Stay in private hangar or move to community one?

Grum.Man

Grum.Man

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Grum.Man
Trying to decide if I should stay in my private box hangar or move to a community hangar at a different airport...

To set the scene, I am currently at 8A7.. a small run down airport in the middle of no where that is privately owned. Recently things have been going down hill. The runway is in really bad shape, the "fbo" is now only accessible 7am to 6:30 pm (disabled the key pad because someone was stealing toilet paper), and there are no runway lights to speak of so flying at night is out of the question. My hangar doors are about to come off the tracks, if it rains heavily the floor floods, and the rust from the beams flakes off onto my airplane. That said it's only 175.00 per month for one I could fit two small airplanes in. The other tenants are great (about 45-50 of us) but the runway is marginal at best for my plane. I have to be on the numbers exactly or I will not have enough room to stop. This isn't an issue on most days even when the wind is up to 8 knots or so out of the west. Much higher than that and I don't fly due to the runway layout being down hill with no runoff west bound.

The airport owner has sent out a lease agreement that we have never had before. I suppose it is inline with most big county owned FAA financed airports but this isn't one of those. It is pretty much asking everyone to insure the airport on the airplane policy and demands a bunch of other things with no guarantees that anything will be upgrade or repaired in return. They raised my rent to 210 per month and a lot of people are bailing ship on the place.

A much larger airport the same distance from my house has room in a heated community hangar. They allow you to work on your planes and store tools and equipment in the hangar. The rent is 225 per month, there are two accessible FBO's, and plenty of runway with lights. The only thing I don't like is that you have to call ahead to have your plane pulled out in case you get shuffled to the back. I'm not crazy about other people moving my plane as it has a unique and somewhat fragile nose wheel steering. The airport is also more in a city with parts stores and restaurants much closer by.

I will sure miss my private hangar but man it would be nice to have a heated one I don't have to maintain my self and a usable runway 24/7. What would you guys do?
 
Assuming the larger airport has insurance to cover your plane if they mess something up when moving it around, it sounds like you'd be much better off moving there.
 
Yeah, given those conditions, I’d opt for the community hangar too.

I would hate paying the monthly dues to a group that doesn’t have any ambition for regular upkeep of the facilities or maintaining the grounds.

With that being said, I too would look into their insurance policy as hangar rash is almost inevitable at some point.
 
Given what you've said about your choices, I'd take the community hangar. That said, I am just like you with the worry about other people moving my plane around. One of my last rental flights before buying one of the employees that was pulling the plane out for me smacked the tail on another parked plane. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
for what it's worth, concord requires you to list them on your insurance policy as well. maybe that's a common request, dunno.
 
I’d move. Heated dry hangar vs wet floor and cold? No contest.

Cheers
 
eman1200 said:
for what it's worth, concord requires you to list them on your insurance policy as well. maybe that's a common request, dunno.
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I know it's standard practice but we feel it's just away for them to get out of liability for the termite infested hangars potential to fall on your airplane. Oddly enough Hickory requires no such thing.
 
X3 Skier said:
I’d move. Heated dry hangar vs wet floor and cold? No contest.

Cheers
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The flooding isn't that common, it really has to be a downpour. I've dug a trench all around to divert most of the runoff.
 
A couple of questions to consider...
What kind of security does the airport with the community hangar have? High fences? Card key actuated gates?
How many airplanes are in the hangar, and how is the hangar itself secured?
Having the airport named as co-insured on the liability part of your policy is SOP just about everywhere.
 
Grum.Man said:
I know it's standard practice but we feel it's just away for them to get out of liability for the termite infested hangars potential to fall on your airplane. Oddly enough Hickory requires no such thing.
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OH, i thought the NEW place wanted it. Yeah, if the old place is now asking for it, prob would push me out as well, along with all the other stuff u mentioned.
 
Grum.Man said:
I know it's standard practice but we feel it's just away for them to get out of liability for the termite infested hangars potential to fall on your airplane. Oddly enough Hickory requires no such thing.
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It's really to cover damage to others' property caused by your airplane, e.g. leaking fuel causing a fire damaging other airplanes or the hangar structure.
 
