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Companion Thread to the Long Term Tie-Down Thread

Tie-down vs Hangar

  • Tie-down with short (15-20 min) drive to the airport

    Votes: 7 19.4%

  • Hangar with long (hour to hour+) drive to the airport

    Votes: 27 75.0%

  • Sell the plane and rent

    Votes: 2 5.6%
  • Total voters
    36
Auburntsts

Auburntsts

Well Known Member
OK, so as not to clog my other thread, I've decided to post this new thread to garner opinions as to what the VAF family thinks is a better option:
-- tie down with a short drive to the airport (IOW max convenience but max weather exposure)
-- hangared but with at least an hour drive to the airport (min convenience but min weather exposure)?

Bear in mind I'm talking about a relatively harsh environment (Southwest Florida).

I'm asking this as my airport of choice (FMY) has a 3-year wait list while there's potential for a much shorter wait at the outlying airports in the region. Specifically there are 4 airports that are each roughly 25 NM as the crow flies from FMY and about an hour's drive, give or take a few minutes, from our house at Fort Myers Beach.

Note: Option 3, sell the plane, is a non-starter but I added it as a throw-away option. I have absolutely no intention to sell regardless of how this all plays out! :p
 
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How often can you get to the plane if it is close to you? My RV6A is at PDK about 2 miles from my house and I am retired. So the plane is covered on the ramp and gets flown at least once if not 2 or more times a week. Also it gets checked on regularly for bird poop etc since I have nothing better to do. The savings vs a hangar which is not available anyway pays for most of my annual fixed expenses and a lot of 100 LL purchases.

If you have lots of money and no time then go for the hangar and drive. If you are the opposite like me then go for the close by tie down. 3 years of tie down savings will buy a new paint job.
 
How long do you expect to live there? If you're in for a long stay, I'd take the distant hangar and have my name on the list for a closer hangar. Between sun, wind, and salt, costal Florida is pretty tough on airplanes and I'd want mine inside.
 
why not

Buy a beater to tie down at the close airport to fly out to get the RV from its hangar?
 
Hangar provides many more benefits, like

condition inspection space, storage of consumables and tools, etc --- I am with Kyle --- take the distant hangar, and get on the waiting list, closer ----- and, I have found waiting lists to be rather flexible (and political) --- squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Ron
 
Close or far? Depends. It's not just time or distance to the airport that counts, it's also hassle. My drive is 25 minutes, no traffic, but is an easy drive to the first freeway, annoying stop and go to the next freeway, then kind of okay to the airport with a chance of being stopped by a train. In other words, going to the airport is a small project. (Yes, I've lived in far worse situations, like 75 minutes one way.)

So I choose to miss out on the spontaneous flights like after dinner. If you make lots of flights during the week and driving to the airport is not a psychological barrier, park the plane close. If your flights are several hours start to stop, park it in s hangar. But don't forget that if you want to work on your plane outdoors, you need to take tools, oil, cleaning supplies with you every trip and probably s portable air bottle. I had to do that for a while.

And the gorgeous canopy cover for the RV-8 gets blown to the side of the fuselage whenever I park the -8 outside. And the canopy on the -9A leaks in the rain when parked.
 
Ed_Wischmeyer said:
Close or far? Depends. It's not just time or distance to the airport that counts, it's also hassle. My drive is 25 minutes, no traffic, but is an easy drive to the first freeway, annoying stop and go to the next freeway, then kind of okay to the airport with a chance of being stopped by a train. In other words, going to the airport is a small project. (Yes, I've lived in far worse situations, like 75 minutes one way.)

So I choose to miss out on the spontaneous flights like after dinner. If you make lots of flights during the week and driving to the airport is not a psychological barrier, park the plane close. If your flights are several hours start to stop, park it in s hangar. But don't forget that if you want to work on your plane outdoors, you need to take tools, oil, cleaning supplies with you every trip and probably s portable air bottle. I had to do that for a while.

And the gorgeous canopy cover for the RV-8 gets blown to the side of the fuselage whenever I park the -8 outside. And the canopy on the -9A leaks in the rain when parked.
Click to expand...

For comparison's sake I currently drive 30 minutes to get to my current hangar. Also I consider the options listed in the poll as interim solutions to get me to what I ultimately want which is a hangar at FMY. I have an idea of what I think my plan is but I want to be sure I'm covering all the bases since I only know hangar living as an aircraft owner. So thanks for all the replies to both threads and please keep the comments and advice coming!
 
I don't see "sell the house and move closer to the airport" - perhaps that's not not something you want to do, but is another option. (?)
 
I just Googled Fort Myer Airpark and came up with Buckingham Air Park. There are 4 properties listed for sale, all with hangars!!:)
 
Decades before I bought my first airplane, as a kid hanging out at airports all over and seeing the derelict airplanes everywhere (and what happened to them as a result of weather and other environmental factors [mice, birds, bugs, snakes, etc.) I vowed that I would never own an airplane if I could not keep it hangared. I have never strayed from that conviction.
 
Gee, I've got a 30 minute drive to the airport, too. Have to say, that's an impact. Whatever I want to do at the hangar, add an hour for the commute.

But the choices around here are pretty limited; I'm lucky to have this one.

Dave
 
Gusmax said:
I just Googled Fort Myer Airpark and came up with Buckingham Air Park. There are 4 properties listed for sale, all with hangars!!:)
Click to expand...

I've driven through all of Buckingham-- It's not for us. In any event our housing situation is set so there are no options involving our house.
 
Put your plane in a hangar in FL... If you have to drive an hour and a half to get to it... That is better than it sitting in the sun all day, having birds **** on it, having salt air hitting it, and worrying about hail or damaging winds.
 
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