Boca/Pompano area airports

Contemplating a career move to Florida. So many variables make it unlikely but I am trying to get more details. Looking for advice from locals about housing my RV should I make such a move ie hangar space, airport, etc. Boca Raton or Pompano area would be the target.

No contest

Prevailing winds here are from the west, sometimes east. Boca Raton [BCT] airport is a single NE to SW runway [5-23] You will always be dealing with cross winds. More importantly, there is absolutely NO clear area around this airport if you have an emergency just after take off. There is NOWHERE to go.
Pompano Airpark [PMP] is surrounded by a golf course, softball & soccer fields, so there is a place to put down in an emergency. Pompano also has the conventional triangle of runways. Pompano is primarily piston GA and helicopters. Boca is oriented to Jet A biz jets.
My advice is go for Pompano. Another field to consider is North Perry [HWO] further to the south. Lots of RVs there.
Charlie

Move

As I'm about 100 mi. North of there at Valkaria (X59), can't tell you about what you're asking about the airports.

What I like is-----NO SNOW! Yes we have an occasional hurricane but in NJ. You have both!

So far Boca has the most "RV unfriendly" place we've been....another jet hub for Masters of the Universe.

I asked the lovely person behind the counter about a hangar for the night. She leafed through her book for a while, then asked, "You flew here in a single engine airplane?"

The hangar was $150 per night. Fuel was $8.67.

Tony,
I do know of one RV6 based at Boca. If the previous comments have not totally put you off, contact me off list via email or PM. I'll give you his contact info. You can get the "411" directly from him. Also have contact info for an RV8 based at Pompano.
Charlie

PMP

All the comments about Boca are correct, and you would be happy at PMP. Besides myself there is a RV9A here and a great A/P to fly out of and you have choices in runways in all weather. We need a bigger RV base in PMP as well.
Good luck

Sounds like Boca is OUT! Pompano sounds great and I'm glad to hear that is an option. Anybody know if there are hangars available and the price? Up here in NJ, hangars are scarce, I am lucky to have one....but my 1970s, leaky, dusty, T-hangar is $450 per month.

PMP

You will be a little shell shot coming from NJ to PMP, as the hangers are around $700 month. There are people wishing to share if you are into to doing that.
Let me know if i can help you out in anyway.
[email protected]

Woah! How big is that hangar? Big enough for 3 RVs?

tkatc said:

Woah! How big is that hangar? Big enough for 3 RVs?

Click to expand...

Yeah, hanger rental prices in SE Florida are steep. They don't call this the GOLD COAST for nothing. [Those prices are for a hanger large enough for a high wing and a low wing to share. It's rare to find "ratty" hangers in SE Florida] At HWO some of the hangers can be "owned". Another nice airport further north in Palm Beach County, is Palm Beach County Airport [LNA] VERY GA friendly. Several excellent FBOs on the field [Engine overhaul shop and Prop overhaul shop] A fair number of RVs are based there. Close to I-95 exit. See

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KLNA

Just remember, even this time of year, you can wear shorts in the afternoon, sometimes, all day.

Charlie

Commute

Hey Tony, you are going to have a fast RV. Why not commute. That opens up a lot of other airports. I can get to the East coast from Venice on the West coast in 40 minutes. Not saying come this far but there are lots of other choices besides the Boca area.

On a side note, T-hangars are $300 at Venice. Nice new hangars. Larger hangar are also available but i don't know the rate.

sounds like you need a winter trip south to check out the area. you are headed into the mouth of the beast area. boca raton translates into something about a rat. it is expensive and busy down there. if you can work out the details the living is easy. good luck.

There are a myriad of airports around the area that you are looking at. Smaller ones more inland charge a lot less but you would have to drive quite a bit to get to them. All of the airports on the coastline south of Palm Beach average about $600-$650 a month for a T-Hanger. Pompano, Opa Locka or N. Perry are the most user friendly for small aircraft. EXE (Ft. Laud. Executive) is another option but it is VERY busy. Just a correction, nobody OWNS hangers at N. Perry. They are all leases and the going rate is $636 and up per month. Good luck and welcome. You will love living in Florida.

