Calculating Your Aircraft Footprint

Your aircraft footprint is the amount of floor space your plane occupies, determined by its length and wingspan. Height also matters for hangar door clearance. Knowing these dimensions before you search for hangar space prevents booking a space that is too small, overpaying for a space that is much larger than you need, and arriving to find your aircraft does not fit through the door.

You will need three dimensions:

• Length: From the tip of the nose (including spinner or radome) to the tail cone.
• Wingspan: From one wingtip to the other, including any winglets.
• Height: From the ground to the highest point on the aircraft (typically the tail fin or antenna).

These measurements are available in your aircraft's operating handbook or from the manufacturer's published specifications. Use the most accurate numbers available, and do not estimate if you can avoid it.

Hangar Direct provides a free Aircraft Footprint Calculator to estimate your floor space requirements:

1. Go to hangardirect.com/calculator/aircraft-footprint.
2. Option A: Select your aircraft model from the dropdown if it is listed. Dimensions will populate automatically.
3. Option B: Enter your length, wingspan, and height manually if your model is not listed.
4. The calculator returns your estimated square footage. You can also enter a price per square foot to estimate your total cost.

When searching for hangars on the platform, listings are filtered to fit your aircraft dimensions. Accurate footprint data means better search results.

Your raw footprint is just the starting point. In practice, you will need additional room for:

• Opening doors and accessing the cockpit.
• Towing or repositioning the aircraft inside the hangar.
• Equipment storage, maintenance access, or ground power units.
• Clearance from walls, columns, or other aircraft in shared hangars.

A good rule of thumb is to look for a hangar that offers at least 15 to 20 percent more floor space than your calculated footprint.