Pilots are appreciating the 80 Schweiss liftstrap
bifold hangar doors at Oshawa, Ontario airport
The Oshawa airport originally opened in June 1941 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It is now a municipal airport adjacent to the north end of the city of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and a major general aviation airport in the Greater Toronto area.
A total of 80 Schweiss lift strap bifold doors can be found on the T-Hangars at Oshawa Airport.
Project was completed in early 2013
There aren't many airports in the U.S. or abroad that have as many Schweiss Bifold Liftstrap/Autolatch hangar doors as the Oshawa, Ontario, Canada airport. In a three-phase project a total of 80 Schweiss liftstrap and autolatch bifold doors have been put onto hangars there. In just the last order alone, 34 Schweiss bifold doors ranging in size from 41.5 ft wide to 47 ft. wide gives some solid proof of their popularity among hangar owners there. The other bifold doors range in size all the way from 41 ft. up to 57 ft. wide.
Hannu Halminen is one of those satisfied Schweiss Door customers and pilots. His work as an Ontario residential home builder and President of Halminen Homes in Courtice, Ontario takes him far and wide. Halminen is in the business of building residential high-end subdivisions with homes ranging from $300,000 and up. For 40 years, Halminen has built over 5,000 innovative designed superior single family homes, townhomes and semi-town homes within the Durham and Clarington Regions and surrounding communities. His communities all bear the exclusive Halminen touch of style at very competitive prices. Halminen Homes prides itself in that every detail in a Halminen Home, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, has a purpose and function that touches lives and provides a very real and tangible benefit for the person buying it.
Born in Finland, Halminen mentioned that he first arrived in Canada at the age of 7. His parents immigrated there from Finland and his father made a living as a carpenter, perhaps that's where he obtained his interest in home building.
It's somewhat ironic that Halminen is actually doing what he is doing. Originally he attended college at Andrews University in Michigan as a pre-med student intending to become a doctor. While there he needed an elective course and took up flight instruction, that's where he first pursued his love for the air and aircraft earning his wings in 1970.
He's now associated with Enterprise Air charter operators at the Oshawa Airport. He owns several planes hangared there and elsewhere which he uses for business and pleasure including a fully restored DH 82C Tiger Moth.
"With the purchase of straps we didn't hesitate." - Halminen.
Lift straps are featured on Schweiss doors at Oshawa.
Halminen did a considerable amount of homework before deciding on Schweiss Doors. "The first time I saw Schweiss Doors was at a booth at Oshkosh. I'd been going there since 1982, that's where I met Mike. I'd already made the commitment before I met Mike. Schweiss doors are a very cost effective door, about half the price of what guys are charging up here," said Halminen. "That was a good find and Schweiss Doors has a good reputation because they've been around a long time, not just a startup."
Out of all the doors he said they have really had no problems, overall the doors themselves have been trouble free. Installation was arranged with Canadian labor. Halminen said that on the installation of the first door, Schweiss Doors assisted via their telephone help line and throughout the entire process of ordering the doors he said Schweiss Doors personnel were very helpful.
"The (bifold door) straps are amazing compared to the cables," said Halminen. "We previously built 28 hangars and they weren't Schweiss doors, they were all done with cables. I did do one box hangar with another door, and they were a pain. Another was an old aluminum bifold where the cables actually snapped on us. With the purchase of straps we didn't hesitate. The others were forever a hassle requiring adjustment and everything else. We are happy with the performance of the Schweiss doors."
The whole package with the assistance of R&M Steel was 80 doors, all with Schweiss Bifold doors. Some of the older doors were sold off in a complicated trade with the city to obtain the land and make room for Schweiss doors. We used autolatches on all the 20 bigger hangar doors, with the largest door being a 57 ft. x 16 ft. The rest are all manual latch doors. The T-Hangars are 42 ft. x 12 ft. bifold liftstrap doors.
The hangars they built at Oshawa were mainly at first to provide a storage requirement. Halminen said it took him nearly 20 years to get permission from the city to acquire the municipal land. "We condominiumized the project where you can actually own the hangar and the land opposed to a lease which most airports go by. Oshawa was able to see themselves clear to sell the land which made the project feasible because most of the lending institutions wouldn't lend on leased land. A lot of guys needed financing to buy a hangar and couldn't get it without land ownership," explained Halminen.
