live in hangar?

Peter Ha

Peter Ha

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Hey folks,
I was walking around my home airport and noticed a hangar with its occupant inside packing.
He had tons of stuff; like he "lives" there. Do people live in their hangars?
Could it be similar to people living inside their boat at marina? Is it "legal" to live inside hangar? Wonder if this could be cheap option for a poor CFI?
 
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I've seen hangars turned into "man-caves", complete with sofa, fridge, and TV. Along with the obligatory airplane. A place to get away for the day, kind of like "ice fishing." A little flying, maybe some owner maintenance/puttering, a little TV sports, a little beer, hopefully in that order.
 
Mine is a decked-out man cave. I use it from late spring to early fall as a hang out, and even sometimes (maybe 3 or 4 times) stay the night. My area is too cold for it to be a winter hang out though.
 
Peter Ha said:
Hey folks,
I was walking around my home airport and noticed a hangar with its occupant inside packing.
He had tons of stuff; like he "lives" there.
Do people live in their hangars?
Click to expand...

I've seen more than a few that do. Some there is like actually an 'apartment' built in there. Some they just got a cot and maybe a reefer and a hot plate.
 
chemgeek said:
I've seen hangars turned into "man-caves", complete with sofa, fridge, and TV. Along with the obligatory airplane. A place to get away for the day, kind of like "ice fishing." A little flying, maybe some owner maintenance/puttering, a little TV sports, a little beer, hopefully in that order.
Click to expand...

Some I've seen they seem to be there because they did a little to much of what you described and now they live there because the Missus had had enough and threw their azz out.
 
It isn't allowed at my airport, but we had one of the jump pilots do it for a while... Rumor has it he thwarted a burglary one night.
 
I lived in a hangar at West Houston Airport for a year. It had a nice little studio apartment built into one corner. I had views over the runway from the main room, and could look out into the hangar over my and all the other airplanes from the little kitchen unit. Amazing place to live.
 
Peter Ha said:
Hey folks,
I was walking around my home airport and noticed a hangar with its occupant inside packing.
He had tons of stuff; like he "lives" there.
Do people live in their hangars?
Is it "legal" to live inside hangar?
Click to expand...
depends upon the airport management ?
 
luvflyin said:
I've seen more than a few that do. Some there is like actually an 'apartment' built in there. Some they just got a cot and maybe a reefer and a hot plate.
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Have you seen the Speer hangers at Gillespie? They are ridiculous
 
Most hangars don't have plumbing and that would be a live-in deal breaker for me. Comfy hangout space is another thing and most of the hangars at my home airport have pilot caves built in. Some are attic spaces built above the plane, some are living room style setups adjacent to the plane. There is one hangar with an attached live-in apartment complete with plumbing, septic and kitchen. I could live in something like that, but why bother? My home is on the water, 4 minutes from the airport so I have the best of both worlds. My spouse isn't airplane crazy, so having an abode away from the airport keeps her happier. I get to hang out at the airport as much as I like and home is really close for a meal, a shower and a flush toilet.
 
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It's illegal where I live, but . . . there is one guy that has been living in his t-hangar for about 2 years. I don't think he even has a plane there. Sometimes he has a fan by the partially open sliding doors, but that could not even begin to dissipate the Florida heat in a non-ventilated metal box. I don't know how he does it.
 
Living at hangar #lifegoals
Winter we meet once or twice a week for coffee and solve world peace.
Summer it’s doors up and evenings and weekends with kids running around. Watching planes.
 
I have a hangar and runway behind my house. Does that count?
 
JOhnH said:
It's illegal where I live, but . . . there is one guy that has been living in his t-hangar for about 2 years. I don't think he even has a plane there. Sometimes he has a fan by the partially open sliding doors, but that could not even begin to dissipate the Florida heat in a non-ventilated metal box. I don't know how he does it.
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Does he have a bathroom?
He might have a small enclosed space (room, inside his plane, refrigerator box...) and a small window air conditioner.
If I had a bathroom, I could do for a little while...of course I live on a boat, so I’m used roughing it.


Tom
 
BGF_Yankee said:
...and local zoning regulations. Some cities don't allow it, some airports don't allow it...it really just depends on where you are.
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Concrete WA. the owners own the property, the city owns the airport. the airport owners run the city. they insist that the property is insured for fire. the county/state could care less about anything else.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Does he have a bathroom?
He might have a small enclosed space (room, inside his plane, refrigerator box...) and a small window air conditioner.
If I had a bathroom, I could do for a little while...of course I live on a boat, so I’m used roughing it.


Tom
Click to expand...
There is a single unisex bathroom for hangar tenants on the next row of t-hangars over. He seems to use a bicycle for commuting.
 
Its more a product of the FAA and its Grant Assurances. The FAA has a stance of no residences on FAA funded airports. The airport and local codes are based on that.
 
I have received a suggestion from my wife before that I 'may find myself living in the hangar' IF......
 
I didn’t want to waste the space in the hangar for a spare room, but I did build an elevated office and a bathroom underneath.

BDD9104C-C62D-4938-AF0F-27C676D75278.jpeg
 
I live in this hangar...
49431861157_9ae99d6c7b.jpg
 
There are a couple of those fleabags at AJO, all at the west end.

I am convinced it is why the airport floods every decade or so. biblical cleansing.
 
There are people everywhere that live in a hangars. There are airport communities for all different income levels, some that have nice, large living quarters inside the hangars.
 
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I thought real hard about building a live in hangar and selling the house.
My wife was all for it.
She made me think. Her comment was "Well when you are bored at home you leave and hang out at the airport. If you live at the airport you will have no place to go when you get bored"
She was 100% correct! So I still have my house and this mancave to hang out at the airport :Dhangar house.jpg
 
Some folks stick an RV in their hangar. I suppose it's for storage, but you could hang out in it and possibly live out of it. Well, long enough until the black tank is full. But my hangar is made from galvanized sheeting and it gets hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and noisy when it rains.

Now an airpark home would be awesome...
 
I have a sleeper sofa and matching sleeper loveseat in my hangar. Pretty comfy. Lucky for me my real bed is only about 20' away on the other side of the wall. :)
 
On a funded and FAA regulated airport it is much easier to get an 'office' with a ADA bathroom and a 'coffee kitchen' approved than a living space.

And you don't ever 'live' there, you are just 'working late'.
 
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I’ve seen some, frankly I’d wager it beats a apartment/condo type thing.
 
I have a friend that flies for one of the Japanese airlines. He is gone pretty much half of the month so no real point in owning a house. He rented a large hangar and set it up for sleeping in. When it gets too cold he stays at his parents or friends house.
 
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