New MANG hangar back on track

Construction on the new hangar and corrosion control facility at the Montana Air National Guard’s 120th Airlift Wing is back on.

Work on the new facility was halted last summer as crews were installing high-steel trusses for the hangar roof and crews in the Federal Aviation Administration control tower identified a line of sight issue.

Officials from the 120th, FAA and the Great Falls Airport Authority have developed options to fix the problem and a design modification was recently approved, according to Col. Lee Smith, 120th commander.

Smith said they’ll lower the roof slightly to eliminate the line of sight issue and the building will still provide all the capability the wing needs.

Originally the plan was to build the new hangar and have planes and crews move into that building while the existing hangar was renovated.

Due to the delay on the new hangar, the contractor started renovations in the existing building to avoid slowing down the project.

Smith said the renovation was more than 40 percent complete and is slated for completion this fall.

Smith said the delay has not affected the wing’s overall mission conversion from F-15s to the C-130 and Oct. 1 is the date set as the end of the conversion, meaning they’ll be capable and ready for deployments if needed and all state and federal missions.

Last month, Smith said the wing exceeded National Guard Bureau requirements for maintenance, “all with flightline maintenance. If we can do that without a hangar, we just can’t wait to see what they can do with a hangar.”