With Oshawa airport located about four miles north of Lake Ontario Halminen said they have experienced no problems with doors operating in foul weather, snow, ice or wind. Each door is windrated in accordance with Ontario building codes.
"Everybody here likes the Schweiss Bifold Doors"
"Everybody here likes the Schweiss bifold doors. The guys with the autolatch and remotes really love their doors and the guys with the manual latches wish they had the autolatches," added Halminen. "The airplane owners here are very happy to have functioning hangars, as opposed to parking in a snowbank. Toronto will be losing one of their airports in the next couple of years. That may be an opportune time for what we did at Oshawa."
Oshawa Municipal Airport
The Oshawa Municipal Airport is located adjacent to the north end of the city of Oshawa, Ontario and is one of the major general aviation airports in the Greater Toronto area.
The Oshawa Municipal Airport is located adjacent to the north end of the city of Oshawa, Ontario and is one of the major general aviation airports in the Greater Toronto area. It includes two paved runways and instrument approaches. From 2002 to 2008, Oshawa hosted the annual Canadian Aviation Expo, Canada's largest annual aviation event.
The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. Officers at this airport currently handle aircraft with no more than 50 passengers. There is a 16,000 sq. foot passenger terminal located on the north field.
In July of 2011 an Air Medivac service announced it would open a 24-hour base to help cut the airlift response time to Toronto hospitals located about a 30 minute drive away. Because of this there has been some talk amongst local politicians and airport management to expand the main runway from 4,000 ft. to 5,000 ft. to entice additional and larger corporate air traffic. As an executive-level regional airport, Oshawa can accommodate a variety of aircraft ranging from small recreational aircraft to 20 passenger business jets and 70 passenger turbo-prop commuter aircraft. More than 20 businesses are based at the airport.
The Oshawa Municipal Airport bills itself as "The 2010 World's Most-Female-Pilot-Friendly Airport."That stems from the establishment of the award winning Eastern Ontario Chapter of the Canadian 99s consisting of female pilots. Halminen recalled they won a contest a while ago during which they put close to 400 pilots in the air in one day. The history of the Ninety-Nines dates back 60 years and intertwines with the history of many nations. Such names as Amelia Earhart and Jacqueline Cochrane dot their past while new heroines such as Roberta Bonday in the space program help shape the future. It is now a 6,500 member non-profit worldwide organization with members in Canada, the U.S. and 30 other countries.
Halminen Homes
For more information on Halminen Homes, they can be reached at 905-449-1857 or 905-436-2600 and by visiting their website at: www.halminenhomes.com/home
RCAF trained WWII pilots in the Tiger Moth at Oshawa
Hannu Halminen has fully restored his DH 82C Tiger Moth to its original "trainer yellow" color. This plane with its characteristic canopy was powered by the de Havilland 130 h.p. Gipsy Major I engine. Student flyers used Tiger Moth aircraft and were trained by civilian instructors from the Oshawa, Kingston and Brant-Norfolk flying clubs. The Tiger Moth entered service at the RAF Central Flying School in 1932. By the start of the war, the RAF had 500 of the aircraft.
RCAF trained WWII pilots in the Tiger Moth at Oshawa The Oshawa Airport has a gallant World War II era past. It originally opened in June 1941 under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as No 20 Elementary Flying Training School Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Station Oshawa. Student flyers used Tiger Moth aircraft and were trained by civilian instructors from the Oshawa, Kingston, and Brant-Norfolk flying clubs. By the start of the war the Royal Air Force (RAF) had 500 of the aircraft in service and large numbers of civilian Tiger Moths were brought in as trainers also. A relief landing field was located at Whitby. The school closed in December 1944.
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane. The trainer prototype was derived from the DH 60 de Havilland Gipsy Moth. It remained in service with the RAF until it was replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft entered civil operation. During a British production run of over 7,000 Tiger Moths, a total of 4,005 Tiger Moth IIs were built during the war specifically for the RCAF and RAF but also put into service for the Royal Australian and Royal New Zealand Air Force. In all 8,868 DH 82A Tiger Moths were built from 1931 to 1944.
