When is it cost effective to hangar your plane

MikeTuggle said:
Just checked... still a long wait-list for a $500+/month single hanger and near $400/month for shared hanger space. Tie-downs are available for $110/month.

For tie-downs, has anyone ever used "wing covers" for hail protection? I have been thinking that they might work.
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I'm no user of wing/cabin covers, but I doubt their of much use for hail protection unless it's for anything marble sized and under. Once you get to golf ball-sized precipitation, I doubt it matters much what you have on top of the aircraft short of a thick pool mat or really thick comforter. The wing covers are more for sun protection and such.
 
Sunny Central CA, and I hangar. ($209/mo for standard T-hangar) There is enough room in the back that I was able to install shelves and close out my storage space, so, technically, the hangar is only costing me $90/mo more. I also like having everything I might need to fly or take care of the plane AT the plane. I'm even thinking of installing a small solar panel on the roof to charge my backup radio, iPad, and Stratus 2. All I have to carry with me is the key to the hangar, and my gate keycard, so I can pop in to fly anytime I want without having to go home and collect all my flying stuff first. I also love that I can pre-flight and wipe down the plane after each flight, so that it's ready to go at a moment's notice with just an abbreviated pre-flight.

Hangars rock.
 
I've read the thread and haven't seen this good reason for an enclosed secure hangar:

When you open the hangar door, the plane is in the same condition as you left it.

For me, a hangar is a safety issue, not for the plane but for the safety of flying it.
 
Until recently, I paid $200/month for a hangar on a grass strip where I could keep both my RV-4 and Cub. Some issues there caused everyone to have to move (hopefully only for a couple more months). I know have my Cub at M72 (New Albany, MS) in a nice big new hangar (big enough for a twin) for $75. Yep. $75. It is an 1.25 hour drive though. I have my RV-4 at a nearby grass strip (01TN) where I am paying $150/month and share the hangar with another person with a 140. It has an incline and requires a winch to tug to move either plane in or out. At least I am in front because I fly more frequently. It is only 15-20 minutes from the house. I use the RV to commute to M72 to fly my Cub.

Long story short, I prefer to hangar my airplanes, even if I have to drive further to fly them.

My Swift is in West Memphis...where a broker has it for showing if anyone wants to buy it! :D
 
frfly172 said:
I would always choose the hanger,if the rate is good. In the northeast prices of hangers start at 500 a month.
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All depends on exactly where in the northeast, also. That generalization is just not true in every case. There are tons of small private strips with full sized hangars that are less than that per month. You need to state "public airport hangar prices" vs "private airstrip hangar prices." I would personally hangar at a private grass airstrip over a paved public airport any day. (I don't own an airplane or a hangar yet, but I know plenty of people who own both.)
 
Hangars are SUPER EXPENSIVE in southern California! We have perfect weather no need to spend 500+ a month to hangar when a tie down is much cheaper at 60-100 a month.
 
$275 a month for a hanger at Tucson International and I'd never consider parking my plane outside.
 
Thanks for all that responded. Informative for sure and I will keep my old cheap ass plane hangared.. And maybe just maybe she will live a little longer, Thanks
 
Now and then we see storms roll through here with winds hitting as high as 50mph. Feels a lot better not having to worry about tie-downs holding out when that happens.
 
N3368K said:
Until recently, I paid $200/month for a hangar on a grass strip where I could keep both my RV-4 and Cub. Some issues there caused everyone to have to move (hopefully only for a couple more months). I know have my Cub at M72 (New Albany, MS) in a nice big new hangar (big enough for a twin) for $75. Yep. $75. It is an 1.25 hour drive though. I have my RV-4 at a nearby grass strip (01TN) where I am paying $150/month and share the hangar with another person with a 140. It has an incline and requires a winch to tug to move either plane in or out. At least I am in front because I fly more frequently. It is only 15-20 minutes from the house. I use the RV to commute to M72 to fly my Cub.

Long story short, I prefer to hangar my airplanes, even if I have to drive further to fly them.

My Swift is in West Memphis...where a broker has it for showing if anyone wants to buy it! :D
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I have a lot of land and a cabin in New Albany. Nice to know if I ever buy. That's a steal.
 
tinerj said:
I've read the thread and haven't seen this good reason for an enclosed secure hangar:

When you open the hangar door, the plane is in the same condition as you left it.

For me, a hangar is a safety issue, not for the plane but for the safety of flying it.
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This is kind of it for me.

I moved from a $10 unsecured tie down spot in a little town about 12 miles away. I felt obligated to go drive by the plane every so often, make sure the doors were still locked, nothing had happened.

