Tie down at SMO or VNY?

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sleeper-319

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sleeper-319
I’m in LA about 12-15 days a month, and looking for advice on where to keep my airplane for those days. I currently stay in WeHo and keep use transient at KWHP. But will be moving out of the WeHo place in October.

Considering getting an apartment in Santa Monica for a year. I doubt I’d get a hangar, so that means a tie down outside. SMO and VNY seem to have tie downs available, and I’m wondering between these options:
- tie down at SMO; ~15 mins to airport, corrosion risk
- tie down at VNY; sunny and hot (I have a cover), 30 mins to infinity drive over the 405.

My plane is an 87 Mooney that’s currently corrosion free, and has clear plastics and still shiny original paint). Is a coastal airport a really bad idea for corrosion, or with 10-15 days a month for a year, should I not worry about it?
 
All have to say about this is that not sitting in LA traffic is worth the risk of parking at SMO 100%.

You will not have an issue if you are intermittently parking at Santa Monica. Leave your plane there uncovered and unattended for 5 or 10 years is a different story.

I’m curious what a tie down at Santa Monica costs these days?
 
AA5Bman said:
I’m curious what a tie down at Santa Monica costs these days?
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I haven’t called yet to confirm availability. The website (last updated in 2019) says they are available at $124 a month (<-- edit: confirmed they are avail and still at this price). The Park at VNY is $210 I think, but landing fees at SMO offset that difference.

I agree on LA traffic. If corrosion is a non-issue, SMO makes sense.
 
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If you haven't, do a good Corrosion-X or similar fogging treatment, and repeat about every 3 years.
 
Try calling Million Air at BUR. BUR is GA friendly and never the clusterf&*k that VNY is. Even VFR is piece of cake into BUR and the controllers accommodating. I fly into there exclusively now instead of VNY who doesn't like GA. If you can work out a deal with them(don't see why not) I'd do that over SMO and VNY...unless of course I lived in Santa Monica.
 
Hmm…ok. I’ve actually been in Million Air a handful of times flying corporate (passenger, not pilot) and even landed at BUR a handful of times, but not stayed. I got the sense that BUR would be way more expensive than other options, but I’ll give it a look.
 
Todd82 said:
Landing fees for a piston single that is based on the field? Ew.
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Yeah, It’s slated for closure, and I’m not super familiar with all the history, but it does seem that the city wants to make it unappealing to fly there.
 
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