Schweiss Doors Designs Sleek Glass Hydraulic Door for Special Hangar Project

It is a special thing to have a private airstrip in your backyard. Don Smith Jr. knew he wanted a similarly special hangar on his Pennsylvania property to go along with it. An average hangar with a simple door just wouldn’t be enough for what Smith had in mind.

“We wanted to have something that was nice to look at and fun to hang out in,” Smith says. “When it’s your backyard, you want it to look pretty good.”

Smith’s hangar, which also stores a luxury car or two at times, is 44 feet wide, 34 feet deep and 12 feet high. Built with precast concrete walls, red brick and grey stone veneer, it has a green metal roof and window trim. Inside, the steel roof trusses contrast against the wood vaulted ceiling. The exposed brick walls are adorned with photos of planes. Throughout the space there are bright metal accessories including a small bar and seating area.

These design choices alone are enough for the hangar to stand out, but it has another sleek aesthetic feature – a glass-covered hydraulic door from Schweiss Doors, measuring 41 feet, 3 inches by 9 feet. It’s the perfect frame to showcase Smith’s plan, cars and hangar interior.

“Everyone that has been in the hangar is just blown away by the Schweiss door,” Smith says. “It is very cool.”

As a pilot, Smith was aware of Schweiss Doors prior to building his hangar. He had seen Schweiss advertisements in various aviation publications and knew of some hangars that were fitted with large Schweiss doors. When he went online to do some research, he came across Schweiss’ hydraulic door.

“That is what I wanted for a small one-piece steel frame door that opens by swinging out and up in one smooth movement using roust wrap-around top hinges,” Smith says. “The door is powered by Schweiss Doors’ power pump unit and hydraulic cylinders.

Smith’s hangar was built by a crew from Conewago Enterprises Inc. of Hanover, Pa., the family construction company Smith heads up as president and CEO. Conewago Enterprises also installed the Schweiss door, a process Smith says went smoothly.

“When there were questions that needed to be resolved, Smith said the installers were able to call Schweiss Doors and get the help they needed.

“When we had a couple of things to troubleshoot, the Schweiss guys were prefect,” Smith says. “They got right on it. We called them up and they helped immediately.”

In an intriguing twist of fate, it was during the process of ordering his hydraulic hangar door, Smith found out he already owned a door from Schweiss. A hangar he owns in Colorado happens to have a Schweiss bifold door. The team at Schweiss Doors was able to help Smith update that door with improved safety features.

“Schweiss Doors had all the information available,” Smith says. “Once phone call, done. The parts were shipped out to me. Unbelievable.”

Smith says his experience with Schweiss Doors has been great and he’d be happy to recommend Schweiss to anyone.