Time for An Upgrade
For JetBlue Airways Captain Scott Alexander, it was time to upgrade his hangar home door.
There were a few requirements. First, it needed to fit on his existing building without taking up any additional headroom. It had to be easy to operate, and it had to protect his Beech Bonanza A36 from the unpredictable Florida weather.
It was a Diamond Door that fit the bill, and travelled all the way to Florida to find its home as a hangar door.
Door Specifications
The door size is standard for many hangar doors – 40 feet wide and 11 feet tall. A pedestrian door allows for quick access into the hangar-garage, while light stone coloured cladding and burnished slate trim create a seamless look.
At first glance, the nondescript door seems like any other bifold door. But sometimes, a door is more than just a door. Beneath this hangar home door, there’s a bifold door with personality.
A Quality Hangar Home Door
Like every Diamond Door, this door utilizes a powerful gearbox and driveline to raise the door. Lift cables rated to a 10x safety factor protect the door and the building, while photoelectric safety sensors protect the plane housed inside.
Strength and Durability
Florida is known for its hurricanes and high winds, and this door was specifically engineered to withstand those forces. This door stands strong with a triple internal truss system to protect from bowing and flexing in the most extreme weather.
Salty ocean air and high humidity are also common in Florida, and this can cause steel frames to quickly rust and deteriorate. Diamond Doors are painted with a high-quality urethane paint to protect the door frames from corrosion.
The strong seal created when the bifold door is closed allows Captain Alexander to air-condition his hangar, protecting the plane from humidity – and providing the perfect place to host friends.
Convenience and Ingenuity
With a bifold door only 11 feet tall, it required a bit of creative thinking to add a pedestrian door. With no room for a full-sized pedestrian door, Diamond Doors installed a custom door only about five feet high.
To add to the convenience, the hangar home door includes an auto-lock and remote control system.
“The remote control feature is first class,” says Captain Alexander. “If it’s raining when I arrive, I can just open the door from the plane as I taxi up and bring the aircraft under the door to exit without getting wet – just like the jet bridge in the terminal. And every time I use it, the auto close and locking feature happens with a click of a button without having to physically move levers or pins. It’s so easy.”
Due to the size of the bifold door, a reverse auto-lock system was added to the package to allow the pedestrian door. Captain Alexander adds that the staff at Diamond Doors was quick to problem solve. “Any issues that arose, they figured out a way around it,” he says.
Together, the Diamond Doors sales team and Captain Alexander selected cladding and trim colours that closely matched the building colours. This created a cohesive look for the hangar home.
A Hangar Home for Years to Come
With the long lifespan of a Diamond Door, Captain Alexander can expect to use his hangar home for years. A final thought from him. “[The Diamond Doors sales team] went above and beyond to help build my dream hangar door.”
And from all of us at Diamond Doors – thank you Captain Alexander. You were a pleasure to work with.
We’d love to hear from you. What sort of custom features would you love to see on your bifold door? Leave a comment, or contact us at 866-325-7600 or info@diamonddoors.com.
