The Flying Bulls @ Hangar-7

Red Bulls Hangar-7 at Salzburgs W. A. Mozart Airport is impressive, both in terms of its architectural style and also the exhibits housed within. The hangar is a steel framework covered with glass and has the stylised shape of an aircraft wing; the total weight of the structure is over 1500 tons. The hangar took 4 years to build and has been open to the public since late summer 2003. The hangar houses bars, restaurants, art, cars, bikes and of course aircraft. (For the purposes of this report I will concentrate on the aircraft)

The aircraft in Hangar-7 belong to the Flying Bulls; the Flying Bulls "collect and fly fascinating aircraft from the great eras of aviation". The Flying Bulls aircraft are displayed in Hangar-7 while Hangar-8 is used as their maintenance facility.

The aircraft on display here are constantly changed, I was hoping to photograph the P-38 Lightning, F4U Corsair and the DC-6 but these were all in Hangar-8 at the time. On the day of my visit Hangar-7 contained the following aircraft:

Fixed Wing:

- 2 x Dornier Alpha Jets
- Cessna 208 Caravan equipped with floats
- Piper Cub (which was swapped with another Piper Cub during the visit)
- Boeing PT-17 Stearman
- North American B-25J Mitchell

Helicopters:

- 2 x MBB Bo-105 helicopters
- Bell H-47
- Bell AH-1 Cobra
- Eurocopter EC-135

(Although it was not actually in the hangar during my visit, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was conducting engine tests outside Hangar-7)

The aircraft are distributed all throughout the hangar while the various cars and bikes are displayed under wings / rotors or between aircraft. The attention to detail is amazing, the hangar is immaculate, just as I started my visit a TV commercial shoot was finishing. Once all the film crew and equipment were gone the floor was cleaned, the furniture, cars and aircraft were moved, even the trees were moved!

The aircraft, which are all airworthy, are kept in pristine condition, everything is gleaming, even the B-25 had drip trays attached to the engines, these drip trays are so well designed that they look like part of the aircraft. Most of the aircraft had lighting bars placed underneath them to provide all round illumination.

At night the aircraft and hangar are illuminated with lights that move and change colour so timing was of the essence when taking pictures. The biggest aircraft in the hangar, the B-25, was also the most polished, it also had the best lighting so I spent a bit more time photographing it. As you can see from the pictures it was illuminated at various times with white, red, blue & purple lighting.

A visit to Hangar-7 is a must if you are in the Salzburg area, especially if you are using the airport. The main road from Salzburg city centre to the airport passes a few hundred metres from the hangar while the airport bus stops at the end of the road.

I would like to thank Red Bull / Hangar-7 for permission to visit and take photographs, visiting Hangar-7 was a unique experience, your help was very much appreciated.