my two sons Eric and Ed, and several of the neighbors.  I guess the neighbors wanted to make sure that I did it right.   We installed the 29 foot rafters the old fashion way by hand, using long 2x4's and rope.  We spaced the rafters closer together and doubled up on two of them in order to get extra strength for hanging the fuselage and for installing a staircase and floor in the attic.  The extra space above the is where I have the finished Rudder and other items are stored.

    Because the new vinyl siding would not match the siding on my house (11 years of color fading), I removed the siding from the end of the old garage and used it across the back of the new Hangar.  This blended in with the other old vinyl perfectly.  After new vinyl was installed on the end of the new Hangar there is no noticeable difference because you do not see them together. 

    A doorway was cut between the old garage and the hangar.  It was cut just opposite where the left wing will be on the fuselage.  This will allow me to install the left wing by extending it through the wall into the old section.  To do the right wing I will have to turn the fuselage around, I hope this works.

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