Got to Experience having a Hangar for a Week

WDD

WDD

Final Approach
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Oct 16, 2019
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Atlanta / Marietta
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Vintage Snazzy (so my adult children say)
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KPUJ
A friend is out of town for a week and is letting me use his hangar. Did an oil change, and did some interior work. I had to fabricate a repair for the arm rest door bracket on passenger door with some sheet metal, and a few other things.

Doing this shielded from the sun and rain is nice. Having the tools sitting there, being able to leave the cowling off over night, etc., all good. Essentially a man cave where you have a place to put your new tools you didn't think you needed and turn wrenches on the plane for fun.

Wife said we need one of these things. They rent for ONLY $1200 - $1300 a month for a box hangar. The bigger problem is I'm actually thinking about it.

1) I could do it for a year and get it out of my system
2) At my age I've got 10 - 15 more years of flying, so why not
3) Damn that's expensive https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/hangar-monthly-rent.149045/

So..... talk me down off of this ledge LOL.
 
WDD said:
A friend is out of town for a week and is letting me use his hangar. Did an oil change, and did some interior work. I had to fabricate a repair for the arm rest door bracket on passenger door with some sheet metal, and a few other things.

Doing this shielded from the sun and rain is nice. Having the tools sitting there, being able to leave the cowling off over night, etc., all good. Essentially a man cave where you have a place to put your new tools you didn't think you needed and turn wrenches on the plane for fun.

Wife said we need one of these things. They rent for ONLY $1200 - $1300 a month for a box hangar. The bigger problem is I'm actually thinking about it.

1) I could do it for a year and get it out of my system
2) At my age I've got 10 - 15 more years of flying, so why not
3) Damn that's expensive https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/hangar-monthly-rent.149045/

So..... talk me down off of this ledge LOL.
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Just listen to the voices…

https://clip.cafe/national-lampoons-animal-house-1978/****-brains-out/
 
WDD said:
talk me down off of this ledge LOL.
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I might do the opposite.

Yes, that is eye-watering, but....

Owner-assisted annuals and maintenance become feasible, and that'll offset some of the hangar costs.
Put some shelving in there and store all the crap and seasonal items that clutter your house/basement/garage, or are stored in a unit that you're already paying rent for.

Allows you to downsize the house in the future, yielding even more savings in taxes/maintenance.
 
WDD said:
1) I could do it for a year and get it out of my system
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Everyone is different, but personally, I would not get it out of my system. I would get used to it and moving back outside would become nothing but a bad dream. I think I'd sell my Bonanza if I had t move out of my T.
 
A hangar is the best investment I've made for our plane. We had one in California while stationed there, and have one here in Washington while the Navy has me here. A secure place to keep the plane and tools. No need to put the cowl back on overnight while doing maintenance. Owner assisted anything is easier. We also use it for storage as has been already mentioned with our holiday decorations living at the hanger during their off season. We have chairs, a small couch, refrigerator, coffee table and radio to listen to the CTAF. It's basically a hangout for us and friends as I get the plane ready for a flight or wait out early morning weather to clear so we can be ready to go as soon as the skies clear up. If we get orders to stay here I might add a small Blackstone grill so we can cook food and have proper gatherings when the flying weather isn't great. I've seen everything from TVs to exercise equipment sharing space with planes and if you've got the time to essentially live at the airport I support all those options. $1200/month is steep for me but if that's what it was I'd still consider trying to make it work personally.
 
I have been lucky to have a rented T hangar since 2018. Yes it has been my man cave and I do store cars and stuff in it including the 172. It is the cheapest indoor storage anywhere.
Have done every annual and repair in it since. It will be years I hope before I give it up.
My buddy next door moved his plane to Ft Worth but is keeping his hangar here for now. He said I could use it. I have no use for it really and don't want to start putting stuff in it. Sadly I have not been to the airport much this year since he is not around much anymore.
When I first got it I spent all my free time there. Times change, that is one thing that will never change.
 
This reads like “I got to try a highly addictive drug for free today. It was fun but I think it will be expensive if I get hooked. Should I try it just for a year?”

I couldn’t even downsize from a Yukon to a Land Cruiser. I would be completely lost if I had to give up my hangar. My vote is to do it before your wife realizes what she said.
 
WDD said:
A friend is out of town for a week and is letting me use his hangar. Did an oil change, and did some interior work. I had to fabricate a repair for the arm rest door bracket on passenger door with some sheet metal, and a few other things.

Doing this shielded from the sun and rain is nice. Having the tools sitting there, being able to leave the cowling off over night, etc., all good. Essentially a man cave where you have a place to put your new tools you didn't think you needed and turn wrenches on the plane for fun.

Wife said we need one of these things. They rent for ONLY $1200 - $1300 a month for a box hangar. The bigger problem is I'm actually thinking about it.

1) I could do it for a year and get it out of my system
2) At my age I've got 10 - 15 more years of flying, so why not
3) Damn that's expensive https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/hangar-monthly-rent.149045/

So..... talk me down off of this ledge LOL.
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"Wife said we need one of these things."

why is there any discussion?

GET THE HANGAR.
 
^^ what he said.