I use a group hangar,in Florida. Price is good,the handling of my airplane has been fine for the last four years.
 
Grum.Man said:
I know it's standard practice but we feel it's just away for them to get out of liability for the termite infested hangars potential to fall on your airplane. Oddly enough Hickory requires no such thing.
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So HKY is the one you want to move to? If so, I’m surprised they have open hangars after the storm damage.
 
I don't really care about security, it's all just BS anyways.

But to your question, if the flooding isn't that common, having your own hangar that's extra large vs a nicer hangar but where people are always moving around your plane and you have to call to have it moved, man...unless the private hangar is REALLY going to fall in, or the runway is REALLY impeding your mission, I'd rather have my own space and control who has access to my plane.

I had mine in a super nice shared hangar, but too many hands were on my plane and with it not being a stand issue 172 I just don't trust others to know how to move it, once I found it in the very back with the tail one inch from the wall, no damage, but did they really have wing walkers or was the guy who moved it just giving it a thought and a prayer with how far he could cram my 200k plane into a corner. Noooooope
 
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SkyDog58 said:
So HKY is the one you want to move to? If so, I’m surprised they have open hangars after the storm damage.
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I was too. The other hangars are a little more full now but a lot of the ones that were under the damaged hangars were salvaged and aren't in need of a hangar anymore.
 
Stan Cooper said:
A couple of questions to consider...
What kind of security does the airport with the community hangar have? High fences? Card key actuated gates?
How many airplanes are in the hangar, and how is the hangar itself secured?
Having the airport named as co-insured on the liability part of your policy is SOP just about everywhere.
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I'm not too concerned with security, in fact the less the better lol. But yes fences every where and key card or security codes required to get into the hangars and gates.
 
You had me at heated hangar. :D

Sounds like things are really going in the wrong direction at 8A7. I wish we could get $225 / month near me.

I'm in the "move to the bigger airport" camp.

Good luck!
 
I really like having my private hangar, but under the conditions you described, I think I would be moving.
 
I have my plane in a community hangar. It’s nice having leather furniture, cable, and free food inside of the FBO, but two major drawbacks I’ve discovered: 1. I knew yesterday that I would fly today and that my plane was buried in the middle of the hangar, so I called yesterday to let them know so they could start shuffling it to toward the door. Got there this morning and it hadn’t been touched. Took half an hour to dig my plane out. 2. I feel kind of guilty when they have to dig it out and I’ve decided not to fly several times because of this. It’s their job to move and fuel planes, but I’m not unaware of the effort expended just to get me going. I usually tip the lineman $5 when they really hustle. 3. I do worry very much about hangar rash. There’s probably 15 planes in my hangar and it’s not uncommon to see high wings hanging over my low wings. Hangar rash is just a matter of time.
 
I would go with the community hangar so long as I have a designated spot in the community hangar where I can keep a job box locked down right by my plane.

I'd pay a premium for a spot in the back so my plane would only be moved when I request it.

Full disclosure: I do the pull out and put away myself for the RV, but for the other two I use the cell phone.
 
James331 said:
I don't really care about security, it's all just BS anyways.
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Grum.Man said:
I'm not too concerned with security, in fact the less the better lol. But yes fences every where and key card or security codes required to get into the hangars and gates.
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So, I guess you guys aren't too concerned about thieves sneaking onto the airport at 3 am, breaking into your airplanes, and stealing your recently installed expensive avionics.
 
Stan Cooper said:
So, I guess you guys aren't too concerned about thieves sneaking onto the airport at 3 am, breaking into your airplanes, and stealing your recently installed expensive avionics.
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nope

but I dont live in slums or commie friendly areas

That said, if you think the silly "security" at most airports you can GA out of stops anything, well...
 
Stan Cooper said:
So, I guess you guys aren't too concerned about thieves sneaking onto the airport at 3 am, breaking into your airplanes, and stealing your recently installed expensive avionics.
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No not really. Never been much of a problem around here. Most thieves aren’t smart enough to know how to do it or that they are worth something. The ones that are probably own airplanes and have access anyway.
 