Many other nations used the Tiger Moth in both military and civil applications and it remains in widespread use as a recreational aircraft in many countries. It is still used as a primary training aircraft, particularly for pilots wanting to gain experience before moving on to other tailwheel aircraft, although most Tiger Moths have a skid.
8,868 DH 82A Tiger Moths were built from 1931 to 1944, they were used primarily as a trainer aricraft for the RCAF and RAF.
The Tiger Moth's handling was ideal for training future fighter pilots. When used for aerobatic and formation training the Tiger Moth required definite skill and concentration to perform well - a botched maneuver could easily cause the aircraft to stall or spin. Its big "parachute" wings are very forgiving, and it stalls at a speed as slow as 25 knots with power. The first Moths were powered by a DH Gipsy III 120 h.p. engine. A later production beefed 50 more aircraft with a Gipsy Major I 130 h.p engine. Because it had no electrical system, it had to be started by hand with care to prevent being struck by the propeller.
In the aftermath of Britain's disastrous campaign in France, in August 1940, three proposals for beach defense systems were put forward. Tiger Moths, 350 of them, were fitted with bomb racks to serve as light bombers. A more radical conversion involved the "paraslasher," a scythe-like blade fitted to a Tiger Moth intended to cut parachutists' canopies as they descended to earth. Flight tests proved the idea, but it was not officially adopted. The Tiger Moth was also tested as a dispenser of Paris Green rat poison for use against ground troops, with powder dispensers located under the wings.
The de Havilland Moth club founded in 1975 is now a highly organized owners' association offering technical support and focus for Moth enthusiasts.
|
Pilots are appreciating the 80 schweiss liftstrap bifold hangar doors at Oshawa, Ontario airport
There aren't many airports in the U.S. or abroad that have as many Schweiss Bifold Liftstrap/Autolatch hangar doors as the Oshawa, Ontario, Canada airport. In a three-phase project a total of 80 Schweiss liftstrap and autolatch bifold doors have been put onto hangars there. In just the last order alone, 34 Schweiss bifold doors ranging in size from 41.5 ft wide to 47 ft. wide gives some solid proof of their popularity among hangar owners there. |
|
Innovative Schweiss lift gate gives versatility to 'The Paw'
Contemplate this description of a popular Mankato, Minnesota facility: Daycare, rehabilitation, grooming spa, spacious suites with in-floor heat, raised beds, exercise program, pool, reservations required, therapeutic laser class treatments, post operative care, hydrotherapy, kindergarten, parties and social activities. |
|
Big bifold glass door connects spaces at new Red Bull headquarters
Extreme sports enthusiasts are a key demographic for energy drink makers, and Red Bull's new North American headquarters in Santa Monica, CA was created with that audience in mind. Among the 105,000 sq. ft. buildings many impressive design features are 40' wide by 250' long, non-functioning skateboard platform and 28' tall by 40' wide, Schweiss glass-paneled bifold door. |
|
Arizona Stucco hydraulic door gives shade on hot days.
