ya i've seen this website although i wasn't sure if it were worth the 20 it takes to look at the information.
 
I live on one now, and previously had property at another one...
It can be a great experience, or a nightmare, or more likely something in between. it just depends on your "partners".
Just like owning a share of an airplane (done that also), living in a residential airpark means that you are sharing it with others. The good side is that you have partners to help defray the costs of ownership, and to participate in maint. activities..
The bad side is that you have other people involved in what happens with/ to that runway.
If I could afford it, I would own one by myself.
Exactly like my decision to own the whole airplane...
 
Juicegoose

It all depends on your requirements. Spent 9 yrs in cookie cutter residential and now 2.5 yrs in an airpark. As far as comparisons go, my HOA dues are only about 75% more (because of the runway dues) than comparable neighborhoods around here, but we don't have a park or a pool.

All things being equal I would rather have 10+ acres and my own grass strip. However, with 2 small kids that is a definite no-go with my wife. Gotta be fair about these things, and she wanted neighbors in a neighborhood setting. To her credit the neighborhood has been very nice and a good experience for us. Turns out there are alot of airplane pluses; paved lighted runway, avgas on the strip and it almost always the cheapest within 50 miles, guys with alot of airplane experience to help and ask questions to, and alot of poeple willing to help take care of the place. Also have a neighbor instructor nice enough to let me fly his airplane in exchange for gas.

As stated in much of the previous posts there are always issues and things to deal with when you get alot of people involved, but not much different than regular HOA's and there issues. I absolutely love where I live and the only thing that is a pain is that I have to drive 60 miles to work. But, to me when I see the lovely hill country and an airplane powering up for take-off from my kitchen window it is worth every single mile.
 
well it's a dream like som many things in life. I am just trying to weigh the options. do you buy a cookie cutter house and drive to your plane($$$) and spend $$$ on hanger fees. or do you live in a nice little airpark community and live in your hanger heheheheh
 
Like the others have said: Yes it can be great and worth it AND/OR it can be a nightmare.

I previously owned on a airpark which every HOA meeting was a bickerfest(sheriff should have been on standby). 70+ lots, with many non-pilot friendly owners on an airpark are a bad combo.
Our current park(yet to build a hangar) says all owners(25 lots) must be pilots or previously certified. We want airplane friendly people. Our last HOA meeting was a August evening BBQ and had a great time.

Got to the parks you are thinking of and talk to the people, find out when the owners meeting is and see if you can sit in. You'll learn a bunch about the harmony.

Each park is different. Each has rules.

good luck

ps-i spent the $20 on "livingwithyourplane". I didn't get $20 worth of info from it. To be honest, I was only looking for Montana stuff, so YMMV
 
Airpark living - lovin' it.

Reading some folks disappointment in airpark living make me wonder if - maybe we just got lucky, or maybe it because we're kinda isolated - but our airpark experience has been great.

We moved to Holley Mountain Airpark in Arkansas - www.holleymountainairpark.com - 2+ years ago and couldn't be happier. Our neighbors are all pilots (why else would you have a runway in your front yard?!) and are intellegent, cooperative, supportive, and very interested in aviation. We just formed an EAA chapter and regularly fly together on burger runs. We've got a couple homebuilts on field (no RV's yet, though).

Conversely, our last "neighborhood" was the pits. Not an airpark, just a regular 'ol subdivision - a collection of homes and families with nothing much in common but a set of overly restrictive HOA rules and covenants that had us at each other throats all the time. We rarely spoke to one another. When we did, it was usually to complain about something

We have rules and covenants here, too, but they're much easier to live with. And people work with each other to make it a cool place to live.

We have a 4800 ft ribbon of asphalt with GPS approaches, a ISO Class 1 Fire Department on-field, and lots of peace and quiet (expect when somebody's blasting off :p! My neighbor/friend want to build a ViperJet - honey, pass the earplugs!)

New hangars and home are poppin' up all the time. Come join the fun!

Randy Marx
Mooney Ovation
Cessna 150
Builder wannabe
 
One trick I have heard of is to get an airport overlay in the zoning from the county/city you are in. This costs $$ but is MUCH harder to change once it is in place. When development begins around the overlay, it is treated as a hard object such as a river.

My 2c

Ryan
 
airparks

After considering retiring to an airpark home, I've pretty much decided against it. From an investment standpoint, the higher price translates to future equity, but for me it doesn't offset potential problems with HOAs, local politics, and a limited market to re-sell to. It would be intensely cool, though.

The FBOs on the field at SCK provide fuel, expertise, parts, training, supplies and assistance not available in an airpark. When I'm working on something, there's a friendly bunch of folks available to lend a hand or provide advice.