Which should mean you have someone to help clean it, and that is really the only other downside I can see besides cost.
I've never not had a hangar, so I don't know any amount, but insurance always asks if it's still hangared every year at renewal. Potentially another offset for expense. (assuming you have insurance)

But beware, you will want more stuff... tools, space heater, fan, lighting, and more! Which can be fun, but once you get rid of the hangar, you'll have to get a bigger house again to keep all the stuff you bought :D
 
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Cannot imagine a plane without a hangar. Yes, first world problems…. However, it is SO nice for all the reasons above, plus you have a pretty good certainty that nobody has done anything nefarious to your bird.
 
We had a similar epiphany about another type of structure two week ago. We’re now under contract and close in three weeks. Took longer for us to give ourselves permission to ‘splurge’ on something we could afford to splurge on than it dis to actually find the goldilocks thing to splurge on.

If it helps, it’s okay to move from the ramp to a hangar; nobody’s going to think lesser of you.
 
Yowza!!! $1,200+ a month…. I am fortunate to only pay $375/mo for a community hangar….but it’s a nice community. That being said, the surrounding area is a bit of an ‘armpit’, not a nicer metro area.

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For two years I had leased a hangar at one airport and a tie-down space at another. I much preferred flying out of the airport with the tie-down - and used the hangar for winter and any pending large storms. But this year I, too, discovered how nice the hangar was for cleaning and other general maintenance - so I finally cancelled the tie-down lease. We've had a lot of really nasty weather this summer and I enjoyed just going the hangar to "tinker" with my vintage Ercoupe. I'm also saving the $60/month tie-down rent.
 
I got a hangar just after loosing my plane to a hurricane. Got another plane and everything is working out fine.my problem is the hangar is 1 1/2 hours away. So I have a shade hangar on a grass strip for good weather times. Both hangars are under 800 combined. Well worth it
 
Beachy said:
For two years I had leased a hangar at one airport and a tie-down space at another. I much preferred flying out of the airport with the tie-down - and used the hangar for winter and any pending large storms. But this year I, too, discovered how nice the hangar was for cleaning and other general maintenance - so I finally cancelled the tie-down lease. We've had a lot of really nasty weather this summer and I enjoyed just going the hangar to "tinker" with my vintage Ercoupe. I'm also saving the $60/month tie-down rent.
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"I'm also saving the $60/month tie-down rent."

I had to laugh at that attempt to claim "savings" (no mention of the cost of the hangar...)

:)
 
Bob Noel said:
"I'm also saving the $60/month tie-down rent."

I had to laugh at that attempt to claim "savings" (no mention of the cost of the hangar...)

:)
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The savings are that he no longer pays both. Yeah, the tie-down was inexpensive compared to the hangar, but why pay both?
 
Bob Noel said:
"I'm also saving the $60/month tie-down rent."

I had to laugh at that attempt to claim "savings" (no mention of the cost of the hangar...)

:)
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My hangar lease is $265/month.
 
A lot of airports are getting funding for expansions/improvements but in reality that means tear down the "old" hangars, displace current occupants, then wait 5 years and possibly risk reprogramming the funds elsewhere.
 
Our airport is leasing land to developers to build hangars. Developers put up the money, build and flip for a nice profit.
 
Are hangars available now, or do you have to wait for one to become available?

REMEMBER: If you have to get onto a wait list, you will be saving about $1100 every month that you have to wait! The more you wait, the more you save!! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, if you think you can afford it, I recommend you get the hangar! As others mentioned, being able to fiddle with your plane and not have to close it up before you go home is totally worth it!
 
WDD said:
Ok - I’m honestly surprised everybody chimed in with “get the hangar”. Was expecting to be talked off the ledge, not pushed over lol.
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That's because it's not their money; it's a vicarious utterance. Personally I find expense outsized, given it's about what my entire flying budget was when I had an airplane on a 60-100 hours a year basis. Incoming poor-shaming in 3 2....

So yea if you can afford it, knock yourself out. The only group I can't relate to are the "rather not have the airplane at all, if I can't have a hangar". Strikes me as the same vein as not having an experimental if I can't build one (or not being allowed to conditional-inspect one...*trawler engine hum* :stirpot:).
 
hindsight2020 said:
being allowed to conditional-inspect one...*trawler engine hum* :stirpot:).
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As one who owns a hot rod that was based in Reno for a decade and setup for racing, that I just signed off the condition inspection on, I will say I really like being allowed to condition inspect one.
 
hindsight2020 said:
....
So yea if you can afford it, knock yourself out. The only group I can't relate to are the "rather not have the airplane at all, if I can't have a hangar"....
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Yeah, I never understood this logic. I owned and operated aircraft, on a limited budget, for 40 years, in Alaska. Wing covers, scraping ice, preheating outside in very low temps... Not always convenient, but I was flying. Hangars in my area just seemed waaay too expensive and I had two aircraft much of the time. Paint and fabric definitely look a little worse after 25 years but the airplanes still fly the same.

I have a hangar now, in Colorado. Not cheap but not crazy high either. I think the intense sun (which we don't really get in Alaska) is harder on airframes than snow and ice.
 
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