My early days of post frame (pole) buildings came in the Pacific Northwest. In the early years, rarely did buildings have any overhangs…at least not beyond a few inches of roof steel extending past the siding. When building did have overhangs, they were always “open”. Open, in this sense, did not mean birds and other […]

Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Rachel asked me about this today: “I have more and more builders say they put Tyvek® on the walls and roof and then spray foam.  This is so they can replace the siding/roofing in the future.  Do you find any downfalls with this?  I thought this was a pretty good idea.” […]

Open Beam Post Frame Construction Post frame (pole barn or pole building) design lends itself to a myriad of different design opportunities which can create some truly unique as well as magnificent spaces. We were recently approached by a client who wanted his 36 foot width post frame building to have a 32 foot long […]

My oldest son Jake (read more about the adventures of Jake and I here: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2012/07/construction-time-2/), has always had a certain fascination with secret rooms.  Maybe it was from playing the board game Clue too many times as a child! At least his interest is good natured, unlike America’s first serial killer H.H. Holmes. As described […]

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: We are in the process of investigating our options re., the construction of a pole barn to serve as a retail antique mall/auction house. We have several sites in mind from 3-5 acres but have made no decision re., that yet as negotiations remain underway. Our facility needs to be vintage […]

Please just say in ain’t true….. https://www.mulligansrun.com/ourbarn.php I’ve ranted more than once about what I will term as “blow away” carports. These buildings are not permanent structures in any sense of the term, and due to their small footprint, are generally exempt from the requirement of acquiring a Building Permit. For those who have just […]

Ritzville, Washington lies along the Interstate Highway between Spokane and Seattle. In the heart of wheat country, it is also home of some huge, cone shaped piles of stored wheat. For many years, I had my lovely bride convinced the wheat piles were there because Ritzville was the home of Nabisco Ritz crackers. Eventually I […]

Yesterday I started the discussion of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code –which spells out requirements for protecting buildings in case of wildfires.  So back up a day if you missed the first part of this. To recap a bit… The International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) is a model code intended to be adopted and used […]

Population growth and the expanding urban development into traditionally nonurban areas have increasingly brought humans into contact with wildfires. In the decade ending with 1994, wildfires destroyed more than 9,000 homes in the United States. Generally, these homes were located in areas where structures and other human developments meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

When I first began writing blog articles over four years ago, I assumed I’d get to maybe 100 topics or so, and then be out of things to write about. FAT CHANCE After 957 of them, the list of possible topics grows every day. I did a search for “stepped roofs” on our website today […]

Local Lumberyard + Pole Barns = Scary Yes, the title looks to be a simple math equation. The problem with math equations is, not very many people can actually do them – at least not when they fly a desk at the local lumber dealer. Case in point –XYZ Lumberyard with multiple state locations. (name […]

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions Around about 1150 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux is thought to have originated the phrase. It is highly unlikely he had the prescriptive requirements provided by Building Departments for post frame (pole building) construction in mind at the time. More powerful people than I have ranked and […]

The following is an actual true story, beginning with this client reaching out via email to the Hansen Pole Buildings Technical Support Department. Hi Tech Support, I can hear your engineers groaning already.  “Why didn’t you design that when you bought the pole building?”  They are completely right, and please feel free to ridicule me […]

Ranking and Railing About Single Slope Roofs Long time readers have read my beat downs of single slope roofs on pole buildings in the past: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2014/11/single-slope-roof/ Let’s take a gander at how wonderful a single slope roof pole building will work for an RV or tall equipment building.  We get folks coming to us for […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

Mike the Pole Barn Guru would call this his “bonus round” of questions for the week.  Mike is currently sitting at his son’s bedside at a local trauma care hospital.  While waiting for Brent’s surgery following a late night crash on his motorcycle, Mike is keeping vigil over his son.  He will be ok, but […]

Pizza Hut® Back in the late 1970’s I was jack of all trades, master of a few at Coeur d’Alene Truss in northern Idaho. While we were the “only game in town” with our nearest competitors 30 miles away in Spokane, every once In a while there was a roof truss job I did not […]

