AIRPORT NEWS
MORE T-HANGARS ARE TEED UP AT THE PORT BY WILLIAM KALEC
In light of increasing demand, The Port of South Louisiana wasted little time ordering up another batch of 10 T-Hangars for lease at the Executive Regional Airport
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n 2018, Port of South Louisiana officials secured funding and commissioned construction of 10 rentable T-Hangars to store planes at the Executive Regional Airport, hoping to bring in new tenants and increased traffic for the airport. Much to their pleasant surprise, the moment this project was formally announced and made public, the number of interested aviators far surpassed the soonto-be available units for their aircraft. The demand surpassed even the Port’s own expectations. It was a great problem to have, but one that still required action
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SUMMER 2022 | PORT OF SOUTH LOUISIANA
if the Port’s full potential could be realized. The solution? Build another 10 T-Hangars right across the apron from the original 10. “When we laid out the plans to build the first ten units, our airport director at the time put out a notice or survey to gauge interest in the number of aircraft owners who would like to rent out a hangar,” says Dale Hymel, the Port’s Chief Project and Planning Officer. “Well, 24 people expressed interest, and we were only building 10, so we immediately had a Waiting List before the first T-Hangar was even constructed. “As soon as the initial 10 were
operational and rented out, we sought funding and explored the idea of making another batch of 10. We got right back to it.” Earlier this year, construction began on the $1.8 million project at the Executive Regional Airport. Roughly one-third of funding was covered by a Department of Transportation grant. Unlike a traditional box hangar, these “Nested T-Hangars” allow for the tail sections of the aircraft to sit in the center of the structure, which provides a more costeffective use of the space. In this scenario, the overall length of the hangar can be reduced. Same goes for the apron space, and therefore, the total cost of building materials. Furthermore, Professional Engineering Consultants of Baton Rouge purposely designed these 10 new T-Hangars to handle the dimensions of the aircraft owned by tenants on the original Waiting List. That includes Cessna 340s, a Beechcraft 55 Baron, Daher TBM 900, among others. When these 10 new T-Hangars are operational in December 2022, they’ll represent the third publiclyaccessible aircraft storage structure built at the Airport in the past decade. Prior to the construction of the original 10 T-Hangars, the Port commissioned an 8,000-sq. foot ‘Transient Hangar’ back in 2017 that can be rented out on a temporary basis to serve the needs of travelers stopping in the area for a short time— an Aircraft Hotel, if you will. When the Port acquired the operational rights to the airport and unveiled its “Master Plan” in late 2011, the desire