But the hangar IS big enough. This reminds me of the episode of Orange County Choppers where they installed the press in their new building. They cut a hole in the ceiling through which it passed, with hardly any room to spare.
UA (former CO) maintenance base at KHOU did the same thing with 737-300/500's, the roof was high enough for the tail to clear (older, arched-roof), but the door tracks would not let it clear.
I hadn't been down there since they started working the 737 Next Gen, but I presume the same procedure still applies.
Nothing new here. Ten years or so ago I had the job to source out just such a tool so we could fit the new BBJ into our big hanger-727 no problem-but everything was used and expensive. The hanger was big enough not to have to alter the inside but it was the door
I probably just spun the plane around and hung the tail out main doors myself, you see that all the time. Over-complexity is going to lead to an aircraft damage pretty soon.
In the case where I saw this, it was not an option. The aircraft was in for a serious amount of work (usually for weeks), and they would like to close the doors sometimes to keep the weather out.
I can understand a heavy maintenance operation where it will sit for a while, but these pictures don't look like they are heavy check hangars. I could be wrong.
I seem to recall that the KC-135 and the B-52 (not sure of that) included a hinged vertical stabilizer which could be folded for service in low hangars. As aircraft get larger perhaps this idea will resurface.