More than a fair number of pole building kits end up having side sheds added to one or more sides or ends – after the fact. Now this all may sound like a pretty simple process, just plant another row of poles along what will be the new low side of the shed, throw up […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

If Ignorance is Bliss….. Then these folks are truly happy. From a July 21, 2015 article in the Salina (KS) Journal by Tim Horan, “City approves exterior plaza for field house”……. Salina Mayor Jon Blanchard said he wants the appearance of the field house to be unique. “It is going to be a building designed […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

The beauty of what I do is I get to learn lots and lots of new stuff. And then I get to share it with my readers – which is even more fun! Today’s bright shiny new thing is the reverse gable porch. First, let us define what a reverse gable is. Picture this, if […]

Once Upon a Time My nearly four year old grandson Colton overnighted with Grandma and Poppa last night. Colton is Jake’s son (you might remember Jake from various pole building adventures such as https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/07/construction-time-2/). Colton likes Papa Mike just a little, so we got into some serious pre-bedtime reading and like every good story, they […]

Can We Make This Happen? Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Rick has been working with a builder who sent this photo and asked, “Can you make this happen?” The answer is ….. Yes! My pole building mantra has always been: The only limitations are imagination, budget and available space. Once we get past these – everything […]

There are times when I wonder if some of our clients lay awake at night trying to think up new questions to ask our Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designers, which have never been asked before. In today’s question – Building Designer Brenda was asked what the “burn time” is on one of our buildings. Of course […]

Hansen Pole Buildings is a proud member of the NFBA (National Frame Building Association https://www.nfba.org). Pretty much every Monday the Association sends out a newsletter, via email, to its members. In today’s newsletter was a link to an article written by Stephen Szoke and published in Construction Executive, May 5, “Building Codes: One Size Does […]

“Wild Eyed and Southern Fried” Panama City Beach, Florida might very well be the best beach this side of paradise – with 27 miles of stunning white sand, emerald green waters and surefire enjoyment in, on or under the water. One thing for certain which they have and no one else has is The Wicked […]

Back in the early 1990’s, when I was building pole buildings, we had constructed a monitor barn for some clients in the Libby, Montana area. For those who are not familiar with the term “monitor barn” it is a main gabled roof, with side sheds or “wings” on each eave side. The height of the […]

Even though it is now May – the heavy snowfalls in the New England states this past winter have left many with concerns. Here is an actual conversation, between a client who recently invested in a new Hansen Pole Building kit package, and our Technical Support Department: Client: “Good Afternoon, Quick couple of questions.  The […]

Eight Nifty Tricks to Save Money When Building a Pole Barn (reprised) Bret Buelo of Wick Buildings® wrote an article by this title last year, some of the items I agree with, some not so much. I will offer my “take” on his points. “1. Spacing of your columns. Builders typically space columns anywhere between six […]

Roof Only Pole Buildings – Again Roof only pole buildings are most often appealing for one reason, consumers believe they are going to take fewer materials – after all there are no walls! Therefore, be less expensive! An interesting article, written by Eric Beavers (COO of Armstrong Steel Buildings) appeared recently in Rural Builder Magazine, […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

There is a builder in my neck of the woods who advertises as “the only company around that offers…Vertical Flush Walls, for your pole building, shop or garage, which allows you to sheetrock inside your building without having to re-frame the inside!” In the photo with this article, wall girts have been placed “barn” style […]

Seemingly if it is the strange, unusual or near impossible (although we have been told a few times we can do the impossible) in post frame (pole) building construction, there is a good chance we have been involved in it! A circumstance which is becoming more and more prevalent is cantilever roof overhangs. When I […]