Aircraft enthusiasts from more than 70 nations go to the world famous Oshkosh Air Show with their eyes to the sky. It brings in more than 10,000 aircraft and displays nearly 2,500 aircraft of all makes and sizes. Dave Sirota, President of Bassuk Brothers Property Management firm in Oro Valley, Arizona, a bedroom community adjacent to Tucson, didn't go there to look at aircraft, he had another mission in mind. |
|
Schweiss Doors makes boathouse owner envy of beautiful Lake Vermilion
Schweiss Doors can't take all the credit for the envy. Ryan also goes first class with the 1955 Chris Craft Continental boat that cruises in and out of his boathouse. And for those not living on this lake, known worldwide as Lake Vermilion, that's also envious. |
|
Aero Country East is a Dallas, Texas area first-class aviation lifestyle community
"New North Dallas, Teaxs Aero Country East airpark goes exclusively with Schweiss "Red Power" hydraulic one-piece hangar doors. Many Country Club amenities and 39 custom townhomes and pool on privately-owned airport add first class appeal for pilots and families |
|
Washington Wallaby Ranch chooses Schweiss doors for its hangars
When you think of wallabies and kangaroos the first thing that comes to mind is Australia, "The Land Down Under." You don't have to travel that far, however, to see these marsupials, The Fall City Wallaby Ranch has 19. |
|
Kansas farmers Mancave has room for dragstrip racing cars and more
The term "mancave" has in recent times entered the American vernacular. It refers to a place where the guys can get together, lay back and talk about whatever is on their minds and solve the world problems and such over a cold one or two. Mancaves seem to be quite popular amongst football fans. |
|
Schweiss Doors installs 132 liftstrap Bifold T-Hangar doors for Bult Airfield
Only about 30 miles due south of downtown Chicago and surrounded by fields of corn, soybeans, wildlife habitat and even a few tree farms sits one of the newer and more intriguing airfields in America. Called Bult Field Airport and identified as C56, this country airport however dates back to 1942 when Paul Sanger, a Monee, Illinois aviation enthusiast started his 'grass strip' air field three nautical miles southeast of town. |
|
Napa Valley Winery puts Schweiss doors to special use
That's how Opus One building's architect, Scott Johnson, described this California Napa Valley winery located between St. Helena and Napa, almost straight north of San Francisco, California. Johnson was part of the design team behind the whole footprint of the Opus One building expansion. The suggestion and actual design of the unique Schweiss bifold and hydraulic doors was recommended by Wayne Leong, of Leong Architectural firm in St Helena, CA. |
|
Prestige Contractors of Canada is newest Schweiss Doors distributer
Most every contractor at heart wants to do the best job for their customer. Sometimes that means going above and beyond the call and at other times being able to offer the best product for them. |
|
Large Schweiss Bifold Liftstrap door perfectly fits farmshop needs
There's nothing cheap about building anymore but this project turned out wonderfully. The Schweiss door fits perfectly. We dressed up the shop and office area with some window shutter trim. Structural Building out of Becker, MN was the contractor and they did a great job |
|
Inadequate experience with another company leads farmer to Schweiss Doors
It was a 70 ft. hydraulic door, very lightly built, it came in two sections that didn't meet together when they put it together. It showed up bent, and when raised it would bend, very poor weld quality, with welds missing in places. It was a piece of crap, I've never seen something so poor, there was no engineering done on it. There was no quality control. |
|
Schweiss Red Power Pumps are a jump above the rest
Jumping over the best |
|
RiverEdge Park & Music Garden orders Schweiss Doors for new Illinois project
RiverEdge Park and Music Garden is a venue that not many people in the United States have heard of yet, but they will. It is becoming the centerpiece in a 10-year master plan for the city of Aurora, Illinois, that state's second largest city with a population of close to 200,000 people, making it the 112th largest city in the United States. Aurora is located about 45 miles west of Chicago and is accessible by commuter train from there. |
|
Schweiss has truckloads of top quality doors leaving the factory each week
Since Introducing "Red Power" Hydraulic Doors to the market this Spring, sales of Schweiss Hydraulic Doors have escalated, and as a result truckload-after-truckload of ready to assemble doors have been moving out to destinations within all corners of the United States and other locations around the globe. |
|
Sharp looking farm shop features office space and large hydraulic door
This eye catching farm shop is indeed a beautiful facility. All four exterior steel walls are white, however red is the accent color around the edges of this big hydraulic door, all windows in the door, plus other access doors into this incredible building. |
|
Taxi-through hangar speeds crop work for big time spraying operation
