When expanding a building’s footprint, you generally have two choices: extend outward, like the sprawling structures in many suburbs, or go vertical. However, airports rarely opt for vertical construction, with hangars typically spreading out across open land. Barton Pawluski, an aircraft owner from Edmonton, Alberta, has come up with an innovative solution to address hangar shortages at airports with limited space or unusual layouts.
Throughout his extensive career as a mechanical engineer, Pawluski has created groundbreaking products across various industries, including oil and gas, medical, and agriculture. “I’ve worked in many different fields, and often the products we were selling were entirely new,” Pawluski explained. “My ideas about hangars evolved into a research and development project.”
The inspiration for Pawluski’s “aircraft carousel” came after his own plane was damaged by ground equipment while parked in what seemed like a safe area at the airport. He and his brother had a hangar on their farm—a 50-by-50-foot building—where they experimented with airplane storage during the winter. “I started looking at how airplanes move, how their tails and wingtips need to be positioned to avoid obstacles,” he said. “I realized there aren’t many places where you can store a plane without worrying about hangar rash.”
Pawluski noticed a common practice in communal hangars: frequently flown aircraft are kept at the front, while less active ones are pushed to the back. This led him to wonder why every plane couldn’t be equally accessible and safe from potential damage. “How do you create a product that gives everyone their own secure space without needing multiple people to move planes around?” he pondered. This question sparked his concept, and he began researching existing storage solutions. He found that while there are patents for various storage devices, including multistory ones, they often require larger hangars to accommodate features like scissor lifts and rotating disks.
#AviationInnovation #HangarSolutions #AircraftStorage #EngineeringExcellence #AviationSafety
Originally reported by FLYING Magazine Read More
