Fulfab spring 1998

Product Update...
We have progressed over the past six months with two projects we share with you here.
Most of you are aware of the bifold door retrofit kits we have been writing about in this newsletter over the last several years, and many of you have purchased the dual chain kits to enhance the safety of your hangars. These kits, complete with detailed drawings and instructions, are now available for every single drum model we manufactured from 1977 through 1992.
We encourage you to take advantage of the extremely affordable pricing structure on these kits. In addition, we can provide on site assistance to your installers or furnish installation service from our factory-direct crews.
Another project we are very excited about is a redesign of our sliding door T-Hangars. The new design will incorporate many of the more popular features of our bifold door hangar line, such as: post and beam construction, roll-formed exterior sheeting available in fifteen colors with a 20-year warranty and 100% bolted field assembly including pre-punched exterior sheeting and framing members. We are finalizing details to the redesigned package now, which also includes a new track and trolley system. We expect to go into production on these buildings in the fall. We will keep you posted.

Meet the Staff

Our eight standard lines of T-Hangars consist of over 1,100 different components. Most of those parts are fabricated, assembled and shipped direct from our manufacturing facility here in Canton. The man responsible for overseeing this task is Greg Robins, our Plant Forman.
His job is made all the more difficult by the additional steps we take during the manufacturing process to produce the most “erector-friendly” building and door system in the industry. Sheeting and framing members are pre-punched here and all welding and painting is performed in our facility, resulting in a building package requiring no field welding or painting.
Speaking of welding, Greg started his career with us at the age of nineteen as a Mig Welder. Some twenty years later, he finds himself in charge of processing and shipping over one thousand tons of building material to our customers each year.
Greg was born and raised in Canton and lives in the area today with his wife, Pam and their twelve year old son, Jonathan. Greg is an avid fisherman, although most of his spare time these days is spent working on the family’s new home.

Featured Project

Fulfab, Inc. and T-Corp recently completed furnishing and erecting thirty units of T-Hangars at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County constructed the twenty and ten unit buildings using or Model LK42 which features electrically operated bifold doors. The hangars were also equipped with pre-painted roofing, 12› turbine roof ventilators, full-mortised dead bolt locksets for the bifold access doors and low-voltage push-button controls.
The authority is experienced in T-Hangar construction and addressed the drainage issues discussed in the next article of this newsletter. Because this project utilized asphalt floors, they specified a 6› curb along the inside of exterior walls and an 8› concrete sill along the base of the bifold doors to effectively weather seal the buildings.

The General Contractor for the project, Thurman Company of Louisville, selected Fulfab’s sister company, T-Corp, to perform the steel erection. Fulfab is the only T-Hangar manufacturer in the country to offer factory direct steel erection services. T-Corp erects nothing but Fulfab hangars and substantially completed the 33,600 square foot project with a seven-man crew in five weeks.

Drainage
Nothing will ruin an otherwise exceptional hangar project quicker than water getting inside the building. Because of the large door openings on these hangars and prevalence of wind-driven rains at airport sites, hangar buildings are more susceptible than most to drainage problems. Once inside, the water is very difficult to eliminate and results in various safety hazards and a corrosive environment that will threaten the building and its contents.
Crucial to the success of any project is effective drainage to shed water away from the building and surrounding approach areas. There are many steps which can be taken with the building and foundation/floor to keep water outside the building. Of equal importance is an effective site and drainage plan to ensure it stays away.
Our buildings are equipped with several standard features designed to address this concern. roof sheeting is specified to a length necessary to provide a 12› overhang beyond the outer face of the bifold or sliding doors. Bifold doors are sealed at floor level with a 4› tall weather strip attached to the underside of the bifold door sill. This “tear drop” configuration compresses against the floor as the door is closed. sheeted walls are designed to terminate below finished floor elevation. If this is not possible, the walls are sealed at the base with sill angles and foam rubber closure strips matching the wall panel rib profile. these measures are effective only when used in conjunction with sloping or notching of the hangar floors and exterior approach areas. they cannot be expected to overcome preexisting drainage patterns.
In the case of a full concrete floor we recommend a notching detail similar to that shown here, which creates a lip (typically 3/4› at door openings and 1-1/2› at wall locations) to resist water seeping into the building. Alternatively, the floor can be crowned as shown with a slope toward the perimeter of the building. One-half of one percent will provide the desired effect while still allowing aircraft to be rolled back manually. This is also effective, although much more difficult to achieve, when asphalt floors are utilized.
Asphalt floors are notoriously difficult to weather seal because of frequent elevation variations. Strict control of slope and elevation is a must when specifying this type of floor. When designing a drainage plan, sloping can be used not only laterally away from the building, but along its length as well. The building can be erected on a .5% slope to accommodate the overall site drainage. Asphalt curbs and concrete sills, such as those used in Louisville (see page 2), can also be used in conjunction with asphalt surfaces. Wherever possible, design your site to face the buildings on an east - west orientation. Hangars facing north will receive little exposure to the sun during the winter, which will result in significant ice buildup and drainage problems in northern climates.
Gutters and down spouts may seem to be an obvious solution to these drainage problems. Unfortunately, bifold door hangars will not easily accept gutters because of a lack of clearance at the eaves when the door is in the open position. In addition, full-nested T-Hangars provide no locations other than the ends of the buildings to drop downspouts. As a result, gutter runs of several hundred feet would be required, which are inadvisable.

We recommend that you inspect and lubricate your Fulfab T-Hangars and bifold doors at regular six month intervals. Reproduced above is our maintenance checklist with procedures that should be performed on each bifold door hangar unit.

Each procedure is referenced on the checklist with a drawing number which will help you to locate the parts requiring your attention. We can provide copies of these drawings to you free of charge.

Any worn or damaged parts should be reported and replacement parts secured before the doors are used further. Fulfab maintains a complete stock of replacement parts.