Twenty-seven years as an aerial applicator provides an historical perspective each spring for Rich Sigurdson, Olivia, MN. For cantankerous 2011 he simply responded,"This spring brought in a little more work than normal. This is the latest for putting crops in the ground since I've been in the business. |
|
Huge Army tanks and track vehicles pass through Ft. Carson liftstrap bifold doors
Getting 146 doors installed at one location speaks rather strongly about the quality and reliability of your door provider. But that's the current scorecard of Schweiss BiFold doors at Fort Carson, Colorado (Colorado Springs) where Mortenson Construction (Denver branch) has an ongoing contract with the U.S. Army for the construction of special heated maintenance shops called TEMFs (Tactical Equipment Maintenance Facilities). This means structures big enough for Army tanks and other special military tactical vehicles. |
|
Electrical engineer researches and chooses 40 ft. Hydraulic Hangar Door
I researched over a year what I wanted to do. I met Dave Schweiss at the Florida 'Fun in the Sun' air show and both Dave and Mike at the big Oshgosh, WS show. After meeting the guys and looking more closely at their product the choice was obvious. It simply was the best fit, the best design, the best door and in terms of value, the best deal. |
|
Fagen WWII museum purchases multiple large Schweiss Liftstrap Bifold Hangar Doors
Here are some shots of Fagen's warbirds. All mighty nice, mint condition airplanes! Just one of many unique planes that will be on display in the New Fagen Museum. It'll be the hot spot in Granite Falls, Minnesota to see some of the most beautiful Flying machines imaginable. |
|
Fast opening Schweiss hydraulic heated shop doors were just what this farmer needed
Obviously a guy doesn't spend several thousand dollars for a big hydraulic door because it opens and closes in 37 seconds. But surprisingly 'door speed' is a bit of a factor, at least for Terry Albright, Renville County farmer who also runs a fleet of 'over the road' semi rigs. |
|
New 75 ft. Ohio farm shop has Schweiss hydraulic door with special lighting
A slick, new 75' x 80' farm shop with special lighting, in-floor heating, a huge 40' door and a burgundy and beige color scheme is getting all sorts of attention on the farm of John Dulin, Kenton, Ohio. "The contractor that sold me the building has people coming here every week it seems to check out the building and especially that big hydraulic door. So it's a real treat for me and my farming partner son Dana, to show them the works," explained Dulin, who is also maintenance manager for six school buses in their local special education district. |
|
Wayzata resident loves his worry free liftstrap garage door conversion
Two bifold doors were on his Wayzata, Minn. home when he and his wife, Nancy, purchased it from a previous owner several years ago. He referred to the doors as "a bonus and attractive feature" and believed the architect chose the bifold style of doors for aesthetic reasons. |
|
Carriage House helicopter hangar is very likely the most unique in America!
The Carriage House on the lakeshore property of Sid Morris, Cornelius, NC is very likely the most unique in America! It doesn't house horses and horse buggies. It doesn't house antique autos. Instead it houses his R44 helicopter. And that chopper gets to the Carriage House by first landing on a helio pad on the end of his 200' dock. A small electrically driven dolly then gently lifts the chopper with operator then guiding the chopper to its proper stall inside this remarkable 4-star carriage house. |
|
Artists architectural glass door was perfect for Martha's Vineyard studio and guest house
At 27 years of age, film maker/artist/author Travis Wood appears to be adding architectural design to his intriguing resume. Evidence of this new dimension is a most unique structure, a combination studio/guest house that he and his father are constructing on their vacation property on Martha's Vineyard, hugging the south shore of Massachusetts. |
|
Funky Brooklyn Store Front Perforated Steel Bifold Doors add touch of class and security
Hugging the southwest corner of Long Island, New York, Brooklyn's earlier identity was mostly hitched to Coney Island beach and the Brooklyn Dodgers of baseball immortality. Today the city is enjoying a renaissance of rediscovery by artists, retailers, ambitious contractors and creative landscapers including the Andre Kikoski Architect firm which just wrapped up the complete renovation of two empty, abandoned warehouse buildings on 22-28 Wyckoff Ave. |
|
Multiple stores and doors are key to Arnold Company farm implement business expansion
Consolidation is that aggressive word which has been enveloping agricultural business for several years now. In simple terms, it results in fewer but bigger. And that certainly is the recent history of the farm implement business, which used to pride itself on having eight, 10, even 12 or more dealerships per county. Today three or four farm equipment dealers per county is more the usual. But ownership of farm implement stores today often includes multiple locations throughout an entire state. |
