we got a new "assistant airport manager" at my airport and he's on a campain to piss everyone off.....Wrote a letter to our hangar manager .....there will be no vehicles, furniture, refrigerators or non aviation articles in any hangar... that includes easy chairs , sofas or refrigerators...Now I can understand the no vehicles but chairs to sit in.... anyway he's snooping around with his clipboard looking into open hangar doors and taking notes.... haven't seen him yet when I'm there so I haven't had the oportunity to slam the door in his face...

Sounds like an overachiever... For sure!

A little whoopass may be in order...

formerly worked for the FAA... "they only want to help".....

easy solution, be kind, be nice, take him flying.........and at 6000 feet....... push the prick out!

Who is he working for? Get him another job.

county airport so I assume he's a county employee....he's already made a point of zeroing in on one guy who also has a boat in his hangar...

It's really none of his business if you have chairs or a fridge,or any other things related what's he gonna do,write a citation or what...

As the late great Jimmy Kemp used to say, "It's not an airport without a boat and a guy named Doc".

not real sure what his powers are... he advised the leasholder, I E the property mgr that they could lose their lease if they didn't comply...like I said I can understand the vehicle complaint... there are people at the airport with 5 cars and a old piece of wing hanging from the rafters... obviously the 5 cars are the reason they have the hangar, but to go so far as sofas, chairs and refrigerators, I think is unenforcable...I have a lot of household stuff on storage shelves along with a safe and refrig all next to a flying licensed Maule.

you have no idea how sick and tired I am at politicians and bureaucrats who won't leave people alone...it's going to all come to a boiling point one day...maybe I should have put this in hot air....

Tell him you're building an experimental and if he tampers with any of the components, he could be liable.

The same thing happened at the Manassas, VA airport. The airport manager was more cordial and spent time explaining the policy change. Their fire insurance carrier drove the change. The insurance company refused to cover fire damage if other flammable material (furniture) or potential fire starters (electrical equipment) was kept in the hangars. The airport manager is looking for another insurance carrier with an affordable policy that doesn't have the same restrictions. They haven't found one yet, so I moved to another airport.

delete

j (oops)

If an airport gets federal grants from the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) they have to comply with grant assurances. The grant assurances are pretty general, like "maintain safety" At your airport the management may have been told that future funds were in jeopardy. I don't know how to post links when using my wife's I-Pad, but search "hangar lawsuit glendale arizona" to find more to worry about. Hard to say if the FAA told them future funds were in jeopardy or if airport administrators just want to puff their chests out.

There is good reason to restrict use of the hangars to aviation users, otherwise people will use it as a self-storage (junk) facility. But if you have an operational aircraft stored in the hangar, it's hard to see why it matters if you put other things in with it. What does your lease or rental agreement say about storage?

handsrdirty wrote:What does your lease or rental agreement say about storage?

Yes, this.

That's the only thing that matters. If the lease doesn't say you can't, then you can. If it says you can't, then time to look for a new airport if they start to enforce that clause. No point in vilifying the dude who is insisting that you make good on your agreement to not store that stuff in your hangar.

Insurance, as was pointed out, could indeed be a driver for this, but what's important is what the lease says.

As a side note, some of you might find it interesting to know that it's reasonably common to have someone *live* in your hangar in Mexico (depends on the airport, of course). In return for free or cheap housing, they keep an eye on things, keep things clean, pull the plane out, let people into the hangar so you don't have to go to the airport and do it yourself. That sort of thing. So, in short, the kinds of prohibitions mentioned in this thread basically don't exist there.

This happened at all the airports around here in the Phoenix, AZ area -- all TSA/Security driven. Has really changed the atmosphere of a few airports..

You noted in your first post on this thread that this new guy's title is "Assistant Airport Manager". That seems to imply that there's an "Airport Manager". If so, have you spoken to that person about this? If not, why not?

As others have stated, lease agreements and airport policies should lay out the rules for leaseholders. That said, there also should be a little "reason" injected in there somewhere.

BUT, if you haven't talked to his boss, you don't know whether the guy has been given a task, and is independently over-reaching or if this is really what the Manager wants and isn't courageous enough to do himself.

First, I'd dig out the policies and lease agreement provisions. Then, I'd make an appointment to talk to the Manager. If you don't get any help there, and if the Manager can't articulate WHY these actions are being taken, then I'd talk to the Airport Commission and/or the City or County powers that be....ie: the Managers bosses.

But, if your lease agreement prohibits anything but an airplane.....

MTV

mtv wrote:But, if your lease agreement prohibits anything but an airplane.....

Then be extra nice, because charm is going to be the only way to win the day.

When the Port of Washougal took over the Washougal airport, the powers that were did the same thing.

Basically, it opened up lots of hangars for people who actually fly airplanes, and don't just sit on chairs in the open hangar door. The management made everyone produce proof of insurance and up-to-date medicals. This is a good thing.

I applaud your assistant manager for bringing order to your airport.,