I wanted to take a moment to talk about hangar doors and safety.When we fly we all use checklists for operating our aircraft to increase our safety factor. The same can apply to hangar doors. We have had four instances where hangar doors have damaged vehicles and the personnel doors on hangars at Northeast. Fortunately no injuries other than the pride of the operators and damage to doors and vehicles. I think if we all slow down and try to stay focused on the task at hand these could have all been avoided. Here are some simple rules in the form of a checklist to use to operate your door safely:

Before opening:
1. Check the latch is unlatched
2. Check the personnel door is closed securely
3. Check that aircraft, vehicles and people are clear of the doors swing arc inside and out
4. Manually stop the door before it reaches its limit at a height that clears your aircraft's highest point: I know this requires a little patience but it avoids a door going past its limit and getting jammed.

You are welcome to mark a safe opening height for your aircraft with tape on the doors frame if you find that helps this process.

Before closing:
1. Check all aircraft vehicles and people are clear of the doors closing arc
2. Latch door securely while observing that the doors frame structure does not strike the aircraft at the fully latched position if your aircraft is a "tight" fit in your hangar

Finally never park an aircraft or vehicle or even stand in a position so that a accidentally moving door can strike.

Safe flying to all,
Scotty Gerber
Manager
Northeast Airpark