Little Wing Booster Progress....

The truck came with 4 loads and we had it all spread in 2 hours. Was supposed to be 40 min between loads for us novices but they came two hours late and dropped all loads in 2 hours. 30 yards later we had inside of barn mostly under control and a pad on outside of barn. Next day I had another 6 yards brought to lengthen the outside pad so we can park boats outside during the summer when we need more room. One of the bays slated for a hydraulic lift had extra thick footings with rebar put in.

So now we have the sides, soffits, light panels and skinned sides. Next is electric, install man doors, and am working on custom hangar doors. It has been a hard year for us with the unexpected loss of my sister, kids adoption issues and the loss of my mom over the last couple weeks. My parents house is across the street, my brother next door to them and my other brother across the field so we are close to assist them but were certainly dealt a few blows over the last 10 months. I just try to keep moving and doing what I can to make some progress.

So here are a few photos (sorry, not in any order) of the concrete, the progress and direction we are going to get this all done...... The last photo is what I get to see from the house. A pretty tail that is hard not to notice. And a lot of work for a bit of tail....... Not complaining, it is worth it......
 

Attachments

  • 20221022_075502.jpg
    20221022_075502.jpg
    137.1 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221021_141051.jpg
    20221021_141051.jpg
    180.1 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221022_075618.jpg
    20221022_075618.jpg
    256 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221021_150304.jpg
    20221021_150304.jpg
    178 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221021_141158.jpg
    20221021_141158.jpg
    213.7 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221021_141124.jpg
    20221021_141124.jpg
    197.7 KB · Views: 10
  • 20220915_223825.jpg
    20220915_223825.jpg
    162.8 KB · Views: 10
  • 20220915_114111.jpg
    20220915_114111.jpg
    175.3 KB · Views: 10
  • 20220911_213315.jpg
    20220911_213315.jpg
    165.8 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221021_171030.jpg
    20221021_171030.jpg
    203.9 KB · Views: 9
few more
 

Attachments

  • 20221021_150748.jpg
    20221021_150748.jpg
    142.9 KB · Views: 23
  • 20221022_075925.jpg
    20221022_075925.jpg
    167.8 KB · Views: 24
  • 20221029_155145.jpg
    20221029_155145.jpg
    198.8 KB · Views: 23
  • 20221029_155156.jpg
    20221029_155156.jpg
    220 KB · Views: 24
  • 20221029_155823.jpg
    20221029_155823.jpg
    210.9 KB · Views: 41
  • 20221101_150211.jpg
    20221101_150211.jpg
    168.3 KB · Views: 43
  • 20221101_111856.jpg
    20221101_111856.jpg
    263.8 KB · Views: 41
Visiting here again. Yes Querist, that cat follows me everywhere! He is more like a dog than a cat. Up on the roof, in the rafters, sitting at top of ladders, runs back and forth between house and hangar when I ask if he ready to go. Jumps in #1 and sits there looking out the side door. Never seen a cat like that. When I take him for a walk he runs besides me to my dads and at both places we have bells hanging on doorknob and he rings them when he wants out.
Been as low as 20 degrees, cold days usually around 30 or so and our occasional days of 42 or so are most welcome as I have been making the custom doors. I don't have a lot of money but I am persistent in finding ways to make progress. Even a cheap garage door is probably 1k each let alone a tall commercial door. I didn't realize how much 12' doors would cost but would probably equal or surpass the price of the barn. I decided to use cow gates as frames and make the doors open like real hangar doors while being affordable. So far I have finished the custom metal working for the windows on the barn and there are many to help keep it bright in there. I figured a way to make the doors seem like regular walls for the most part. I will try counterweights on each door and worst case or if I put the weight biased towards slightly heavy, the electric winches already mounted on each door will do the work. That way if the power goes out- I should be able to lift and prop open the doors as needed. 2 gates per door @ 200.00 and extra tubing to make the stacked gates hit the 12 foot mark is making these doors affordable for me. We have 3 16 foot doors, a 12 and a 10 foot door so the savings are multiplied. So we are 3/5 the way finishing the bottom 5 inches of the doors and we just added a nice oval framed man door and a frame for the back door. At the Habitat for Humanity store we got the glass doors for about 50.00 each. I have been aquiring vertical file cabinets and putting them on wheels to hold our tools. It may not look like a lot but having the building so the wind isn't blowing through it and seeing the doors skinned and windowed is a major milestone. We are getting so close and even if I quit for the winter..... We sure are getting close to done with barn construction and will be looking at wiring. It is hard to believe how far I have gotten and it feels good.
The building sure feels open when those doors are open, and it is great that when it is raining they act like an awning. I don't have a photo with the 3 on side open at same time but to me it is quite striking how the whole side of the hangar can be open when needed. The photos arent the best but I will post more than a few and you might see the special features and thought put into this special project. It took a lot of guts to start buying parts and building doors that I only hoped would worked the way I wanted and that I didn't miss any considerations in what I built. Anyway, I feel like progress is being made..... The hangar is looking so much more finished than it did. The doors really bring it together. Also note the step down sized windows I made. Kind of like a subtle hint of a wing.
 

Attachments

  • 20221212_192751.jpg
    20221212_192751.jpg
    150.5 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221213_131307.jpg
    20221213_131307.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 11
  • 20221213_131316.jpg
    20221213_131316.jpg
    124.6 KB · Views: 8
  • 20221213_131555.jpg
    20221213_131555.jpg
    143.1 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221214_114844.jpg
    20221214_114844.jpg
    175.4 KB · Views: 11
  • 20221214_151420.jpg
    20221214_151420.jpg
    121.2 KB · Views: 10
  • 20221215_223440.jpg
    20221215_223440.jpg
    97.8 KB · Views: 11
  • 20221224_124210.jpg
    20221224_124210.jpg
    161 KB · Views: 11
  • 20221224_124239.jpg
    20221224_124239.jpg
    112.3 KB · Views: 11
  • 20221231_132019.jpg
    20221231_132019.jpg
    180.1 KB · Views: 11
Getting there..... more pix from the journey..... Can't snow in there all the time anymore......
 

Attachments

  • 20230102_135244.jpg
    20230102_135244.jpg
    180.7 KB · Views: 6
  • 20230102_160212.jpg
    20230102_160212.jpg
    149.3 KB · Views: 5
  • 20230104_193414.jpg
    20230104_193414.jpg
    141.7 KB · Views: 5
  • 20230105_154720.jpg
    20230105_154720.jpg
    135.1 KB · Views: 4
  • 20221210_143909.jpg
    20221210_143909.jpg
    151.6 KB · Views: 5
  • 20221210_144219.jpg
    20221210_144219.jpg
    125 KB · Views: 5
I had to get 1 -14' x 18' door and 2 -12'x 14' doors.
I wish I had taken a closer look at the horizontal bi-fold hanger doors. They are very simple and could be made from steel studs/siding and a $200 off road winch.... I ended up with panel doors that are chain drive. I will probably replace 2 eventually....
I originally called Schwiess 12 years ago and they wanted over $20k for the 3 doors.....12 years ago....
 
Top