What? Have I gone out of my mind? No, not at all. We’ve always had a good relationship with Morton Buildings. They are the largest post frame (pole) builder in America, but all they do is build. We’ve had them refer clients to us who are looking only for building kits. I ‘net surf a lot […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Rick and I were having a discussion about the amount of headroom needed for a horse riding arena which would be for hunter/jumpers. I referred him to a previous article I had written on the subject: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2014/02/riding-arenas/ Rick used to play some serious polo, against folks like the Busch brothers (yes, […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

Upgraded Building at No Additional Cost If you seriously believe this drop me a note – I have some swampland for sale! There are three parts to anything being invested in – price, quality and service. The tough part is, the purchaser is only going to get two of the three. Here is an actual […]

A couple of years ago Hansen Pole Buildings Designer Rick and I had a discussion about interesting people I had done pole building projects for. (Read more about them at: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/03/pole-building-11/). One person I had left off my previous list was famous Pacific Northwest sculptor and artist Harold Balazs. While most folks outside of the […]

Back in 2007, we designed and provided a pole building kit package for Chris W. in North Carolina. Chris’ building is 40 foot wide by 50 feet long enclosed with a 14 foot eave height. Along one sidewall his building has a 20 foot wide roof only shed, with a 10’ low eave. In order […]

Loafer’s Sports Bar and Grill Back in one of my earlier lives, I spent a fair amount of time hanging out in the Baltimore area, as a good friend of mine was going to school at the University of Maryland – Catonsville and I had scored a significant number of $198 round trip air passes […]

I don’t often share multiple photos of our client’s workmanship, however this case is worth the exception as this pole building is exceptionally well done and has a fair number of features which make it more than just a rectangular box. The 100 foot long building features a center 30 foot width clearspan, with a […]

From the Client Mailbag… Lots of good stories out there and I have been in the mode to share stories lately. Here is one which went through our Technical Support Department recently: “Today I visited the building inspector. I was confirming my intentions of building a Hansen designed structure. The reason is I already have […]

SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) I like cool stuff. I’m never right at the front of the line for new bright shiny things – but I am close enough to check out the first few and see if the bugs are out or not. SIPs, in my humble opinion, are pretty cool stuff. I’ve never been […]

Hansen Pole Buildings’ Designer Bill is going to keep me on my toes! Before joining the Hansen Buildings team, Bill spent 14+ years as a Construction Project Manager for diverse projects such as commercial, industrial, institutional and medical. What little he doesn’t know, he isn’t afraid of asking. Bill posed this set of circumstances to […]

Back in the late 1970’s I was jack-of-most trades at what was then Coeur d’Alene Truss. In those days, most all roof lines were gables – peak of the roof in the center and the weather runs off two sides. One day a builder client came in and wanted a set of trusses for a […]

Revolutionary Roof Monitor™ System Poised to Transform Market Most people have the mistaken belief International Building Code (IBC) snow loading requirements will give them a roof structure which will hold up literally forever. The truth could not be further from this belief! All buildings are categorized in the IBC by Risk Category (See https://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ibc/2012/icod_ibc_2012_16_par023.htm ) […]

Guy Wires for Pole Barns Ritchie Wallace of Wallace Brothers Construction has been assembling Hansen Pole Building kit packages in the Columbia Gorge of Washington and Oregon for at least a decade – quite a few of them for widespread purposes ranging from garages to picker cabins! Several of his completed projects grace the Hansen […]

All Cheese Does Not Come From Wisconsin In providing pole barn kit (post frame) packages all over the United States, we do NOT ship roof trusses from our facilities in Browns Valley, Minnesota. Hansen Pole Buildings is about being efficient for our clients, which means outsourcing components when it is the most practical solution. As […]

When it comes to pole buildings, a diaphragm is a structural assembly – including the timber framing (truss chords and purlins), structural sheathing (e.g. plywood, metal cladding), fasteners and fastening patterns – capable of transferring in-plane shear forces through the cladding and framing members. Diaphragm action is the lateral resistance to racking of the building […]

Screwing a Pole Building Together In 2001 I was working for a Northern Idaho pole building construction company. One of my clients was a building contractor from Moscow, Idaho. It seems he had a client he was building a home for in California, and needed a 5000 square foot pole building erected on the site, […]

