Keeping the Hangar Clear of Snow

I "just" got back from the airport shoveling. Nick and I did our hanger,
and two neighbors that, in the past, have shoveled ours out. Snow was about
6", drifts 9", and still coming down at a very high rate. No 2 wheel drive
vehicles to be seen.

The approach to our hanger is sloped uphill, which you would think, would
allow for the water to run away from the hanger... well kinda... if the snow
melts off the roof, water then drips down in front of the hanger and
freezes, it creates a huge ice dam(n) right in front of the door, from then
on, the water runs INTO the hanger.... grrrr freezes the door to the ground
and sometimes freezes inside the hanger..... instant in door ice skating
rink!

So, unless we've got about 40 of Santa's Elves equipped with cleated elf
shoes.... we use sand, kitty litter, floor dry, oil absorb to enable 1) us
mear mortal's to stand up and 2) the electric tug to get better traction to
push the plane into the hanger.

I've been thinking about some kind of rubber mat, maybe a 10 foot strip of
12" wide conveyor belting, drilling a bunch of holes in it, then putting
carriage bolts through, washers and nuts on the bottom side so they would
dig into the ice. Kind of a ice gripping rubber sidewalk for the tug to
drive along.

As for melting snow... I won't touch anything like that... I've seen wayyyy
too much equipment eaten up by salt and other chemicals to throw anything
like that around an airplane.... A couple guys have tried the nitrogen
based materials that our airport sells, only to find that they eat up the
concrete in their hangers. We use as little sand or kitty litter as
possible, only to get the plane pushed back inside, then we shovel up what
we can so others don't taxi through it.

Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:103of.646180$xm3.454419@attbi_s21...
We're facing the snowiest fall ever in Iowa, which has required shoveling
pretty much every other day. (Gosh, I can hardly wait for winter!)

Our airport plows the ramps and runways well, but they always leave a
strip
of snow approximately 2 - 3 feet out from the hangar door. This, of
course,
needs to be cleared before the plane can be removed.

We keep a snow shovel at the hangar, of course, and occasionally (like,
today) we truck our snow blower in when the snow is really heavy and deep.

I've thought about tipping the snow plow driver to get him to plow as
close
to the hangar door as possible (when the airport manager was a friend of
ours, he always took extra care to plow as close as possible), but I never
seem to catch the guy. Our FBO is useless in this regard, only shoveling
right around their office door entry way, and not getting involved with
the
hangars in any way at all anymore.

Anyone got any tricks for keeping the hangar ramp clear of snow?

Also, can anyone recommend something they put down on ice that (a)
enhances
traction (b) melts snow, (c) doesn't harm aluminum, and (d) doesn't leave
a
gritty, prop-eroding residue?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jim Burns wrote:

if the snow
melts off the roof, water then drips down in front of the hanger and
freezes, it creates a huge ice dam(n) right in front of the door, from then
on, the water runs INTO the hanger.... grrrr freezes the door to the ground
and sometimes freezes inside the hanger..... instant in door ice skating
rink!

Install a gutter up there. Full width of the hangar. Don't put ends on it. All
the melt water will run over to the ends of the building. Slope the gutter both
ways from the center if you can.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.