Custom Hangar Doors — Wide-Span Folding Door Replacement
The Challenge
A customer operating an aircraft hangar came to Wilcox with an aging folding door system that had become more of a liability than a functional asset. The original door required constant maintenance just to stay operational — and when it failed, it exposed the hangar interior to weather and compromised the security of the facility. The opening itself presented a significant engineering constraint: it was extra-wide with virtually no available headroom, ruling out conventional overhead sectional or rolling steel door systems that require vertical track space above the opening.
The stakes were high. Grounded aircraft sitting in a compromised building envelope during a Canadian winter isn’t just inconvenient — it’s a real operational and financial risk. The facility needed a custom solution that could span the full opening, provide reliable security, and work within the severe headroom restrictions of the building.
The Solution
Wilcox Door Service engineered and installed a custom folding door system specifically designed for the hangar’s unusual dimensional constraints. Rather than forcing a standard product into a non-standard opening, we worked from the building’s actual parameters — opening width, available headroom, structural anchor points — and designed around them. The folding door configuration allowed the full span to be covered without requiring any meaningful headroom clearance above the opening, solving the core constraint that had stumped other door suppliers.
Hardware selection and structural anchoring were specified for the demands of a large, exposed hangar door — high wind load ratings, heavy-duty hinges, and surface-mounted hardware designed to withstand the operational and environmental stresses of regular aircraft hangar use.
Outcomes
The custom folding door system resolved both of the facility’s core problems in one installation. The chronic maintenance cycle of the old door was eliminated — no more unplanned service calls, no more compromised security while waiting for repairs. The hangar now has a door that spans the full opening, operates reliably, and seals the building envelope against weather. The customer can focus on aircraft operations rather than door management.
Why Wilcox
Non-standard openings are where most door suppliers stop and where Wilcox starts. When a building’s constraints rule out off-the-shelf solutions, we engineer around the problem — measuring the real parameters, specifying what will actually work, and installing it properly. Custom hangar and wide-span door solutions are a core part of what we do, and this project is a good example of why our customers come back to us when the problem is genuinely difficult.
Products & Equipment
- Custom Wide-Span Folding Door System
- Heavy-Duty Door Hardware and Hinges
Existing tracks
Existing door in open position
Existing bollards
The Solution
Our Technical Sales Manager designed and fabricated a new custom hangar door style to suit this unique application with no headroom to work with. This solution required the design of a Custom Heavy Duty Electric Operator with gusseted mounting bracket and a galvanized endless chain. In addition, the Custom Rail System to accommodate the new hangar style door had special epoxy mounting hardware. Moreover, the job required re-work and configuring protective bollards with horizontal guards. We used Richards-Wilcox Insulated panels, cap channel and associated steel, weatherstrip, a Micanan Operator and Safety Devices.
New track installed
New door in operation
New bollards installed
Products and solutions used for this project
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