Security is fabulous! The tower looks right down into my hangar. Police and fire detachments are on the property 24/7, and of course access to the airport is limited. There are probably a dozen friends of mine on the tarmac during the day, which is a sizable community looking out for each other. I rent a 1200 SF hangar for not very much. Like most of you guys, I keep a bunch of other stuff out there, as well as a semi0-permanent workshop area, and a hammock.

There are drawbacks. It's a port-a-port T-hangar with no floor, and I'm in a low spot so I have an indoor wading pond when it rains. My power comes from a noisy generator, heat from a kerosene space heater, and cold drinks from a pre-loaded cooler. Of course I could pay more to get more, but I don't need to run a fridge 24/7, and the rent is quite manageable as it is.

The one major drawback is not having everything in one place, like you would with an airpark home. Regardless of the project, whatever tool I need seems to be at "the other place", so I have to plan ahead. Of course the answer to that problem is BUY MORE TOOLS!

A hidden benefit is that I can say "Honey, I'm going out to the airport". She Who Must Be Obeyed is then free to do her thing, and happy to get me out from underfoot. No questions asked and cell phones keep us connected.

If I were to change anything with my current setup, I'd get a nicer hangar with power and a well drained floor. There's something to be said for good lighting you flip on, and power tools you just plug in, not to mention dry, flat floors. I may move closer too. Not because the five minute drive is bothersome, but because there is a good bit of land available for a nice home on a large lot, just off the airport. (SCK does not have constant commercial traffic. It's actually fairly quiet. See "hammock" in a prior paragraph.)
 
My Dream: Airpark in Gallatin Valley

my dream is an affordable airpark in the Gallatin Valley. (Bozeman Montana for those of you who don't know. I envision land on either end sold to the open space land trust people to prevent encroachment.

Anyone want to help make this happen?

Hans Conser
 
nucleus said:
my dream is an affordable airpark in the Gallatin Valley. (Bozeman Montana for those of you who don't know. I envision land on either end sold to the open space land trust people to prevent encroachment.

Anyone want to help make this happen?

Hans Conser
Click to expand...

Do you have a parcel picked out yet? I may be interested.



ps how close is that first flight? or did I miss it?
 
Gonna do it

I'm stoked! My wife and I are going to try the airpark living thing next year. We just had an offer accepted on a lot 1/2-way between Boise and Mountain Home in Idaho (Red Baron Estates). $90K for 1.25 acres of dry Idaho wasteland - but right on the asphalt runway, 25ish minutes from work (Mt Home) and 25ish minutes from play (Boise).

So here is my burning question: How big do I build the hangar/garage combo? My first design was 60'x40' - bigger footprint than the house! I wanted to size it for 2 large cars (pickup trucks) and a Beech Baron (for resale potential). That would easily leave room for my RV-6, my truck, my car, and a workshop space in the corner. What do you think? Too much?
 
Gary Bricker

60 X 60 is the best size. Here in our neighborhood there are all sizes. With a RV and cars you can get by with less. I have a 50 X 50 and toooo much junk for that size. 60 wide will get one plane past another.
 
Airpark life

I can tell you there is no better way to go than living in an airpark..I spent over 10 years at Marchmont Plantation just north of you near Winston-Salem,but recently sold my home for a down-sizing driven by family and priority issues. I designed and built the home with an attached hangar scaled down to RV size and right in the middle of 5 acres..great neighbors,700 feet of runway frontage..doesnt get any better. I have been out of my house now for 6 weeks, and feel like I have lost a family member I miss it so bad. I will build again someday in another airpark..If you are building in Long Island, I have known Steve and Jeff for a long while and they have done a lot with that place since the old days when I used to fly in there alot. If you want to see any other local airparks, I recomend flying into Marchmont (6NC8) and obviously Miller you have been to. I have ben lucky enough to fly Howard Miller's Taylorcraft E-2 "old school" taildragger several times..no brakes or steerable tailwheel..Eoooow ! I have regressed back to puting my -4 at Twin Lakes airport for now...Just Do It !!

Bill E.
RV-4 painting
 
nucleus said:
my dream is an affordable airpark in the Gallatin Valley. (Bozeman Montana for those of you who don't know. I envision land on either end sold to the open space land trust people to prevent encroachment.

Anyone want to help make this happen?

Hans Conser
Click to expand...
Oops, I totally missed this. I'd be in for a lot.

TODR
 
That is so cool. I didn't even know about that airpark. My father and I are at Thompson (53OK) which is a grass strip. I would love to have a paved runway - but there's no way the other owners would go for the expense. Ofcourse, I'd love to have a lot of things - and high on that list is an RV10 too!

RV10Man said:
I live in a prive airpark community. It's the coolest thing to have your airplane 20' from your house in your own hanger. Our runway is 30' X 2700' concrete & lighted. Currently, there's 16 owners, we share the maintenance cost & just have a mowing party when needed. One of the neatest things is, & it happened just last night, my daughter wanted to go flying. So we just got the airplane out & went. Didn't have to go to the airport or schedule an ariplane. We just went. :)
I invite anyone traveling through the OKC area to stop in.

Marshall Alexander
RV10 wings
Click to expand...
 
mlw450802 said:
Steve,
We bought a lot in the Mazatzal Mountain Air Park in Payson, AZ. We haven't built on it yet and, as mentioned previously, there are Codes and Covenants relative to minimum home size and max hangarsize etc. here as well but the appealing thing to us was the location (we both love AZ).
Also, this airpark has no private strip. It has taxiway access to Payson municipal airport (KPAN). The residential streets were constructed with aircraft traffic in mind and no onstreet parking is allowed in consideration of the plane traffic.

-Mike
Click to expand...

Hey, my Dad lives in Payson (retired Navy MCPO), nice town. Whenever my wife and I visit the three of us go to that little Payson airport resturant, forget the name, for lunch. Nice people and great food. More than once I've pondered having a hanger there, I didn't know there is an airpark there.


Mike
 
You can see all the airpark info without paying the annual $20 fee. I paid this year and don't find it worth the money.
danny
 
nucleus said:
my dream is an affordable airpark in the Gallatin Valley. (Bozeman Montana for those of you who don't know. I envision land on either end sold to the open space land trust people to prevent encroachment.

Anyone want to help make this happen?

Hans Conser
Click to expand...

Hans,

I would certainly seriously consider this as an option. If you're making a list, put me on it.

greg
 
Gallatin Valley Airpark

hydroguy2 said:
Do you have a parcel picked out yet? I may be interested.



ps how close is that first flight? or did I miss it?
Click to expand...

Hey, no on both counts. I was looking for help to make an airpark happen around here. I thought getting a list of interested people together and looking for a chunk of land would be the place to start.

I flew around in the rain Saturday looking for ideas. I saw some areas that look promising. I will get to the county for a map and some research this next week.

Oh, no first flight yet. It seems elusive right now.

Hans
 
Airpark Property Available in Middle Georgia

All the runway lots have been sold in this new airpark called "Plane Living". However, there are still 1.0 acre lots available with taxiway access to the 2950' turf runway. It is about 5 miles west of Perry-Houston Co. (PXE).
My wife and I have a runway lot.

Call or PM me for pix and more info. 479-971-3462
 
Affordable is the word

Hans, Hydro, et all,
I, too, would like to reside at an airpark. One where homes can be, say 1500 sq ft, perhaps even modular. I'd have to have a barn / stable for the wife's horses. Or perhaps a large centrally located arena for all the wives' horses. After all this is Montana.

Rules and Covenants:
1. All pilots, a/c builders, a/c owners are welcome.
2. No large "Yellowstone Lodge-like" homes allowed.
3. All pets welcome but kept clear of runway / taxiways.
4. Nominal yearly maintenance fee.
5. No visible junk. Keep the place looking good.
6. No tents, lean-to's, trailers, sheds allowed as residences, except during home construction.

See ya'll at the 3 Forks Fly-in this summer,
Steve
 
Re: Affordable

I am with you on affordable. The gallatin valley is crazy right now cost-wise. I like the idea of smaller homes being allowed; I am all for duplexes and triplexes being built around a hangar, seems cost effective. I am envisioning a large hangar with 3 bedroom apartments/condo units on each of the three walls that don't have a big hangar door. Each unit includes a third share of the hangar.

I think there is money to be saved with some common septic and electric systems for a row of units as well.

Hans
 
Gentle Landings Airpark is in Roberta which is central Georgia, close to Macon. I have never been there but the longer we live in this part of Georgia (6 years) the more we like it and we are anxious to start building our dream house(her)/hangar(me) at Plane Living Airpark (see my previous post).
 
nucleus said:
I am with you on affordable. The gallatin valley is crazy right now cost-wise. I like the idea of smaller homes being allowed; I am all for duplexes and triplexes being built around a hangar, seems cost effective. I am envisioning a large hangar with 3 bedroom apartments/condo units on each of the three walls that don't have a big hangar door. Each unit includes a third share of the hangar.

I think there is money to be saved with some common septic and electric systems for a row of units as well.

Hans
Click to expand...

Check out post #22 in this link.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=13938&highlight=hangar+condo&page=3

Could work in the correct setting.
 
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