Type T2 Hangars

T2 “Black” Hangars 1980s

By 1940 with the rapidly increasing development of large-span bomber aircraft, it became obvious that the pre-war standard RAF transportable hangar known as the Bellman Shed was rapidly becoming obsolete. As a result, the Air Ministry in collaboration with Teesside Bridge & Engineering Ltd, developed a series of end-opening hangars known as Type ‘T’. The first design was the T2 and like the others in this family it is built of a series of standard steel-fabricated lattice wall and roof units of welded-and-bolted construction. The complete framework is clad with galvanised corrugated iron, 22-gauge for the roof and 24-gauge for the walls. T2 were designed by the architect AE Cotton.

General Eisenhower addressing Airmen of 320 Squadron in 1944 in the T2 Hangar at Dunsfold

Additional knee bracing and wind loading braces appear to be contemporary modification using T2 components. The doors have six leaves either side that open the full width.

T2 Hangar with Skyways operations 1948
Folland Gnat in T2 Hangar Dunsfold possibly around 1967
T2 Hangar 2016
Top Gear Studio 2016

There are two T2 Hangars on the Dunsfold site.  The western end of the westernmost “black hangar” (that is actually green) is the current venue for the BBC Top Gear studio.

T2 Hangar 2016
T2 Hangar 2016
T2 Hangar 2016
T2 Hangar 2016

Please note: The aerodrome is private land and an active airfield. Access is not permitted to some of the buildings and features and we strongly discourage access without permission.

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6 Replies to “Type T2 Hangars”

  1. Can anyone confirm the type of aircraft in the 1948 Skyways image?
    It looks like a DC3 to the right, but what about the aircraft to the left?

  2. Wasn’t it a DC-4 ?

    In the hangar pic captioned ‘ Top Gear Studio 2016 ‘, that was the Experimental Hangar for most of the Hawker / BAe days; in about 1992 they moved the Flight Shed there, as I suppose it was nearest the Flight Line, and thanks to BAe ‘ upper management ‘ there was nothing left to experiment with…

    The fitters at Experimental wore dark green overalls, those at Production wore blue; the foremen from assistant upwards at both departments wore white coats.

    Technicians like Experimental Instrumentation, and sometimes we at Experimental Instrumentation Photographic ( inc after it became a bit looser as just ‘ Dunsfold Photographic ‘ ) wore white coats or overalls depending how much clambering under the aircraft was required.

    In BAe times, every or coat or overall no matter what dept had a round badge showing the head-on profiles of the Hawk and Harrier in dark blue on a white field.

  3. Can anyone help with this enquiry DAHS received?

    Nick Smith 5 September
    Hi there, doing some research on Bellman or T2 hangars….how were the huge sliding leaf-doors opened originally? Thanks, Nick

  4. we (service timber )have on our site a T2 hanger which we are considering refurbishing . at present it is a store for biomass fuel. the original doors are there but in a bit of a state.

  5. My father was a POW repatriated to Dunsfold in May 1945. There is reference to No.2 Hangar being used for the Reception area for the POWs arriving back from Europe during ‘Operation Exodus’. Can you either tell me which hangar was No.2 or show a photo of the hangar. Was it north or south of the control tower? Thank you

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