|
Former Alaskan has Bifold hangar doors for fishing and flying from private airstrip
Flying since he got the bug when working the fishing canaries in Alaska, Eric Hutchins, Grand Rapids, MN, has a rather diversified agenda these days. For example he runs a year-round Dairy Queen in this bustling tourist center town. He also does some part-time law enforcement work and occasionally flies fire detection with the MN DNR. When time permits, high on his agenda is getting together with his snowmobile buddies for a few miles through the beautiful lake and woodland country of Itasca County. |
|
Large 108 ft. Schweiss Bifold Strap Door is finishing touch for hangar renovation
In September of 2009, we started the rehabilitation of Hanger 155 at Chippewa County International Airport in Kincheloe, MI. Our first step was to remove 60 years worth of lead paint from the existing steel substructure and miles of asbestos-containing material. When the building was safe to work in, our demolition subcontractor started on the roof system. |
|
Midwest John Deere dealership and store installs a Schweiss One-Piece Door
It's big, 43,500 square feet. It has a special floral display unit out front courtesy of the employees and the general contractor. You walk into an 'eye catching' 100' x 160' 'Consumer Display' section complete with a 10' high shelf showcasing various John Deere 'consumer goods'. And greeting you at the retail counter is a colorful prairie scene with an old country barn, woodlots, fields of corn and wheat plus a depiction of the original 1-bottom plow that launched the John Deere machinery company. A show place of sorts? Yes, indeed. |
|
Classic Florida hangar home Schweiss wall/porch door is drawing national attention
Well, it's all of the above for 62-year-old Daniel Shaw, a plumbing contractor at Geneva, Fla. Who has given new meaning to the term "hangar home." The structure is 50' wide x 60' deep x 30' tall, all metal/ However, a 45' x 15' Schweiss hydraulic door sporting a wrap-around porch with decorator railing, table and chairs, a "walk through" door with stylish window, and veranda "roof" gets your attention. |
|
Schweiss doors open things up at the Renville County Fair
Schweiss Hydraulic and Bifold Doors recently installed four new hydraulic doors at the Renville County Fairgrounds located in Bird Island, MN. The Renville County Board approached Schweiss looking for a way to open up the event building located at the county's fairgrounds. The event building is used to host live bands, beer gardens and public auctions by Henslin Auction Services. Hydraulic doors seemed like the perfect solution to open up the building and allow easy access to the building for large groups of people. |
|
Minnesota Implement dealership spike in business calls for new facility liftstrap bifold doors
We're no longer just selling iron. Today we're selling precision farming products and that requires special training of both our personnel and our farm customers," says Paal Haug, general manager of Haug Implement with stores at Willmar and Litchfield |
|
Radiation-shielded Bifold Door designed specially for industrial x-ray system firm
The creativity of customers continues to be a driving force for many manufacturers. Take for example North Star Imaging, Inc., a Rogers, Minnesota manufacturer of industrial x-ray systems which are enclosed by a radiation shielding cabinet and access door and used by manufacturing firms in the aerospace, military, automotive, medical device, electronics, even the genetic seed industry and many more. |
|
Stylish North Carolina Target store Bifold gates serve dual purposes
How do you make the loading dock area for your store secure, yet still easily accessible and stylish? This Target store in North Carolina found the answer with two 39' x 17' bifold gates for their loading area. Give us your idea and we will get you the door. |
|
Unique Schweiss Bifold roof-door designed for East Coast sandblasting chamber
What looked like a near impossible situation without some totally new engineering design instead turned out to be a remarkable solution to an extreme challenge. The challenge? How to fit a "roof door" over a 20' by 30' sandblasting chamber used by SMS Millcraft, Oil City, PA. This firm specializes in refurbishing component parts for various Pennsylvania steel mills. |
|
Farm Air spraying operation relocates and builds new hangar with 76 ft. hydraulic door
It is rare that an Air Tractor dealership changes hands. It cant be done without an approval from Air Tractor, Inc. This requirement became all too apparent to Bill Taylor of Farm Air in Fairfield Illinois. Bill was starting to think about retiring from the business he formed in 1976. Shortly after forming Farm Air, Bill saw a need for Air Tractors in the Midwest, and approached Air Tractor about becoming a dealer. Over thirty successful years later, Bill decided it was time to sell Farm Air with its Air Tractor dealership intact. |
|
TGIF puts custom-made Schweiss Bifold glass doors on patio bar
This custom set of Schweiss Bifold Doors was the perfect solution to provide a unique dining experience for this restaurant's patio bar customers. |