If it is On the Internet, It Must be True The internet is a great and wonderful place, a highway with a plethora of information rapidly available on nearly any subject. And for me, it has been my livelihood for the past dozen years. On the ‘net can be found websites like Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), or […]

When the Requests Are Interesting My encouragement to potential clients is to share with us your troubles and your goals – and let us structurally design for you the best solution which is a marriage between wants, needs, budget and available space. Finding happiness in a new building, is much akin to success at finding […]

Amish Speed Barn Raising All of us seem to be captivated by “speed building” videos. Heck, I even got into it back in 1996, when my company set a world record for the fastest site built two-car garage: (https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2011/06/fastest-pole-building-ever-constructed/)!The Mother Nature Network has an Amish barn raising video up, which has become somewhat of an […]

You Want To Add What to Your Building? For the most part, adding random extra framing members to a new pole building kit package is not a big deal. There is at least one crucial exception – which could result in a catastrophic collapse if included. We go to great extremes to supply original pole […]

My loyal readers know I grew up flying small planes (read more about my adventures at https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/09/hangar-n3407s/). Growing up in a flying household meant the Wright Brothers were highly revered. I’d always wondered why it is two brothers from Dayton, Ohio ended up making history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. I had my first experience […]

How to: Pitch Break from Steeper to Flatter with Steel Roofing Pitch breaks occur at a transition between steeper (towards peak) and flatter roof slopes (towards the eave). Exercising care, this will be a painless and leak free area. Lots of things are going to occur at the junction between the two roofs. In order […]

The One Simple Secret to Pole Buildings Which Stand Up HINT: It has nothing to do with how it is built! Regardless of what anyone pays for a new pole building, whether investing in a complete kit package, piece mealing it together, or having it constructed – the general idea is to have the building […]

You Will Never Look at a Horse Barn Aisleway the Same Again Most of our equine inclined horse owner clients do not own horses which are worth more than the average house. In fact, most recognize it is not how much (or little) they have paid for their horse (or horses) – the real expense […]

How to Get Building Code Approval for Something New Some folks have the idea Code approval is something easy. Well, not so much….but there is a quicker and less costly approach than what most folks might have initially envisioned. The information below was provided by Qualtim (www.Qualtim.com), and at the least gives some insight into […]

Why are the stick-built and pole-barn businesses so different?  This question was posed to me recently, along with the following commentary:   “Forgive me if this strikes you as a dumb question, but I’m having trouble figuring out why the pole-barn and residential construction businesses are so divided. From what I can tell, companies that […]

Over the past three years I have had the opportunity to drive nearly every one of the contiguous United States – many of those miles over what might be considered to be back roads. This has afforded me the opportunity to view literally thousands of historic barns. These barns come in all shapes and sizes, […]

50 shades of The Twilight Zone, is The Ghost of Rod Serling Somewhere Nearby? From 1951 to 1955, more than 70 of Rod Serling’s television scripts were produced, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Full-scale success came on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1955, with the live airing of his Kraft Television Theatre script “Patterns.” Deemed a “creative triumph” […]

What’s Wrong With This Picture? When I was a kid, my mom would buy us educational geared books which had various puzzles in them, designed to challenge our minds. One of my favorites was the one where two drawings are shown which are nearly identical, and it is up to the reader to spot the […]

I’ve previously expressed concerns about light gauge “carport” type buildings (read more at: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2013/05/carports/). (My advance apologies for the misleading title, it was used by the complainee below – VersaTube® buildings are NOT pole buildings!!) Whilst doing some ‘net surfing, I recently came across this posting at www.pissedcustomer.com: “I purchased a metal frame building from […]

Yes – my readers appear to love my ‘true confessions’ and are kind enough to not overly poke fun at me. Today’s first confession, I happen to not hunt. I believe it was due to the trauma of hunting with my Dad when I was just old enough to be have been potty trained (Dad […]