My plane is in a community hangar. It's dirty, unheated, and I have only a couple square feet of space on one side to store supplies and tools. Plus, of course I can't pull my plane out when I want to, I am at the mercy of the FBO, which closes up tight at 5pm every day, even in the summer. But it sounds like the community hangar you're thinking about is a lot better arrangement, and the airport you are at now is on the verge of being unsafe. So I would probably go with the safer airport despite the community hangar arrangement, see how things work out, and maybe keep my ears open for a spot in a private hangar if the disadvantages become too much for you to put up with.
 
I like my private hangar. Not sure I could go to a commune style after having my own.
 
I was in one of Atlantic's hangars for the first year of ownership. They were very careful, and always had two people walking alongside the wingtips when moving my plane. Other than the few times that I was delayed because they hadn't pulled it out yet, I rather enjoyed the treatment and the amenities. However, I was flying very regularly back then. (Like 3-4 times per week.) Because they closed at 2100 (and I was doing a lot of night flying) I eventually moved to a private hangar. I was all jazzed about having my own space (and about saving $200/mo) but now that I've moved to DFW area, I'd kill for ANY hangar space.

I prefer towered airports with fences and security gates. Not for the security, but because I'm not a fan of uncontrolled fields. (Different argument.) I think the fact that the runway has limitations and seems neglected is enough of a reason to bail. I'd rather risk hangar rash than damage due to a poor runway.

Now that I think about it, the only hangar rash I ever got was in my private hangar!
 
eman1200 said:
OH, i thought the NEW place wanted it. Yeah, if the old place is now asking for it, prob would push me out as well, along with all the other stuff u mentioned.
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Well, plus the opportunity for a glory hole in the new place, right?
 
my community hangar experience was pretty bad (i profiled it here) so no amount of savings or convenience would get me into one again. they ll never compensate me for the additional damage history of the airplane. not that it matters; i still feel the same on account of the dispatch rate hit alone. hangar rash was the rule, not the exception ime. and yes, not having to deal with the call ahead thing (and the attitude and incompetence of those employed to perform the task) was a big improvement on my enjoyment of the airplane on those days i just felt like driving to the airport on a whim.

your money your circus but id stay in the private hangar. good luck.
 
Rykymus said:
I was in one of Atlantic's hangars for the first year of ownership. They were very careful, and always had two people walking alongside the wingtips when moving my plane. Other than the few times that I was delayed because they hadn't pulled it out yet, I rather enjoyed the treatment and the amenities. However, I was flying very regularly back then. (Like 3-4 times per week.) Because they closed at 2100 (and I was doing a lot of night flying) I eventually moved to a private hangar. I was all jazzed about having my own space (and about saving $200/mo) but now that I've moved to DFW area, I'd kill for ANY hangar space.

I prefer towered airports with fences and security gates. Not for the security, but because I'm not a fan of uncontrolled fields. (Different argument.) I think the fact that the runway has limitations and seems neglected is enough of a reason to bail. I'd rather risk hangar rash than damage due to a poor runway.

Now that I think about it, the only hangar rash I ever got was in my private hangar!
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Why do you prefer a towered field?
 
Sounds like length and condition of runway should play a major part in your decision. Seems 8A7 is at your limit and may, in and of itself, limit your dispatch rate.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
I like my private hangar. Not sure I could go to a commune style after having my own.
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This.

My T-hangar is on an international airport with lots of security. The GA side of the airport has three runways, and all three can be in use at the same time. It costs me $299 a month, but to me the price is a bargain knowing that everything inside my locked hangar will be just as I left it.

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3k is considered short?
 
Not sure about delays, my plane and the work plane are based at a small non towered airport, we can be wheels up in less than 5 minutes from hitting the starter button.

Also multiple runways means lots of traffic, and a tower is just a voice on a radio, worth nothing if you don't/can't follow it, or the voice gives bad instructions, sometimes it's even a false sense of safety/security having that voice. To each their own.



Personally I find it safer and more secure to be at a small low volume airport or non registered airstrip, I'm in a small town and some people don't even know we have a airport lol
 
You can always buy a lot on NC26. We still have a few available.
 
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