I moved to a $180 a month hangar, and the idea that the plane is in the same condition I left it in, nobody is popping open the Cessna door locks with a nail file, or a strategically popped palm on the latch area is where I find the value.

Plus, having my ladder, oil, homemade engine pre-heater, fuel transfer hoses stored inside, near the plane is valuable.

I kind of thought it was a luxury I wouldn't need. But, I have grown convinced it is the only way to go.
 
JoseCuervo said:
This is kind of it for me.

I moved from a $10 unsecured tie down spot in a little town about 12 miles away. I felt obligated to go drive by the plane every so often, make sure the doors were still locked, nothing had happened.

I moved to a $180 a month hangar, and the idea that the plane is in the same condition I left it in, nobody is popping open the Cessna door locks with a nail file, or a strategically popped palm on the latch area is where I find the value.

Plus, having my ladder, oil, homemade engine pre-heater, fuel transfer hoses stored inside, near the plane is valuable.

I kind of thought it was a luxury I wouldn't need. But, I have grown convinced it is the only way to go.
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:yeahthat:, I never realized how much I stressed over the plane being on a tie down until the first time the door closed on the hangar. Oh what a relief that was. Like you I felt the need to go by and check on it every few days. Stressed about the weather and don't get me started about the birds. So, it's a hangar for me and so it shall be moving forward...:):):)
 
Here tiedown is $40/month, hanger is $300/month. And none available anyway. I could move to the next closest airport and get in the comunity hanger for $300/mo, or move an hour away to get a T for about $150/mo.
 
My choices were either Tie down outside for free or community hanger for $125. Seemed like a no brainer to hanger it especially with the crazy weather we have UP here in ND.
 
Well, if the airport management doesn't mind you having your toolbox along with a sofa, microwave and fridge in your tie down spot with a long extension cord running to it; I guess a hangar is optional.
 
Often not cost effective but getting into an airplane that you know no one has messed with and is free of frost, ice, water, etc is worth a lot to me.
 
I can't imagine not using a hangar. BUT, Oklahoma is not very conducive to leaving a plane outside. Spring storms, which pop up quite regularly without much warning, can whip up winds in excess of 70 mph and hail. It get's well over 100 deg in the summer, sometimes for 2-3 months straight. That has to be murder on, well, everything. Of course we don't get much snow here in winter, but it's not uncommon to get freezing rain that can coat everything in 1/2 to 3/4 inch of ice. I would be a nervous wreck if my plane was outside.

HOWEVER, hangar rent is pretty cheap around here, and I also can't imagine paying in excess of $200/mo rent.


I pay $60/mo for my T-hangar.
 
doss.scott@gmail.com said:
One reason I even asked was I saw a thread on here where some guy said he had never seen a 150 hangared. My plane is not much more than a 150 but she is mine but I am also a penny pincher. I can fly year round down here so I keep the insurance. It's tough right now with all the storms but there are Windows of vfr.
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Hey @HotRock it's me Vinny with the 180, we shared the community hangar together. How are you?

Keep that bird in a hangar. We have the cheapest hangars anywhere...and....over from me is a 150 in a hangar. I love a hangar if for nothing else I know who touched my plane last!
 
Twin_Flyer said:
:yeahthat:

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I would love to have a hangar. But at 44ft wingspan for my bird, there are almost none available here in SoCal. The one I can get is $1200/month, which is just too rich for me. That's $14.4K/year. In two years I would have saved enough money for a complete paint job. Plus it doesn't rain here much. I'll just get good covers for it and keep all the paraphernalia I need around it on the truck.
 
simtech said:
Hey @HotRock it's me Vinny with the 180, we shared the community hangar together. How are you?

Keep that bird in a hangar. We have the cheapest hangars anywhere...and....over from me is a 150 in a hangar. I love a hangar if for nothing else I know who touched my plane last!
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Hey, Vinny! Haven't seen you around since you moved to the other hangar.

I really don't like the FBO hangar. Playing musical airplane is no fun. The King Air is still there and R moved that TBN in there but they keep mine up front. That King Air is gone much of the time anyway. I hope to get a private hangar by the end of the summer. I will keep it there and be much happier.
 
I consider the difference between the $220 for the hangar versus the $35 for the tie down to be part of my insurance. There are a few days a year when a storm here in North Alabama can ruin a plane. Right now, I'd rather have the plane than the insurance money. I also found that having the hangar allows me to keep stuff with the plane for doing oil changes, lost screw replacement and other maintenance. Of course, now I have a refrigerator and a water cooler and table and chairs. Yea, I would have the hangar even if it was nice weather all year round.
 
If I had to sell my airplane for any reason most buyers prefer an airplane that has lived in a hangar rather than one that has been baking outside. Something to consider!
 
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