I'm nearing retirement so the wife and I are trying to decide where to spend the next decade or so. Away from the DC area is as firm a decision as we've made so far. We do want a living situation that provides easier access to our plane. One option is to buy, or build a house on an airpark. I wonder what the collective experience of the community is regarding the relative merits of living on an airport versus owning a hangar on an airport and having a home nearby, but not on airport property.

Does the declining pilot population make airport homes hard to sell later on, or does the demand look like it will outstrip the supply of airport homes for years to come? Are there negative tax issues associated with owning a home on an airport? How about insurance issues? Finally, where is the best place to settle that offers the best balance of big city benefits (good health care, broadband access, other diversions for days that aren't flyable) and country comforts (low crime, reasonable traffic, manageable costs)? We really are open to a very wide range of possibilities...

I imagine, though don't know for reasons that will soon become apparent, that air parks might offer some level of community that otherwise would be lacking.

That said, I have noticed that air parks tend to be pretty well connected to expensive homes. You can buy an awful lot of rural land, build a house (or live in what's already there), plow under the corn and enjoy your own grass strip.

Looks like next summer our 1,500 ft strip will be ready to go in just such a setup. I guess I'll be ok with trading the beauty of central Mexico for the opportunity to fly out of my backyard if that's how things pan out.

And if you do things this way, then when you are ready to sell you have a perk for another pilot (a grass strip), but it won't be a liability for a non-pilot (land can be turned back into pasture and the hanger will hold tractors).

I have a friend who has done both, live on an airpark and live very near an airport (he says it takes 2 minutes from his door to his hangar now). If you want, I'll contact him and get his take on your questions.

Cary

There is someone on the homebuilt forums who has a real problem, he owns a place but the airpark community committee went all crazy and started getting political etc - banning non-owners aircraft and such. He is trying to get out, no luck selling, so far... he makes it sound like a hard sell. Now that maybe just one disgruntled person's opinion, I really have no idea at all.... A search would probably find his posts.

I looked into a few local airparks and was shocked to meet enough people living on them that HATE airplanes. After about the third one, I decided because of where I want to live, I'm going to have to do it myself, which leaves a lot of cheap land and hangars for sale out of the question.

Knocking on a few doors and making a few calls is definitely worth your time, both in the airpark and outside. Figuring out the long-term viability of your ideal living solution is worth its weight in gold.

Flyhound,

Come visit Austin Texas and check out the surrounding Hill Country. Loads of airports and airparks to choose from, great flying weather. Cost of living, avgas, homes, etc will blow your mind compared to the east coast. Friendly people, very low crime rate (we are all well armed and the criminal element knows it). Abundant health care facilities. Oh, and no income tax.

If you decide to visit let me know and I'll be happy to show you the area.

Same with northern Nevada. We're close to city stuff (and Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Yosemite, etc, etc...) but only minutes away from one of the biggest outdoor playgrounds in the US. I think as a group, the BCP bunch around here do a pretty good job of keeping themselves entertained.

We're in Dayton, NV http://www.airnav.com/airport/A34 and there's a few more airparks in the area. Attitudes are good, and relatively speaking, prices are low.

Gump

Check it out http://www.goldbeachproperties.net/sear ... o=12078579

Good crabbing and salmon fishing

Tim

Flyhound,

I've been looking at airpark properties since purchasing my plane about eight years ago.
There are homes on the market today, that were on the market back then.
I've concluded that I would prefer to live in an area fairly close to an airport, and purchase or rent a hangar.
Reason is, there is a very small market share of buyers wanting to live on an airport, which will be a problem come time to sell.
Then out of that very small market share, you will have to find a buyer that likes your property (good luck with that)
And the big reason is....
I need a place to go that's out of the house/hangar, and what better place than the local airport.
There you have folks to visit with, help each other, loan/borrow tools, and give the wife time away from you

There are many airpark properties on the market. I'm sure you could find one to rent for a while to test the "Living on an Airpark" concept.

Good luck regardless what you decide.

Skytruck,

I think I can shed some light on your Avitar with a quote from my youth:

"I'm having an argument with my CoPilot. The little red needle is pointing to E, and while that's always stood for excellence in my book, I guess it means I'm out of gas"
Pastor Rod Flash
Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers

*edited to provide the aviation context of the quote*

Unless somebody is shooting at you... then it stands for "Enough"

Thanks all. The horror stories about airport associations gone wild and airparks that become dominated by non-pilots give me the heebeegeebees. I like RW2's thoughts about buying a chunk of land large enough to build my own strip, but that idea comes with its own set of challenges. Finding a piece of land large enough, shaped right, cheap enough and yet close enough to town to have access to infrastructure (like a broadband connection) isn't easy. If I do find the right piece of land, getting the permits for operating an airplane on the property is a big question mark. If I can solve those problems, I'd need to hire, or rent the equipment needed to prepare the landing strip. I prefer grass, so it won't involve a major paving project, but I have no clue about how to price out the necessary investment. For those of you that have gone through the process of building their own strip, some feedback on that would be helpful.

