No one has given any bad advice here. There are Pros and Cons to hangaring. Cost is at the top of the list of Cons, not to mention availability.

I finally solved the problem for myself and built a hangar home in an airpark. I got tired of traveling 50 miles round trip just to get to the airport, paying $300/month for a hangar with too few electrical outlets and lights. Moving the plane to get the annual done at some FBO that also pays too much for their hangar and passes the cost on to you and for anyone that has had to share hangar space, the typical moving of planes and inconvenience of dealing with hangar mates.

I often wonder if I could go back to the old way of airplane ownership.

I rent a space in a community hangar. It's a pain in the butt sometimes but at less than half the cost of a county T hangar on the field it's worth it for me. I'm up on a lift above another airplane so no else has to manhandle my little airplane. While your recovering when necessary plan sounds good after covering one I can tell you that's time consuming and VERY expensive. I spent almost 2 grand on materials alone and we had over 100 hours of labor into just the wings and they are little itty bitty compared to something like a Pacer. The cost and downtime will far outweigh the costs of a place to keep it out of the sun.

Almost everyone plans on buying an airplane to keep for a long time.

Ask yourself if this is really the case.

If you store it outside and then sell it years later, it will be worth less $$$ than a plane that had been hangared.

Aside from the fabric getting bad there will be water leaking in to some extent every time it rains. The tubing won't last as long!!

Most hangars have some electricity. Nice to be able to plug your plane in at night during the winter, the next morning you're ready to go.

Always opt for the hangar if you can.
You will sleep better at night, (unless of course the Barefoot Bandit is around).

There are those who say "if you can't afford a hangar then you can't afford an airplane".
I say B.S.!!!!!!!!!

Just do Your best to take care of your plane, whether it is inside or out, and have fun.

I can't afford either but by some stroke of insanity have both.

The airplane would go before the hangar.

gb

Sure are a lot of float planes in the world with out a hanger

If you live in Zoo Jersey. And you buy a plane as a privet sale. You should not pay sale tax. The tax people will send you a tax bill which requires a response. Pm me for more information

When I wanted a hangar and couldn't find one, I thought about sharing a hangar by buying a lift that lets you store one plane up in the air. I just spotted one of the lifts for sale for a relatively good price:
http://boise.craigslist.org/for/2110417034.html

senior wrote:Sure are a lot of float planes in the world with out a hanger

Case and point lol. That is probably the hardest thing on a airplane. Kenmore air has a pa18 that was gorgeous before it became a straight float only plane.

I keep mine in a hangar, just seems like if you're going to buy a airplane best not to cheap out on important things for it, I'm not exactly a bill gates type, however if I couldn't afford proper maintance and a hanagar I would not have bought my plane.

Also the argument of 300 a mo (which is Signature kind of hangar rent) x 12mo x however many years: and you saved enough to recover the plane, this is not the best logic

It's like saying if you quit smoking you would retire with enough money to buy a Benz, on a calculator yes, real life not really

kevbert wrote:When I wanted a hangar and couldn't find one, I thought about sharing a hangar by buying a lift that lets you store one plane up in the air. I just spotted one of the lifts for sale for a relatively good price:
http://boise.craigslist.org/for/2110417034.html

Didn't expect to see that lift for sale, I got my PPL in 49818. Haven't talked to Gary for quite a while.

Student BCP wrote:Didn't expect to see that lift for sale, I got my PPL in 49818.

I got mine in 49681...we were less than 200 Cessna manufacturing line units apart!

A few things you might want to consider. You may be able to sublet part of a hangar to someone in a local car club. Usually these guys are pretty considerate of other peoples machines. If you can find someone to pick up a hundred bucks of your hangar it might relieve some of the pain. Motorcycles are easy to store, too. On another note, I had a Citabria that needed recovering. Recovering is a cottage industry these days... either you will find a part timer or you'll wind up doing it yourself. I spent $4,000 on Stitts/Polyfiber fabric and paint, another $500 on tools and supplies, 400 hours of my own time plus an A&P I rented for a couple of grand to take off the engine and rehang it. He signed me off as part of the deal. If you keep the plane outside... fly it, and often (at least once a week in the summer). Keep it aired out. You'll need to go out for at least an hour at a time to breeze dry your ship. It will take at least 45 min to get the moisture out of the engine. Besides the recover, the moisture has a way of bringing around all sorts of nasty problems by the time you're ready to re-skin your ride. It factors into more cost than just a straightforward recover. Welds, lower longerons and bearing surfaces get rusty and weak, especially in the Northeast where you're close to the water. Blowing sand and snow can be tough on your plexiglass and the sun is tough on the panel and interior.

Ccurrie and I toured Cubcrafters the other day. They are using Stitts and claim it's good for 25 years outside. I realise that would depend "where" outside.

Hangar just isn't an option in new jersey. If I had the extra $300 a month at the moment, I would probably go for a C-180 instead of a C-140/Luscombe. The main issue is that most airports are a 5 year wait for a hangar spot. And that is still 50 miles drive from my house. Once I'm out of this state, a hangar would be much more realistic.

I definitely plan on a good set of custom covers. I like the idea of the mesh ones so they don't balloon. Also like the idea of external control locks. Never thought about the stresses on that little yoke pin.

One of the big things for how long a fabric will last is how well the job was done in the first place.
With all of the do it yourself fabric jobs, there is a good possibility of somebody not using enough UV Blocking Silver. If there is no covering at all you can expect Dacron to last less than a year in the sun. With the metal flakes in the dope blocking all of the UV rays you will get the most life out of the fabric on your plane.
If I were to buy a fabric plane today I would be giving it a good look in the dark with a bright light to show where the silver was maybe skimped on a little. Especially on the upper surfaces of the wing. I suspect it is there where you will have your first problems.
GJ

Good Point GJ

I put 5 coats of UV protectant on my plane because I had plans for straight floats.
Hard to have a hanger on the water, not only $$ wise but legal issues too nowdays.