Keeping a plane on tiedown?

Bill

Bill

Touchdown! Greaser!
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How bad is it for the aircraft? Consider a plane covered by a Bruce's or similar cover.

All three airports within a 20min drive have no hangar availability, and none of them have turned one this year. Our most prefered airport, 3M3, has not turned a hangar in several years. Someone needs to die, and the wiating list is 30 deep.

Dalton (DNN) has hangars available, but it is a 52min drive good traffic, probably 1.5hrs rush hour. Ugh.

We're checking HDI, that is only a 32min drive...
 
In your area (no oceans, rare blizzards) I think the biggest threat to your airplane is hail. If you don't get a lot of hail, then I'd think a tiedown is reasonable.

YES your paint will suffer some from the sun, but unless it's a showplane it shouldn't be enough to bother you. A good washing now and then and twice a year polish/wax should keep it nice.

A good cover will protect your glass and your panel. Don't forget plugs to fight against birds (hangars have mice, often more destructive).
 
Bill Jennings said:
Dalton (DNN) has hangars available, but it is a 52min drive good traffic, probably 1.5hrs rush hour. Ugh.

We're checking HDI, that is only a 32min drive...
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Most of the plane kept here are owned by people in the St. Louis area and that is a good hour to hour and a half for some. Another thing about ramp tiedowns is heavy snow, wings are not designed to support the load from the top and this can be an unseen problem after the snow melts.
 
Getting a hangar is a bear, most places. Sometimes at our airport one can sublet a space in a slightly larger hangar, a hangar that might hold, say, 2 or 3 or 4 small planes. It can be a hassle, sometimes you have to move two or more of the tenant's planes to get your own in or out, problems with someone doing that and dinging your plane. But a cover might be the only option, tied down outside. We get lots of frost here, sometimes snow, and by luck I became friends with an A & P who has his own shop. Before I got a hangar, sometimes he would let me tow the plane over and into his hangar overnight, if I was going to need it early the next a.m. [before he opened for business]. He doesn't always have room for this, but it is one idea if you have frost there. [He also let me put mine in his hangar once when hail was forecast.] I now have a hangar, after a three-year wait.

We are high altitude here, and UV light is bad on paint. We try to keep our planes clean and waxed, particularly if left outside in the sun. The heat in the interior is bad for avionics and killer on plastic. People have told me that it also discolors the windows, so a good cover is really essential.
 
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Another thing to think about: The price difference between a hangar and a tiedown pays for a paint job every X years. (Calculate the payback time given your local prices.) Locally a tiedown is $80 a month and a hangar is $500. That means you could spend $10K on paint every TWO YEARS. Keep a cover on the cabin to keep the sun off the stack and interior, and sitting outside is hardly a death sentence for a metal airplane.
 
Our airport is closing Tuesday so I have to move out of the hangar. Haven't found another yet.

I went though all the logical stuff and tying down is rationally cheaper. But being able to keep tools, oil, extra equipment extra near the plane; having a place to plug in, change oil, clean it, do minor maintenance; knowing no one ran into it since the last flight; well I WANT A HANGAR. I don't care how many times I can repaint. Lots of intangibles.

I'll get inside but will probably have to tie down for a few weeks.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Another thing to think about: The price difference between a hangar and a tiedown pays for a paint job every X years. (Calculate the payback time given your local prices.) Locally a tiedown is $80 a month and a hangar is $500. That means you could spend $10K on paint every TWO YEARS. Keep a cover on the cabin to keep the sun off the stack and interior, and sitting outside is hardly a death sentence for a metal airplane.
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Preserving paint isn't anywhere near the top of my list of reasons for hangaring my Baron. the more important issues for me are:

1> Keeping the ice and snow off the plane in winter.
2> Having a place to do minor work on it.
3> Having a warm place to work on it in the winter.
4> Keeping supplies and tools handy.
5> Protection from high winds and tornados.
6> Being able to warm the plane and engines up before starting in the winter.
7> Hiding the plane from airplane and avionics thieves.
8> Parking my car(s) out of the weather when I'm flying a trip.
9> Not having to worry about finding a damaged airplane when I come to the airport to fly it.

If I lived in a warmer climate, the ice/snow issue might go away, but then I'd need a place out of the hot sun to work on the plane. And as to the wind issue, with a Baron, I'm more concerned about some other plane or loose debris than I am about my plane getting loose, but there's virtually nothing I could do about that except keep my plane in a hangar.
 
My Mooney lived in the dry country for several years prior to my buying it and bringing it to the East Coast. While the part was faded and somewhat oxidized at being nearly twenty years old, there was not even a hint of corrosion. After being outside on a tiedown in Southern NJ the airplane developed surface corrosion on fasteners, screws, and anything else where there was bare metal. When we decided to paint the airplane and redo the interior, finding a hanger became a very high priority. A few months after the work was completed, I was reassigned to Oklahoma where my first priority was buying a hanger. While there is no way that the airplane is safe from a direct hit from a tornado, falling space debris, or just overwhelmingly bad Karma, it's far better than being out on an open ramp. Good luck and I hope you find one soon.
 
30 people on a waiting list isn't bad. Honestly. I'm on the waiting list at my local airport, last time I checked, I was #109 on the list.

I've been on a tie-down for 3 years. The winter months (living in Michigan) are nasty. Brushing/De-Icing the snow or ice from the plane, pre-heating the engine, minor maintaince (oil changes in winter), are all dreadfull. Did I include shoveling the snow away from your tie-down pad??

Yes, all in all it's cheaper and you'll save money. But having the option of changing your oil in a hanger away from the elements, or in the blistering windy cold will make you think otherwise.

I just moved my plane to a hanger at another airport. And for the first time, I enjoyed pulling the plane out and not having to worry about frost.

If you can deal with Olde Man Winter, then stay on the tie-down. I just didn't enjoy spending 1 1/2 hours every morning just preping the plane to fly to work.
 
anumerick said:
30 people on a waiting list isn't bad. Honestly. I'm on the waiting list at my local airport, last time I checked, I was #109 on the list.
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The problem is there are over 30 on the waiting lists, and they haven't turned a hanger in 3 years.
 
With that many interestered in a hangar you should be able to find a few willing to commit to constructing some T-hangars or a multiplane hangar. Won't know unless you ask. Often the only reason there is a hangar shortage is the airport authority (the land owner) hasn't be presented a reasonable plan for expansion.

Bill Jennings said:
The problem is there are over 30 on the waiting lists, and they haven't turned a hanger in 3 years.
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Steve said:
Often the only reason there is a hangar shortage is the airport authority (the land owner) hasn't be presented a reasonable plan for expansion.
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3M3 already has plans drawn up for new hangars, but they still haven't gotten going.
 
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