Hangars in South Florida

Hey Tony,

Just another couple of ideas and data points. I live in Pompano Beach, half mile from KPMP airport. Cool airport, several flight schools, and the Goodyear blimp to stare at quite a bit. The big game in town at this airport like many others is Sheltair FBO. They seem to be taking over everywhere. Cheapest hanger at KPMP is like $625 plus tax. It may be even higher now. To some that is chicken scraps (South Florida), but to me that was way to much. Money doesn't grow on trees, right? They have like 3 different sizes, can't speak to the dimensions, sorry. Fuel is full serve only at KPMP. Check it out on Airnav.com and enjoy the sticker shock

My solution was as follows. Fairly new enclosed T-hangar with hydro-swing door at Airglades Airport in Clewiston, FL. Identifier is "2IS". Look it up on Airnav.com and check it out. My consequences: from my driveway to my hangar one way is 98 miles. I ran the numbers assuming I would go out there twice a month and I am ahead with money spent on car gas to get there. Oh, hangar rent is $225 a month plus tax and the county charges for three month at a time. Quiet airport with some entertaining skydivers to watch on weekends. If I ever pop my motor on my RV-8, I have plenty of dirt roads and sugar cane fields to land in/on. Knock on wood or aluminum, your choice. Cool airport though. And there are other commuters out there as well. My buddy Jerry is three down from me and has two hangers. One for a Zlin (sp) aerobatic job and another for a decathlon he just bought. He lives in Fort Lauderdale and does the commute all the time.

Anyhow, long winded but my take on it. Pompano is cool though. You gonna get a job at the tower, or transfer to Miami ARTCC or Approach control. I know your an ATC guy and that you have been known to hang out with the Russian. He has been pretty "mum" as of late. Good luck in your decision. Oh, and Boca Airport is business jet city, but they do have nice hangars for GA there as well. You guessed it, about $650 plus tax per month. Plus full serve only. Check on Airnav.com. PM me if you need any other info. I'm an EX Jersey boy and retired Air Force cargo plane pilot type.

Good info Jeff. Yes, I may apply for a job at West Palm Beach Tower. I'll be headed down that way this weekend for a meeting on Monday. (Staying at St. Augustine to visit sister in law) My wife would work in Miami so we would split the difference.

I guess I am spoiled that I only pay $450 a month and my airport is 5 min from my house. When I look at my hangar I don't feel spoiled though. I'm lucky it has a paved floor. Not sure I would commute 98 miles to go fly. Part of the draw of living in Florida is heading out to eh Bahamas for lunch...then perhaps the Keys for dinner.

I was hoping there would be a small airpark owner who had too big of a hangar and needed company. Or perhaps the big places offered big hangars for that $650 price. I would easily share a hangar if it was big and nice.

Thanks for the info. The Russian is laying low....the CIA is on to him so....

I lived in west palm beach and worked at ft lauderdale exec for banyan air service. What about Lantana airport just south of west palm? I flew out of there when I lived there and seemed to always see adds for sharing hangars posted in the FBO... Don't recall the prices though..

There are fly in communities down around that area but I'm assuming the homes there are outrageous as home prices everywhere are when attached to a hangar.

Consider The Total Cost

I live in Long Island, NY and have had a condo in a high rise ocean front building in Pompano Beach for many years. When you take into consideration the low cost of living in Florida as compared to the Northeast paying $600/month for a nice hangar at a great airport makes more sense.
I cannot express how great it is to walk out onto the porch in the morning to feel the warm breeze and see the blue ocean. Being directly on the ocean makes living there in the summer very pleasant. I would recommend owning a unit facing north so you can watch the airport activity all day long. We are a two mile drive from KPMP. I love it as the airport is always buzzing with GA airplanes. Ours is a well kept, well managed facility with a healthy financial status. If you think you would like to investigate one of the units for sale please feel free to send me a PM and I will forward you the contact info of a great realtor who is an original owner in the complex. I would say the drive to West Palm Airport is 45 minutes and the drive to Miami is approximately one hour. Have fun with your investigation!

My rv-10 is based at KLNA (lantana) about 10 minutes driving time south of west palm beach and 20 minutes north of baca raton.

I love this uncontrolled airport. Easy radio contact with west palm beach airport (KPBI)even on the ground with comm antennas on the belly.

