It would be interesting to know from the owners at EuroGA how much time do they need to get to their aircraft
I am 30-35 minutes from Cannes LFMD. That’s kind of OK, much more wouldn’t be. In the US I had the luxury of being 15 minutes from my base, Palo Alto KPAO, and having absolutely the same weather. The plane is maintained at Cuers LFTF (and has been there since November awaiting the engine overhaul :-( ), which is 1h30 away. That is definitely too far.
When we’re at our other place on the Atlantic coast, the nearest place I can find to keep my plane, if I take it, is Arcachon LFCH. That’s 1h45 away. Apart from the driving time, the other problem is that the weather is often completely different. Driving nearly 4h to fly is one thing, but driving 4h to discover that the weather is cr@p and not fly, is another. So in practice during the 6 weeks my plane was there last year, I didn’t fly it a single time!
Arun wrote:
I would have gone for an Europa XS
The Europa is one of the most underrated aircraft around in my opinion – for so many reasons of which hangarage problems is just one….
If you trailer it, you could maintain it at home, refuel at a car station, even choose an airfield you fly from on a daily basis etc etc.
Arun wrote:
It would be interesting to know from the owners at EuroGA how much time do they need to get to their aircraft and how does it affect the kind of flying they do.
I’m 25 minutes by car from my airfield. It still feels like slightly too much for a quick flight after work.
I thought we had a thread on exactly that topic but I can’t find it. This search gets close.
I am 15 mins away, but my 2 litre VW has been remapped 
If EGKA closed I would have to move to EGKB (Biggin) which is 1:20hrs and not a nice place politically AFAICT.
Fortunately I had a relatively easy time getting a hangar at Rotterdam, though I’m not sure there’s still space 3 years later. It’s also very expensive and by far the largest contributor to my expense. Rotterdam was 35 min from my house when I started and now 50 min after having moved. EHHV (Hilversum) is only 15 min, but I’d rather go further to get pavement, lights, and IAPs.
As the originator of this thread, at the time I was really frustrated by my project airplane. Now after I’ve sorted everything out I’m very happy with ownership and enjoy trips that would never be possible as a renter.
a few pointers of my own…
- drive to the field 20 minutes if all traffic signals on green, double that during peak hours
- I had to wait 8 years to get hangar space. One thing in CH is that the wait time for hangar space has been going up and down over time, and that has not necessarily been linked to economics
- I guess all advantages in owning have been told thru these 255 posts. I might (again) add one, and that is if you own some special aircraft. One can rent a beaten up Cessna, Piper, or whatever spam can (yes, even TB’s) pretty much anywhere. But there are many very appealing, most of them in the historic, UL or homebuilt categories, airplanes that one just can’t rent.
- and another point is what owning one’s aircraft can bring as side benefits. One example is social, as in types fly-ins (which I probably would not attend in a rented ship), another example is doing one’s own maintenance or mods.
Not sure I’d keep flying if I was condemned to rent…
My experience of getting hangarage locally was that it can be a chicken and egg situation. If you call an airfield owner and say you want hangarage because you might buy a plane soon, you probably won’t get taken seriously (unless you are already known to them, in which case it’s different). This can be a pain because you then can’t buy a plane until you have hangarage ready… In my case I had to buy something with folding wings, but it worked to get me in and known which then presented more opportunities later on.
Regards Europa rigging/derigging, personally that would be too much for me before and after each flight.
I have sold my aircraft and do miss the freedom one has flying your own plane. It did suffer from serious downtime every once in a while tho: new prop; waiting for parts from Mooney and general maintenance. It takes a bit more planning now but flying as a member of a flying club saves serious amounts of money, although I do fly a little less now then when owning my own airplane, I do tend to make the flights I do more memorable. I don’t regret selling as it was a serious drain on limited funds and flying wise I still do a lot of nice and rewarding flights. I get more value for money. Still, going back from 180 KTAS to 128 KTAS is a b#tch.
I fully agree that hangar space at suitable airfields is a MASSIVE problem. The only way to deal with it, after a fashion, is to put yourself on each waiting list and wait out your turn. In that time, you need to buy an airplane which can be safely left outside. And contrary to popular belief, that works, particularly if you have a full cover and are around to regularly take care of it. Most planes which have to stay outside rot away because they are left without cover or are left under the cover for months at a time, which is anyway a non starter.
Like Dan, I waited a long time to get a hangar, incidentally at the same airfield as he is based at. And i only got it because a plane of the similar type left and they could not fit anyone into that spot who was before me on the waiting list. Otherwise, I’d still be waiting.
There is a twist however: My original homebase LSZH is 3 minutes driving time away and I was there for 10 years outside. My hangar space is now close to 45 minutes away and is day VFR only. Yes, I’ll fully admit that this makes me extremely angry at the “airport politics” at LSZH, particularly as it is also my professional home. Being outpriced and de facto denied access to that facility you live nearby and being also deprived of IFR/NIGHT/AoE is bitter. Very bitter. On the other hand, the welcome we got at LSZF was as lovely as it could have been, which made me wonder why we did not move there earlier. Obviously the driving time and the illusion that I’d go back to IFR one day was the main reason.
The general situation regarding GA in Europe and the lack of infrastructure has lead to a 90% VFR and hobby crowd as opposed to the serious travel tool GA is elsewhere. There is no easy solution to it, other than a monumental change in legislation which makes ALL airports public infrastructure with a regulated fee index. But that won’t happen because nobody takes this solution seriously.
For people like hazek who is trying to get in, the only variant is to accept that he can only own an airplane with an outside stand while waiting for a hangar. That means to get a plane which can withstand that and to get full rain resistant covers for it and bide your time, while visiting the possible airports at regular intervals, get friendly with the locals and hope for an opening.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
For people like hazek who is trying to get in, the only variant is to accept that he can only own an airplane with an outside stand while waiting for a hangar. That means to get a plane which can withstand that and to get full rain resistant covers for it and bide your time, while visiting the possible airports at regular intervals, get friendly with the locals and hope for an opening.
Well it´s not like @hazek is special is it. It´s always been a struggle to secure hangar spaces, and this has not changed. So, like, to the dislike, like the rest of us, he´ll have to suck it up and wait it out – like we all did (or not – I didn´t gnsk gnsk). C´est la vie!
One think seems to have been established in this thread. Sending emails to various hangar owner and clubs just doesn´t quite cut the cake. You have to put on your boots and go chat your way in. Make the effort. Suck it up. Deal with the Peter politics and all that crap. Then when it´s your turn, or you greased the right people the right way, you´ll get you spot. It´s sucks a big lollipop that it works that way – but hey, do you really, really want that hangar space? ;-)
