Stephen Robertson — Oamaru

Steve Robertson has been flying for 30 years. During that time, he'd seen enough hangars where the doors were too tight, the ceiling too low, and the aircraft's rotor blades too close to the walls for comfort.

What Steve wanted was a clearspan area, where he could easily spin his helicopter’s rotor blades and carry out pre-flight checks inside the shed.

Steve went to market and talked to several hangar suppliers before Alpine stood out. The bi-fold doors he wanted required special engineering in the footings and the lintel above, and most companies simply couldn't provide an option.

"Out of all the companies I contacted, Alpine embraced that (the door design), and through their division of design and engineering, were able to deal with it. For a lot of the other companies, it was too hard. They could only give me a PC sum for pricing, whereas Alpine had it nailed right down."

Steve had been flying long enough to know exactly what a good hangar needed to do.

Clearspan, With Room to Move. No centre poles, no restrictions, no obstacles to work around.

"The design of it being clear span, obviously, when my helicopter was able to spin the rotor blades inside and do a pre-flight outside of the weather in the shed, that was really important to me. I've seen a lot of hangars where it's quite restrictive, and you can't turn the rotor blades."

Future-Proofed Design. Built for more than just today's aircraft requirements.

"The door opening was really important, and ceiling height, with a clearspan. If I got a bigger helicopter down the line, I was able to complement that." The doors were sized big enough to take a fixed-wing aircraft too.

Custom Bi-Fold Doors. Custom-built for the site, with the footings and portal engineered to carry them, something most other companies weren't equipped to price properly, let alone build.

"Out of all the companies I contacted, Alpine embraced that (the door design), and through their division of design and engineering were able to deal with it. For a lot of the other companies, it was too hard. They could only give me a PC sum for pricing, whereas Alpine had it nailed right down."

Timber Construction. Chosen over rolled steel for the speed of the build and the quality of the finish.

"I looked at steel versus this timber frame, and the timber is what I went with, and I'm really, really happy with it."

Pest-Proof. Stephen didn't want his aircraft ruined by birds and mice.

"You don't want any birds in your hangar, or mice, or anything like that."

"It's been a wonderful experience, and the hangar is a testament to Alpine. They've done a super job, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone."

Steve now has a hangar built exactly how he imagined: full clearspan with no restrictions on the rotor blades, height and door openings sized to accommodate a bigger helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft down the line, and his custom bi-fold doors.

Designed to suit his requirements and built to last. He's already referred others to Alpine off the back of it.

"It's been a wonderful experience, and the hangar is a testament to Alpine. They've done a super job, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone."