J

JohnRLewis

Member
I am considering relocating the the Raleigh, NC area. I noticed that there are not all that many airports in the area. From a pilot's perspective, where is a good place to live around there? I was thinking near RTP so that I'd be close to potential employers and close to KRDU as it appears there is at least some GA presence there.

Any builders in the area? One of the reasons I am considering relocating is to live where I can afford to start building an RV-10.
 
Yes we have airplanes in NC

The first homebuilt ever, was flown in North Carolina (December 14, 1903, Kitty Hawk, NC.) :D

There is plenty of GA and EAA aviation in the Raleigh area. Hangers and cost of living? :eek:

As far as hangers, the situation actaully is surprisingly not that good, in part due to RDU tearing down the GA hangers adn Chapel Hill closing. It will be tough to impossible to get a hanger at or close to KRDU. There just are not that many airports with hangers or hangers available near RDU. There are airports close by, some small private and fly-in home type airports (Cox, Eagle Landing, Deck Airpark NC 11, Fuguay/Angier Field 78NC ) with a few hangers but none to rent. Expect a 30-45 minute drive to the nearest airports with readily available hangers (Stanford, Johnston County, Siler City). Readily might mean a wait list.

Hear are the two closest EAA chapters:

http://www.eaa1114.org/pages/home/index.php (Cary/Apex, Cox Field)
http://www.airnav.com/airport/NC81
(meets at private field NC81, cox field, no hangers)

http://www.blueasp.com/506/index.html (Smithfield, Johnston County Airport)
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KJNX
(32 sm from RDU, direct)


The most likely place to hanger is: (27 sm from RDU, direct)
Sanford-Lee County Regional Airport
Sanford, North Carolina, USA
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KTTA

Sanford is a new airport (moved from old location 5 years ago) and hangers are new at about $225 month. This airport is a solid 35-45 minute drive from RDU airport. They have a wait list but they build new hangers from time to time.

In General Raleigh NC and surrounding areas is very expensive area to live, so buy where you can. Like most places the further out you go the better. Apex use to be far out and housing was cheap, but that is changing. There is sales, income, property and personal property tax (car, boat and yes tax on your kit plane). I have not owned a plane in this state so I can't tell you the tax rate. If you are working in the RTP (research triangle park) than there are plenty of appartments to rent, which I would suggest until you figure out what you want.

Here are two other airports that might work?
5W5 Triple W Airport (18sm to RDU)
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
http://www.airnav.com/airport/5W5
(There are some hangers but they are in bad shape and hard to get.)

5W8 Siler City Municipal Airport (40sm RDU)
Siler City, North Carolina, USA
http://www.airnav.com/airport/5W8
(I know they have new hangers there, but this was a few years ago. Not sure of the availability at this time. I know they plan on building new ones)

Airports you can't use any more:
KRDU is a busy airport served by almost every major and regional airline. The GA fleet has been run off with the demolition of the old metal T hangers. They are building new hangers of the large corporate type. The new Sanford airport above was built in the last 5 years to serve GA and make up for the loss of GA hangers at RDU. RDU does have tie downs. My guess is a hanger will be insanely expensive if you could even get it. RDU is 10 minutes from my house.

IGX, Williams Chapel Hill is owned by the University and has closed to GA aircraft for the most part; You can't base a plane there. Again Stanford-Lee was made to also take this loss. http://www.airnav.com/airport/KIGX

There are airports North and North East of Raleigh which I am not familure with because I live south south-west of Raleigh, but they are also 40-1:20 drive time from RDU. Welcome to the area. I was a little surprised at first but Stanford is 25 minutes from my house and the airport is new, 6500x100 runway long enough to land a B737, so I can't whine too much. I would love to get a hanger home, but think I will do that in Florida.

Good Luck George
 
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Perfect reply, that is the kind of perspective I was looking for. Thank you.

Are there any residential airparks in the area that have vacant lots? That would be so cool!!!

So what is the flying weather like there? Here in Seattle, nice VFR weather is a rare thing during the winter months.

Ohh, and in response to the cost of living, I'll be able to cut my house payment in half based on what I've seen so far by searching MLS. The wife will allow me to build an RV only if we move from here. She hates the weather here. I can't say I'm fond of it either.
 
That is funny

Funny, I moved from Seattle to North Carolina.

Weather is good and you pretty much have 4-sessions (and in many ways opposite of Seattle). I guess the best way to describe it, is by the extremes. It can get HOT and humid in summer and you can get snow in the winter on semi rare occasion. However the days below 32F or above 90F are few, but there is defiantly a wider range of temps than Seattle. As far as fall colors the Blue Ridge Highway is a 4-hour drive west where the fall colors are spectacular. In the summer you are about 2-3 hours to coast and the outer banks. You are less than 5 hours to Washington DC and 10 hours drive (3 hour RV flying time) to Sun N fun. It is 9 hours drive to Orlando,FL and DisneyWorld. In the few years I have been here, I visited the Blue Ridge, but sorry to say I have not been out to the coast, which I hear is also beautiful and unique. So you are basically a 1/2 days drive or less to either the Ocean or Mountains. Also you are a day drive to New York or Southern Florida. Although Seattle had that beat being squeezed between the Cascades and the Puget Sound.

As far as VFR flying days there are no endless weeks and months of grey, but there are on occasion large ripping thunder storms or lines of thunder storms that can blow thru with the associated possible lightning, heavy rain and on rare occasion hail. Once it is over the weather improves. Hurricane danger is small being inland but you can get the affects. Tornado, one every 12 years, rare but it has happened. Other than that it is typical mid Atlantic east coast weather.

If you get on the Web and google "cost of living" for example you can get a calculator comparing cost of living between two cities. I put in generic Seattle, WA moving to Raleigh, NC. These calculators do not always show correct results and can be off quite a bit. Depending on the actual city you live in and moving to (not just a generic Seattle and Raleigh), homeowner, cost of home, cars you drive, income, dependants will make a big difference. One showed a lower cost of living by moving (-$10,000) and another showed an increase in total cost of living (+$4,000) by the move. OF course income is important. I think pay is pretty good with all the high tech companies. Here is one cost of living calculator with more detailed input and may be more accurate: http://businessweek.monstermoving.monster.com/Find_a_Place/Relosmart/rs.asp

My personal opinion is the cost of living in Raleigh is not less than Washington State. East coast is expensive in general. I live in Wake County and it is more expensive than other out laying ones. Also you have income tax as well as sales tax. Home prices? Well it may be cheaper but it depends on where you live. I do think land is cheaper. A new I-540 OUTER LOOP going in, around the original loop I440/I40. When I-540 goes in it will join large out-lying area, making it easy to get from one side of town to the other. No doubt this will make some land far out more desirable. Traffic by the way is like most big cities, it sucks, but it does not compare to the I-5/405 parking lot in Seattle, one of the worst in the country.

Best of luck with the move. It is a slower pace of life. People are nice and the schools I understand are good. You are by a world-class hospital, Duke medical university. You do have several universities, UNC, NCCU, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Meredith, Shaw. With the high tech companies in the RTP you have an educated base demographics. Where to buy a home? It is spread out 360 degrees. Cary, NC is like Kirkland, Bellevue WA. Apex is like Arlington, WA. Downtown Raleigh and even Durham (pronounced Dur-um, not Dur-Ham) have been going thru revitalization. The homes inside the Raleigh loop used to be old and run down, are now being renovated for big bucks. In Durham old tobacco factories are turned into luxury condos. There are cookie cutter developments, and fancy custom homes on lakes and golf courses.

Not a big sports fan myself but you are in NCAA College Basketball land with, UNC Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils. The NHL Hurricanes is a local team. The local news will follow NASCAR in detail and has expanded coverage on the weekend. We like a NASCAR down here, Son. :D

Your wife might like to know there is a 2 year old mega super Mall of the most modern indoor/outdoor design called the Streets at South Point, in Durham. And YES there is a Nordstroms with all the expensive shoes you can afford to buy her. I should not say that, but I did. :) From my house this mall and 3 other large malls are with in 15-25 minutes.

If you drive, plan at least 6 days for the 3000 miles. It is a long drive. Take Care, George
 
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