When is it cost effective to hangar your plane

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HotRock

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HotRock
My plane, 1961 Piper Cherokee PA28 160... paint six years old... looks good 1050hrs on engine and 3200 on air frame. Avionics... old as dirt, one good radio and nice transponder. Value? 25-28

Would you hangar itif the cost was $100 a month vs $25 on the ramp?

What's your situation? What did you decide?

I chose to hanger mine at that rate but I am questioning the cost. The weather can be brutal here in MS. If not the heat, the tornadoes and hail are terrible.

Your thoughts.

Oh, no payment.. paid cash but it was substantial amount of my easy money (not 401K).

Me? Less than 100 hr beginner pilot with lots to learn.
 
Welp.... if a tornado were to hit the airfield, not entirely sure a hangar is gonna offer much more protection than standing outside is if that hangar comes down. ;)
 
I would always choose the hanger,if the rate is good. In the northeast prices of hangers start at 500 a month.
 
Yep, same thought i had but the truth is, it's not that many F4 and 5's but tons of smaller ones that don't hit you direct.

I have lived here all my life (aged 52). I have been in one, F3 back in 1970. But there are tons of small ones where I take cover with lots of debris thrown around out doors for miles and miles. Anything outside gets beat up. One has to figure in a ten year life span it would happen at some point to a plane tied down. I think I just decided to keep her in the hangar.

Still tell me your situation.

Thanks
 
Yes, the northeast brings a vastly different problem. The cold and competition for space is much greater.

At $500 a month for a hangar... I would roll the dice on a $25,000 plane. Now, if it were a ....
 
We have hail storms hit the home base multiple times a year.

Parking uncovered is pretty much a guarantee of hail damage, if not this year, certainly next.

Some airplanes in a big hailstorm a few years ago still had damage in open covered parking, because the hail blew in sideways.

We even have the "distinction" of hail damaging a B-17 that was visiting.

Covered is the way to go here.

Only the leasebacks and the junkyard of Key Lime Metroliners sit out uncovered.
 
$75 more a month to protect it from the elements, sun baking the paint, windows and interior, birds and rodents potentially nesting in it, other airplanes or ramp equipment hitting it?

No brainer:)
 
The first plane I owned was a '61 Cherokee 160, serial #30 off the assembly line (Out of curiosity what is your serial #?). Perfect for me at that time, mechanically sound but not much to look at despite a repaint that was done about 1971. I kept it in an ancient and cheap T-hangar to keep the hail off it in summer and the snow/frost off it in winter. Got a lot more flying in because of the hangar - just having a place out of the wind to attend to minor maintenance items was a blessing. I think you are doing the right thing for the price you have to pay.
 
A hangar is cheap insurance in my opinion, not to mention I get a 10% discount on my insurance by having the plane hangared. It is so much easier to keep the plane maintained in a hangar, plus it is just fun to have a hangar to hang out in. The best part is being able to clean the plane in the shade of the hangar instead of being out in the hot sun. I'm also less concerned about vandalism with it locked in a hangar. As posted above, it's a no brainer.
 
+1 for your decision. I'm in the same spot, older Grumman Tiger with original paint, not hugely valuable. Based at a small town airport in the Southwest, hangar rent and tiedown are about the same as you mention. I'm new to the area, number one on the list for the next open hangar. Still tied down outside. Definitely looking forward to getting in a hangar. Place to keep airplane tools and supplies, do minor maintenance, keep snow, ice, and violent weather off the airplane.
 
HotRock said:
My plane, 1961 Piper Cherokee PA28 160... paint six years old... looks good 1050hrs on engine and 3200 on air frame. Avionics... old as dirt, one good radio and nice transponder. Value? 25-28

Would you hangar itif the cost was $100 a month vs $25 on the ramp?

What's your situation? What did you decide?

I chose to hanger mine at that rate but I am questioning the cost. The weather can be brutal here in MS. If not the heat, the tornadoes and hail are terrible.

Your thoughts.

Oh, no payment.. paid cash but it was substantial amount of my easy money (not 401K).

Me? Less than 100 hr beginner pilot with lots to learn.
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It's often been said that whether you hangar or tie down you end up paying for a hangar.
 
I've never considered not having a hanger. I have bunch of planes and my hanger bill even with the discounts they give me is $18,800 per year. I'm sure my insurance reflects that I do hanger them. It does seem kind of spendy, but I don't have to worry much about the baseball size hail that is in the area tonight.
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Hangar all the way.

Not only for the plane, but it makes working on the plane for owner assist annuals and routine mx possible, this in itself pays the diffrence, plus I also keep some other stuff in my hangar.

In the winter I often let the insurance lapse on the plane, basically I'm not going to be flying and with my risk factor WITH A HANGARED plane, there is no smart reason to keep it insured, this saves even more. If my plane was on the ramp outside I'd view that as a greater risk than if I were flying her to a remote strip, as far as bent metal is concerned.
 
Simple enough, where you going to keep your Booze and Cigars if you don't have a Hangar.
 
For 25 years I've parked outdoors. My 180's been mine for 20 of those. Hangars in Alaska are crazy expensive. I could buy 3 top-of-the-market Skywagons for the price of a decent hangar. We have weather here but we've learned to manage it. Is a hangar necessary? Not here, not for me. Your location may warrant one. I'd rather have a place in Hawaii.
 
Stewartb said:
For 25 years I've parked outdoors. My 180's been mine for 20 of those. Hangars in Alaska are crazy expensive. I could buy 3 top-of-the-market Skywagons for the price of a decent hangar. We have weather here but we've learned to manage it. Is a hangar necessary? Not here, not for me. Your location may warrant one. I'd rather have a place in Hawaii.
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So if you could get a hangar for your 180 for $75 more a month would you?
 