The description of property in Texas, Nevada, and the home for sale in Gold Beach, OR all sound interesting. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start my retirement off with a leisurely trip around the country checking out places to live. We could then focus on the specific cost/benefit questions for individual sites rather than trying to find global answers.

Cary: If you could get more feedback from your buddy that lives near an airport, I'd appreciate that. Some specifics about the particular airport would also be helpful. At many of the airports around here, tenants are barred from working on their own planes, and no tools or combustibles are allowed to be stored in the hangars. Those kinds of restrictions are what got me started on the airpark idea, since I want to do the allowed owner maintenance on my Maule (oil changes etc.).

I have family in Oregon, and old friends in the Seattle area, so the northwest is an attractive area to me. Northern Nevada isn't far from there, so that is also a real possibility. I've never lived in Texas, but I lived in New Mexico for 8 years, and loved life in the high desert, but the air was too rough for my non-pilot friends and my wife pretty much all summer long. My own kids got beat up so bad on their first flight (in October, when the thermals were supposed to be quieter) that they lost all interest in small planes. As young adults, they will fly with me, but they don't look forward to it, and they are on edge the whole flight.

The problem of finding the ideal living situation as a pilot is not a bad problem to have. I think I'll enjoy the process of finding our next living situation. We're on a 1 year countdown, but we could change sooner if the right situation appears. I'll do some research on the airport home in Gold Beach as one option.

I live 4 minutes from door to door at a muni. Fuel tank 150' from my hangar door. Runway lights. Maintenance available on the field. I don't have to plow the runway. It is a lot more attractive than having/maintaining my own field.

I spend a lot of time at the airport because my office is there. I've decided that having only pilots for neighbors would suck. I'm so sick of the same old stories the old guys tell over and over, forgetting that you were their captive audience the last time. The kid with the new license feels empowered to announce landing # 43 with a too close buzz of hangar row. Most of us that fly are comfortable being in charge, thus, every project is long on chiefs and short on braves. At least living somewhere else allows me to escape on a bad day, having nowhere to run to would be hard. I use my 8 minute drive to file, check weather, or arrange a ride. I rarely wish I was closer.

Short final at my place.


I know it is a bit below glide path. I had a Korean pilot friend at the controls when I took the pic.

Tim

rw2 wrote:I imagine, though don't know for reasons that will soon become apparent, that air parks might offer some level of community that otherwise would be lacking.

That said, I have noticed that air parks tend to be pretty well connected to expensive homes. You can buy an awful lot of rural land, build a house (or live in what's already there), plow under the corn and enjoy your own grass strip.

Looks like next summer our 1,500 ft strip will be ready to go in just such a setup. I guess I'll be ok with trading the beauty of central Mexico for the opportunity to fly out of my backyard if that's how things pan out.

And if you do things this way, then when you are ready to sell you have a perk for another pilot (a grass strip), but it won't be a liability for a non-pilot (land can be turned back into pasture and the hanger will hold tractors).

My thinking is very similar to this.....

I bought 80 acres and went through the complete FAA cert process to get my 3000' strip listed and received a conditional use permit for it from Sublette County to keep everything above board and totally legal... I control my destiny and that alone is worth in getting a good nights sleep....

Probably sooner then later I will offer some lots for sale to other aviation fanatics so they too can live with their planes and control their destiny too... The question is, do I split it up into 4- 20 acre lots or 8 -10 acre lots or will 20 - 5 acre lots work the best ???? No matter what the land cost to potential buyers will be very affordable and probably cheaper then some people spend on their yearly property taxes in some parts of the country / world..... And like the poster I quoted says.............. "if it does not work out, convert the land back into farm / grazing land" is always good for a plan B option...

http://maps.avnwx.com/airport/2WY3


http://www.airnav.com/airport/2WY3

There's a website listing all the airpaks by state . I say make it a place near family or friends . I have a place on airpark in AZ that my airplane(s) live . Planning on building house but for now it,s just hanger & trailer . Tim has a neat set up with his house /farm /hobby shop airstrip all owned by him. The airparks have set of rules that may or may not be what you want. If you can find a piece of land -say 20-30 acres or so in a area you can operate your airplane safety that's good . I've got 2 more property s with access to airstrips . Dependent on how often you fly will determine if you need to join airpark or get your own place. I like my freedom to fly when and where I want , some airparks may be restricted in that respect . Make it a area you can fly year round , got. Several friends who can only operate at certen. Times of year .

Tim: That is one sweet piece of property with a fantastic view! Do you want to adopt me? Tell your Korean friend to pull up so the strip isn't damaged!

I'm following this with interest. Actually, I'm not interested in living at an airpark but I do want to have my own runway. When I was going to move my family to Colorado we sold our house and packed our bags. Since we didn't move we are living out of a storage unit and shopping for a house. For some reason I have a real dislike for my home airport and spending an extra 15k for a place I could put in a 1000ft runway totally worth it to me. Tim's place would be awesome.

Stol -

In looking at the area of your strip, from a satellite view anyway, there appears to be no trees.

If this is true, I would personally want at least 20 acres to have some privacy.

Do you have a constant west wind?