When It Just isn’t Tall Enough Early in my career supplying pole building kit packages, we provided a building to a client in Oregon for him to house his motor home. Our salesperson really felt he had done due diligence in having the client measure the height of the motorhome before ordering the building. After […]

About a decade ago my bride took a phone call from a potential pole barn purchaser. The female caller identified herself and then said despairingly, “My husband wants me to live in a pole barn house…and I don’t want to live in a barn!” Unfortunately the level of her panic told my wife this caller […]

Continued from yesterday’s blog….. The Typical House Besides introducing the Japanese to glulam lumber, we worked to promote 2×4 construction. For centuries homes have been built in Japan with 90mm x 90mm (approximately 3-1/2 inches) square posts and beams. The small-dimension materials are not very strong, so the posts are usually only about 6 feet […]

ON SITE IN JAPAN: OBSERVATIONS OF A U.S. FRAMER My cousin Amy was recently visiting Japan and happened to share on her Facebook page an article written by her Dad, my Uncle Neil Momb, written about his adventures in building in Japan. Although my Uncle Neil was the only one of my Father’s siblings who […]

We don’t have network television access out here in the sticks where I live, so we see little TV except for Netflix. Our 19 year-old son Brent was out to visit one afternoon and started watch a program originally aired as a reality TV series in 2010 on the A&E Network. I suppose I always […]

Scott Norwood and Fire Stations My loyal readers are going to be amazed at how I manage to tie these two subjects into relating to pole buildings. To find out, please read on…… For those who are old enough to remember, the 1991 Super Bowl featured the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants. The high […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday or Saturday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with […]

Here is the picture – pole building with a 16’ eave height. (For details on how eave height is defined read: https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/blog/2012/03/eave_height/) Said building has a partial second floor (mezzanine), with the top of the floor at nine feet above grade. Deducting the six inch thickness of the roof system, leaves all of 6’6” of […]

A prospect client in Michigan wrote to tell me pole buildings were, “too expensive, going with a box beam barn instead.” Two thoughts leaped into my head, first – pole buildings are so efficient it is hard to believe there could be a more economical choice, and secondly – what the heck is a “box […]

Tuesday afternoon I had to get from Cape May, New Jersey to Lewes, Delaware. The choices were a very long circuitous drive, or to take the ferry. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I am used to ferries, they take millions of passengers annually on a myriad of routes across the Puget Sound. I am also […]

For those who have been hiding under rocks, or do not have internet access (in which case you are not reading this article), Groupon (derived from “group coupon”) swept onto the scene in November 2008. Groupon offers one “Groupon” per day in each of the markets it serves. The Groupon works as an assurance contract […]

Much of the year I am a “road warrior” – spending two weeks out of every month on planes, trains and automobiles, the next two back at home. Our youngest daughter (now a college sophomore) has threatened more than once to stop by the house when I am away and paste my photo on a […]

I woke up this morning in El Paso, Texas and this evening I am in Montrose, Colorado. It was a long drive and I am certain the rental car company will appreciate all of the miles I am putting on their car. Interesting trip today – some great scenery, especially North of Durango, Colorado. Just […]

As my loyal readers know, I recently attended the NFBA (National Frame Building Association) 2014 Expo in Nashville, TN.  The NFBA (https://www.nfba.org) is the only national trade association which represents post-frame industry professionals. The association is the country’s primary source of post-frame building resources, research, networking, news and education. This is Part II on a […]

Nationwide® Insurance and Common Pole Building Failures As my loyal readers know, I recently attended the NFBA (National Frame Building Association) 2014 Expo in Nashville, TN.  The NFBA (https://www.nfba.org) is the only national trade association which represents post-frame industry professionals. The association is the country’s primary source of post-frame building resources, research, networking, news and […]

When I was a freshman in Architecture school at the University of Idaho, we watched video footage of the November 7, 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (also known as “Gallopin Gertie”). If you have never seen this amazing footage before, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw Luckily, most of you will never watch […]

