The Loring Air Force Base Double Cantilever hangar (officially known as Building 8280) is the largest structure at the former

Loring Air Force Base Loring Air Force Base was a United States Air Force installation in northeastern Maine, near Limestone and Caribou in Aroostook County. It was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command during its existence, and was t ...

, now the

Loring Commerce Centre The Loring Commerce Centre is an industrial and aviation park in northeastern Maine, located in Aroostook County near Limestone. Developed from the former Loring Air Force Base which closed in 1994, it is home to over 20 employers with more th ...

. The

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

measures approximately by and appurtenances cover . It was built with the capability of holding five

B-36 Peacemaker The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built. It had the longest win ...

, or six B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. The main hangar building was built in 1954 at a cost of $4.6 million ($53 million in 2023).

Description

The hangar was constructed as one of the first hangars at the base, which opened two years prior. The building was constructed with the goal of giving the Strategic Air Command crews a place to sustain an aircraft's condition should behavior by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

warrant an attack. It also had the added benefit of protecting the crews from the harsh

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

weather. Having the capability to house five

aircraft was critical, as the base was originally designated to host over one hundred of these aircraft. It was also one of the first double-cantilever hangars built for the Strategic Air Command, due to a new demand for a larger and more efficient space, in contrast to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era buildings inherited on many other bases. The building has an ejected caisson foundation designed to ensure stability in the harsh conditions of northern Maine. The foundation consists of 260 diameter concrete caissons that extend down to

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

bedrock at a depth of . Longitudinal arched steel trusses that are cantilevered at both ends from the shop supports in the center allow maximum vertical clearance. The north and south walls of the hangar each have a set of six doors that, when fully open, form a wide opening that accommodates the full wingspan of a B-36.

Post-closure usage

After the 1994 closure of

, many of the buildings were evaluated for historical significance in the ''Loring AFB Historic Building Inventory and Evaluation''. The hangar was one of a handful of structures on the base that were listed for possible future inclusion on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, due to its historic nature. This view was concurred by the Maine State Historic Preservation Officer and the Air Force's recommendation of the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

. The hangar is one of several Loring AFB buildings that have new uses as components of the

References

External links

Images of the hangar
{{Coord, 46, 56, 6.94, N, 67, 53, 21.65, W, display=title Transportation buildings and structures in Aroostook County, Maine Loring Air Force Base Transport infrastructure completed in 1954 Aircraft hangars in the United States Aircraft hangars on the National Register of Historic Places 1954 establishments in Maine