Moving hundreds of miles to a new home often marks the beginning of an exciting personal chapter. The actual process and seemingly endless paperwork, though, can be stressful, frustrating, and exhausting.
Turn all of that up a notch if you own an airplane.
While coordinating the acquisition of a hangar when purchasing an aircraft is challenging, finding the right dwellings for yourself and your flying machine simultaneously in a new region can feel like an impossible juggle.
Pilots shopping for an airplane can delay a purchase until they have secured a hangar, but those who already own an aircraft often have to commit to a new family home before finding storage at a local airport. Indeed, the common desire to live near vibrant metropolitan areas tends to conflict with hangar acquisition because airports in such neighborhoods routinely measure their waiting lists for hangars in years if not generations.
While finding a hangar might seem daunting, there are ways to improve your chances of getting it done in a timely manner. I drew on years of experience while seeking shelter for Annie, our 1992 Commander 114B, close to my new home in Vermont. After a few less-than-ideal airport arrangements, I think I have developed a fairly effective approach to hangar hunting.
Cast a Wide Net
Having lived most of my life in northern New Jersey, below New York’s Class B shelf, I am accustomed to crowded airspace, busy airports, and a scant supply of hangars. Rents in the region are high, but availability is the real problem. As a result, pilots in my area typically keep their aircraft at rural airports an hour’s drive or more from home.
When my wife, Alex, and I decided to buy an airplane, I immediately began looking for a hangar. I called every airport within a 20-mile circle that I drew on the sectional chart around our home town. No luck beyond getting my name on a few long waiting lists. I drew ever-larger circles, but the replies did not change.
Frustration and worry set in.
Thanks to our lengthy aircraft-shopping process, we did not need a hangar right away, so I had time to keep conversations going with several airport managers. The interactions were educational, as I learned more about some of the reasons behind the hangar shortage, from difficulties with building permits to the wave of people using hangars to store almost anything except airplanes.
Maintain Contact
Keeping in touch was also beneficial. When the man leasing hangars at Sussex Airport (KFWN) called me one day to let me know a hangar would be available soon, he said he thought of me first because he had enjoyed our conversations. Regular contact helped again years later when we moved to Blairstown Airport (1N7) to take advantage of a newly paved runway and a mechanic on the field.
The news was disappointing, but I stayed in contact, visiting the airport regularly, following up with the manager for updates, but never nagging. I mentioned how much my wife loved the airport’s beautiful setting, on-field restaurant, and pristine pavement. After a few months the manager called to offer me one of the older existing hangars, which the previous tenant had just vacated. He thanked me for being patient.
My latest move was the most complicated. Alex and I recently moved to northern Vermont after she accepted a job offer there. I found space for Annie in a private hangar at Northeast Kingdom International Airport (KEFK) right away but heard later that the owner was planning to sell. Ideally I would prefer the relative stability of a municipal hangar that is unlikely to change hands unexpectedly. I also would like a spot closer to home. A 30-minute drive to the airport would be nice instead of slightly more than an hour to KEFK.
Again, I checked airports within a reasonable radius, from Montpelier and Lyndonville, Vermont, to Lebanon, New Hampshire. Nothing was available. I added more waiting lists to my collection but also made more connections with airport personnel who, I hoped, would think of me when opportunities arise.
Leave No Stone Unturned
“Have you tried Dean Memorial?” Alex asked, while looking at a chart. “It’s close.”
I had looked at Dean (5B9) several times and meant to call but kept putting it off because success there seemed so unlikely. Dean is a small, rural, municipal field with a 2,511-foot-by-58-foot runway and just a few hangars. After looking at photos of the place I considered it a long shot. That was a mistake. I should know by now to avoid making assumptions.
At Alex’s urging I picked up the phone. I have found that an old-fashioned cold call is by far the best method of contact in these situations, unless you have time to fly in for a visit. Manager Dennis Cunningham answered on the first ring. I told him about our recent move and our search for a new hangar, and braced myself for more bad news. To my surprise, he said there were, in fact, two hangars available—an embarrassment of riches.
I immediately claimed one and drove to the field to see the hangar, sign the necessary forms, and pay my first month’s rent of $300 (my best deal yet). I did not want to miss this rare opportunity. I had no reason to worry, though, as Cunningham said he was happy to hold my place.
He later explained that the airport’s short-ish runway has kept many pilots from basing their aircraft there. I quietly thanked my instructor, Rich Bartlett, who was familiar with all of the local short fields—2,000 feet or less—and made me land on most of them on the way to my private pilot certificate.
When I headed to the airport around 3 p.m. to meet Cunningham, a retired airline pilot, I told Alex I would be back soon. The only other item on the day’ schedule was a 7 p.m. dinner reservation.
It was a chilly November day, and as I settled into a chair in the airport office, warmed by a propane heater and riveted by Cunningham’s stories of flying Lockheed L1011s, I recognized my error. Fortunately for me, Alex knows there is no such thing as a short airport visit.
“Success?” she queried, with a subtle note of sarcasm, when I returned home about three hours later. “Yes,” I answered, adding that Dean might be the field of our dreams.
And, yes, we just made it to dinner.
The Aviation Consumer: A Hangar of Your Own
FLYING Magazine: The Risks and Rewards of a Shared Hangar
FLYING Magazine: Hangar Direct Provides Options for Aircraft Seeking Temporary Shelter