I'm curious what you all view as reasonable and customary FBO fees for an overnight hangar (single engine piston) and a call out fee for fuel, etc outside of an FBO's normal business hours?

I'm aware of an FBO charging $200 for a hangar (heated) and a $200 call out fee. I'm more used to seeing about $50 for a hangar and a $75 call out fee.

Any thoughts or opinions out there?

Middle of country was cheapest in 2005 at $50 to $75. Nearer either East or West coast was the highest at $150 to $200. An indication of the importance of being able to go the next morning is that all three patrol companies I worked for would not fuss about a hanger in the winter. Summer tornado or hail possibility, not so much. The dimples just made the plane go faster.

An Underwood pilot just couldn't get a hanger in New York one winter. $800 for the deice machine the nest morning. He did get in trouble.

Why would you put it in a hangar for overnight?

Shy of crazy weather I've always left my planes on the ramp, seems like a single overnight is usually the same as a months worth of my normal hangar rent.

Nine three-kilo,

You're right about that. With the DOT requirement to shut a line down on the 21st not flown, not getting on through can bog the system and cause a loss of contract. I guess it paid to hanger, because pipelines only paid about a dollar a mile and patrol companies hated making deadheads because of losing a line. Allowing a line to go 21 days was an automatic loss of contract. Only one month notice was required. In the West, most are only flown bi-weekly. Lots of the new owners of pipelines (old oil companies were selling lines to avoid liability) in the Midwest we going to bi-weekly. A seven day warm then cold then occluded front stationary things up around the 14th day and here comes a loss of contract.

Uncle Rick (Brenco,) the cheapest guy in the business, quit bidding on stuff north of the Ohio River.

I'm with you. I never paid overnight hanger on my own airplane. I could wait.

Best regards,

contact

If I need an early start in the winter and it is going to snow or frost hard, I'll pay $50 to hangar the plane if, I need an early start and I'm on a schedule, otherwise I can wait. Also if I cant plug into preheat and its going to be below 30, a heated hangar is worth it to me. It sure is nice to pull out and go, but there is no way I'd pay $200 for the privilege.

I'll pay for a hangar if it's really cold out and I need to go the next day, and also if there's a Midwest hailstorm brewing. My airplane already has a few dimples, but some storms are strong enough to break things, like windshields. So far, the cost has been from zero (yeah, nada) to $75, usually tipping toward the zero end if I fill up there.

Cary

Last couple times I got a hanger for 2 nights each trip in WY it was $45/night, no other fees. Free parking on their ramp. Big Horn Aviation in Sheridan. Very friendly and nice even though I usually only need 8 gallons to top it before heading back south. That's the only FBO I've kept my plane at over night, so I didn't really know how it compared but it seemed fair... sounds like it's really fair compared to some others...

blackrock wrote:If I need an early start in the winter and it is going to snow or frost hard, I'll pay $50 to hangar the plane if, I need an early start and I'm on a schedule, otherwise I can wait. Also if I cant plug into preheat and its going to be below 30, a heated hangar is worth it to me. It sure is nice to pull out and go, but there is no way I'd pay $200 for the privilege.

Exactly how I feel Blackrock. We flew from the west coast to the east coast back to the west coast over the Christmas holiday and if one wants to cover any ground on a trip like this, with limited daylight, one must get an early start. I've messed with half-ass engine preheating options and scraping frost off of the wings and windshield prior to departure, and it didn't take me long to realize that I was doing it wrong. When looking at the cost of a long XC trip with overnight stops, 50 bucks on a hangar if the weather is cold is well worth it. I always call ahead to arrange the hangar and would fly right by the $200.00 enclosure for a reasonable alternative. Some airports I've been to have shade-port parking with outlets to plug in an oil pan heater for 15-20 per night, which is an excellent compromise.

My experiences traveling across the lower 48 and Canada was as a young guy with modest airplanes and ambitious routes. I found that that combination fostered a lot of good will wherever I landed. I only ever encountered warm hospitality, free hangar space during bad weather, free rides to town, free FBO couches and hangar floors to camp on, and even a few restaurant meals and a couple swank guest rooms. I tended to favor smaller, sleepier, out-of-the way strips. I may have paid $50 call-out fees a time or two, which I couldn't and didn't complain about. I can see where a pilot of apparent means with a nice plane might be hit up for more charges, especially at your bigger airports. My goal is to pay forward the kindnesses and help that I received back when.
-DP

DP,

That is a very good way to look at it.

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denalipilot wrote:My experiences traveling across the lower 48 and Canada was as a young guy with modest airplanes and ambitious routes. I found that that combination fostered a lot of good will wherever I landed. I only ever encountered warm hospitality, free hangar space during bad weather, free rides to town, free FBO couches and hangar floors to camp on, and even a few restaurant meals and a couple swank guest rooms. I tended to favor smaller, sleepier, out-of-the way strips. I may have paid $50 call-out fees a time or two, which I couldn't and didn't complain about. I can see where a pilot of apparent means with a nice plane might be hit up for more charges, especially at your bigger airports. My goal is to pay forward the kindnesses and help that I received back when.
-DP

I have also seen a lot of benevolence in my air travels. More so when I was younger and apparently operating on a tight budget. Paying it forward is a great philosophy that tremendously helps the general human condition. There is a lot of this at work in the aviation world, perhaps because there is generally a little more abundance and camaraderie where folks are flying.

The other side is that nobody seems to be getting rich in the FBO biz, at least at the places where I stop. If my fifty bucks encourages them to stay after it rather than throwing in the towel, it's fifty bucks well spent.

While it's not really fair to charge the guy with a brand new shiny Cirrus more than a guy in a beat up old 172 for the exact same hangar space, most reasonable business owners would be likely to offer a break to the one who could use it. If you arrive at an airport at dusk, often they will negotiate a deal if you fill the tanks and eat at their cousin's restaurant. They may put you in the hangar for a 20 dollar offer because they realize that the hangar will either make twenty or zero for that night.