If you do not know the definition for sure, and you are not a fan of solving crosswords, then it is unlikely that the first time you answer the question - "What is a hangar?". And if you hear the word “hangar”, the Angara River in distant Siberia comes to mind, then it’s also good - your geography teacher deserves praise. What is a hangar? Let's figure it out.
Word origin story
All explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language (Dalia, Ozhegova, Ushakova, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia) give almost one definition.
The hangar is a word of French origin, which is called a special room for parking, maintenance and repair of aircraft, helicopters.
Historically, the first were wooden hangars that date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, simple in design, with a span of 25 meters.
The first metal hangar was built already in 1913 in Koenigsberg, and already in the early 1930s, metal hangars of complex structures with a span of 35-45 meters were built in the USSR.
In other words, a hangar is a garage for airplanes that is part of any airport or airfield.
Modern hangars
But what is a hangar today? Today, hangars have advanced so much that they are built from the most reliable materials, can accommodate a fleet of aircraft and compete for the title of the most original design.
The meaning of the word hangar has become much wider. Now it is not only a “garage for aircraft”, but also a modern complex equipped with the latest technology, a complex where various shows, exhibitions and presentations of new models of aircraft and other aircraft are held.
But this is not the limit. If you ask yourself what a hangar is today, you can think for a long time. Today, mobile hangars are gaining great popularity, which can be assembled and disassembled in any convenient place.
A striking example of such a structure is the Tropical Park in Germany, located under the dome of a precast hangar.