Rent in a shared hangar is $400 per month. Three runways so rarely a x-wind issue. Two minutes in the air and you're over the ocean. If you wanted to go the tie down route it's $75 per month.

Friendly, old fashioned airport.

Tom H.

Lantana sounds like it may work! How big is one of those shared hangars? Clean? Newer? Etc Etc

Lantana has nowhere to go if you lose an engine. I used to teach acro/ give rides out of there sometimes. If you are going to be working at PBI, I suggest North County (F45) as one to look at, although I don't know the hanger availability/ rates there. Real estate will generally be less expensive as you go north of West Palm, more expensive, and much more traffic, south. I live on an air park outside of Port St Lucie, and it takes me exactly 1 hr driving to get to PBI.

RVJeff said:

My solution was as follows. Fairly new enclosed T-hangar with hydro-swing door at Airglades Airport in Clewiston, FL. Identifier is "2IS". Look it up on Airnav.com and check it out. My consequences: from my driveway to my hangar one way is 98 miles. I ran the numbers assuming I would go out there twice a month and I am ahead with money spent on car gas to get there. Oh, hangar rent is $225 a month plus tax and the county charges for three month at a time. Quiet airport with some entertaining skydivers to watch on weekends. If I ever pop my motor on my RV-8, I have plenty of dirt roads and sugar cane fields to land in/on. Knock on wood or aluminum, your choice. Cool airport though. And there are other commuters out there as well. My buddy Jerry is three down from me and has two hangers. One for a Zlin (sp) aerobatic job and another for a decathlon he just bought. He lives in Fort Lauderdale and does the commute all the time.
.

Click to expand...

This is what I did.

With tax it comes to 250/mth and that includes the electricity.
I live right by FXE and drive out to fly (90 miles). There is one hangar left open.

I am also one of those "entertaining" skydivers. I instruct at the dropzone.

Jeff, you know me as the guy that had the little yellow Challenger and landed by you and Jerry under canopy.

Ron

(PMP) Pompano Hangar Space

Hi,
For anyone based at PMP, I'm looking for available space for my RV-10 project. If you have space to share or know someone that does, please PM with contact info. We are in the area thru Dec 27.

Thanks,

Hello everyone,
I am about to move to Pompano Beach once the Sabbia Beach Condos are built and I am looking for an airport closest to home, since i will go there as often as I can. So i rather have a hangar that is closer and a little more expensive, than having a long drive everytime. I read in this thread that Pompano Airpark is a good choice, is this still the place and are there hangars available? I would not mind sitting on a waiting list since I have a few years before I move.

Drive time..

One thing no one is talking about is drive time. I believe it is important to live near your plane. If you work at PBI and your wife will work in MIA the drive to MIA will be bad if she is going at rush our. I fly out of MIA and live in Delray Beach. 20 min North of BCT. The drive sucks even just once a week. I have an RV6a and a PA 18 in one hangar at BCT and love it. (a large hangar there is 850) It is very convenient to the highway. 3-4 min off the exit. PMP is probably 15-20 min from the exit. And FXE is 10-15. HWO is 20 plus off the exit. LAN is close but if you live south it will be far for you. The further south you go the worse the traffic.

IMHO Delray Beach is the best place to live in south Florida. I am a native. (55 miles to MIA airport.) I have lived north and south. I have flown at all the airports here. Earned my Private at HWO, Commercial at TMB, ATP at FXE. Worked at PBI, HWO, FLL, MIA, TMB.

From BCT you can fly to Tampa, Key West, Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas all in less than an hour.

PM me if you want more.
Jerry

I will be the dissenting opinion in this thread as I have been based at BCT for over 15 years with three GA aircraft, including my newly acquired RV-12. Most of what has been stated is true, except that the FBO's are friendly and accommodating even though they are there to serve to heavy metal. I live within 7 minutes which makes it a no-brainer. I participate with the CAP unit based there. The x-winds make me a better pilot, the single taxiway saves me significant time taxing on and off the active, and there is never a crowd, a wait, or arrival delay. SoFla is an expensive place fly, but we can do it 360 days a year.

<SNIP>

What's the current wait time and cost at Pompano?