I’ve come to face a reality – the great majority of people are dimensionally challenged. And it is OK if you might be one of them. I’ve worked with dimensions and sizes of all sorts and shapes since I was a teenager swinging a hammer (and being go-fer) on the buildings my Father and Uncles […]

When I lived in “the Hood” in Salem, Oregon in the early 1980’s, my neighbors and I all had Yamaha street motorcycles. For some reason, we got into riding through the multiple story city parking structure, very fast. Part of the “rush” was the building was designed for vehicles no greater in height than 6’8” […]

On one of my blog postings back in mid-December 2013, we used a photograph of a new Hansen Pole Building which was being used for a wedding. Astute blog reader, happy client and groom Brian spotted the photo and sent me a nice response via my Facebook. Congratulations are in order to Brian and his […]

MAN LAND This was written by Cheryl PaPania (and posted on Facebook), who is an expat living along the coast of Ecuador with her husband Don about his “man-cave” pole building: “January of 2007 my husband, (Don) built a workshop to store his tools, equipment, etc. and also have a place to work out of […]

How to Design a Pole Building Right (The First Time) I received this email yesterday: “My boyfriend and I currently bought some land and we are looking into some different options for building. We are thinking about a shed with a living quarters and 2 car garage. We are looking to have a 3 to […]

When my brother and I were but youngsters, we rode our bike’s a couple of miles from our family home in the Spokane Valley, to where our Aunt Donna lived. Aunt Donna was very artistic, and she taught art lessons in the summers, seemingly primarily to our extended family of cousins (my Dad’s five brothers […]

Market What we Make or Make What we Market? In the last half of the 1990’s I owned a prefabricated metal plated truss manufacturing business. One thing lead to another and I found myself serving five terms on the board of directors of the Machine Stress Rated Lumber Producers Council https://msrlumber.org/. Of the 11 directors, […]

Author’s Note: This is part 10 of a series of blogs written from a 6500+ motorcycle trip from WA to Ohio and back.  See Blog from Oct. 15th for the beginning…and hang on for the ride! Nebraska on the Motorcycle: Classic Vehicle Storage Day ten, I was on the last leg of my motorcycle journey […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

For those of you who have been following my blogs the past 2 days on T hangars, there is a variant of them known as the nested T.  By nesting the tail sections into the center of the structure, the over-all length of the hangar is reduced enabling the same amount of aircraft to be […]

Welcome to Ask the Pole Barn Guru – where you can ask questions about building topics, with answers posted on Mondays.  With many questions to answer, please be patient to watch for yours to come up on a future Monday segment.  If you want a quick answer, please be sure to answer with a “reply-able” […]

When I was constructing pole buildings in the 1990’s we contracted to put up a T hangar at Felts Field in the Spokane Valley of Washington. When I was a boy, my Dad was co-owner of a Cessna 182 Skylane, which he kept hangared at Felts. The history of Felts Field dates back far before […]

Some of you are familiar with my talking about when my son was very young he asked me what it was like to play Nintendo by candlelight. While I’ve got a few gray hairs, contrary to popular belief, Honest Abe and I did not play Mario Brothers together. Back in the day when I managed […]

My departed ex-father-in-law Carl was a successful hop farmer in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. He and his brother each owned four-passenger Cessna aircraft, and had them in individual hangars on Carl’s farm. Carl’s well-manicured grass strip was one of over 14,000 private airstrips in the United States. While many of these are ancillary to […]

In the iconic 1984 movie Footloose, Kevin Bacon’s character has moved to the small fictional town of Bomont. As a result of the efforts of a local minister (played by John Lithgow), dancing and rock music have been banned. How outraged the viewing public was when the rights of freedom of expression had been taken […]

I’ve been in the post frame (pole barn) industry for over three decades now, and I’ve never seen the “pole barn” used as a metaphor for anything by the mainstream media. Well, knock me over with a feather, here it is!! Now IMHO (in my humble opinion), the author doesn’t have a true grasp of […]