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.
 
GA airplanes are not buildings, nor are they submarines, or road signs. They are not designed, engineered, nor intended to be left out in the weather. Doing so will result in deterioration. Oh yeah, they will look good for some years but internally they are corroding. Windows are subtly hazing. Left outside to go through the temperature and dew cycles daily, cylinders, and more importantly camshafts, have the oil drain off and they get flash rust on the surface. It is too faint to be seen by eye but it is there. The next start up is like having some 3000 grit sand paper on the moving surfaces. It disappears within seconds after each start up along with a few micro inches of steel - rinse, cycle, repeat.
The bottom line is that you are paying for a hangar whether you have one or not.
 
You probably will fly more if you had a hangar, winter you don't have to worry about last nights snow,ice...summer, the plane is not 140 degrees inside
 
I pay $230/mo for my '67 PA-28 140... Worth every penny. Its not just the delta between ramp vs hangar, also consider the less maintenance come annual time on a hangared plane vs ramp. Mine had been on the ramp before I bought it, first annual included $400 rudder rust repair and $400 for new wheel bearings/chases which the A/P attributed to it sitting outside. Not sure how much a hangar would have prevented it, but its been worth having it. Besides, my camper fits nicely behind the plane so thats just a bonus!
 
I would gladly pay $100/month for a hangar, since I already pay double that for a tie down. Sadly the delta between my tie down and a hangar around here is in the neighborhood of $500/month and I simply can't afford that so outside she sits. At least sun is generally the only thing we have to worry about here though.
 
I agree, $100 is small potatoes in aviation ownership. I'm happy to pay $230 to hangar mine. Mostly around here (fairly temperate but a few icy days), it's a convenience. As hangars weren't available at the airports I was based at for years, my Navion sat outside for the first 20 years I owned it. At least at IAD the pre-signature FBO there used to be good about pulling it in their heated hangar on frosty morning to let it thaw out.

I was lucky at the time I had my plane restored to get the hangar at CJR. Not only is it nicer on the paint and avionics and arguably more secure. Much as with owning over renting, you can leave things inside you can't in a tie down. I have all sorts of things in the hangar that I used to store in the plane for lack of a better place. I even have a small compressor in there. The CJR hangar isn't heated, but I have a Tanis. My hangar at NC26 is heated, has hot and cold water, a bathroom (well, it actually has a whole house attached to it).
 
I pay 175/month, and I think it's a steal. I've thought about my squeal point when talking to others who pay upwards of $500/month. I'd probably kick my plane out of the hangar if it crossed $400/month. But that's with me being the only owner and paying all the bills.

As far as cost effective, that's a relative decision. There are things like having a cooler cockpit in the summer, a place to store your tools and a place to work on your plane that you can't assign a dollar value.
 
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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Not only do they start at $500/mo, but they also have a waiting list for a minimum of two to three years before you can even get one.
 
"When is it cost-effective to hangar your airplane?"

When something happens to it that would have been prevented by storing it in a hangar, and the cost to fix is equal to or greater than the differential in hangar vs ramp storage.
 
I pay a $190 a month. I probably spend more time in it than I do in my apartment when I'm awake. Its been a great shop and additional storage space for me. Allows me to do maintenance on my vehicles and help others when they need it.
 
Airplanes belong indoors. I've hangared every one I've owned. No brainer in the Book of Steingar.
 
I don't even own a (whole) plane (yet), just one under construction in the garage and I'm on the waiting list for three airports already.:)
 
Yep, it depends on the local climate and the hangar rates. Here in rural northern California, winters aren't extreme with just a few inches of snow. Hangars are $180 and tiedowns are $40. My aircraft was metal with no corrosion so I opted for tiedowns, saving enough each year to pay for my annual inspection. That said, if your budget allows and it helps you sleep better at night, go for the hangar.
 
Stewartb said:
For 25 years I've parked outdoors. My 180's been mine for 20 of those. Hangars in Alaska are crazy expensive. I could buy 3 top-of-the-market Skywagons for the price of a decent hangar. We have weather here but we've learned to manage it. Is a hangar necessary? Not here, not for me. Your location may warrant one. I'd rather have a place in Hawaii.
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I did the same thing in Alaska. Expensive hangars. Kept a 185 parked outside for many years. Wing and engine covers... Never had any maintenance issues that I could attribute to parking outside. But, I definitely would have jumped on hangar if one were available for only $100-200 more than my tie down spot.

My brother has a 185 parked outside in Alaska still. He recently had a bad experience. After not flying for 10 days, he preflights the 185. He finds both inboard fuel caps off, and a hose still inserted into the left fuel tank. Apparently someone was trying to steal fuel and was interrupted. It had been raining a lot. My brother ended up draining LOTS of water out of his fuel system. He had been parking in the same spot for many years, this was the first occurrence of anything like this. Another good reason for a hangar.
 
Hangar prices at local airports being what they are, I don't see them being very good real estate investments. I like the idea of a hangar and if I was willing to move could build a hangar home but I'm not willing. So I park outdoors. Regional economics are what they are. I prefer having a second (warm climate) home for me as opposed to buying one for the plane. Everyone's priorities are different.
 
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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That was me. I figure it's because 150s are super gutless at this altitude so they're not shown much love. Ha. Looking at N numbers in my logbook, all the 150s I've flown have migrated downhill to places where they can be flown year round.
 
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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