Any new englanders on here who'd like to share their experience of owning and flying in VT, NH, or ME? I'm looking at property across the US. Hard to beat where I come from in Oregon except in the pricing. It's gotten too expensive for me. Been looking at upper midwest and new england for lakefront properties with some acreage. It may be rare but it exists.

Any farm strip owners? Float flyers? How are the DOT aviation regs with land use?

Drastically different tax burdens between VT and NH, but also property prices seem higher in NH. ME seems the most lake-rich of the region.

Anyway, I welcome flying and property ownership input. The politics of the states is easily researched by mainstream pundits. Let's talk aviation.

Thanks!

There’s a solid community of off-airport pilots across northern NE and Upstate NY. Lots of SuperCubs and the like. Mountains, Farms, Lakes, Ocean beaches, Islands.

Maine is likely to have the most affordable lakefront opportunities but don’t ignore nearby NY which has some great backcountry flying around the Adirondacks.

I fly floats regularly between NY and NH. Generally most lakes or rivers with powerboats in NY, NH or ME are open to seaplanes. Not sure in the case of VT but fewer lakes there and generally more restrictive.

Lots of farm strips from NY to ME but can’t comment on any local regs.

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p.s. If it matters, NH has no income or sales tax. More affordable at the margin.


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Ches wrote:p.s. If it matters, NH has no income or sales tax. More affordable at the margin.

Of course it matters. It might pencil out after a few years. Getting into the property initially might be a little tougher.

Thanks for the input Ches.

Z

Went to school in upstate NY and spent a ton of time in NE. You won’t regret it. If you move, I’m visiting.

Zane,

I can't speak for the cost of living in the region. I can speak to the quality of the flying though. Not sure if you will be on floats or not but you will have a plethora of of grass strips to explore as well as lakes. It does get cold enough long enough to actually put skis on your plane. Wheel skis are also an option.

One of the aspects I like about this region is it can get fairly remote in the mountains of New York. More so than you might think. There is some terrain which at times has to be managed. For the most part DA and ridge crossings etc don't pay a huge part in your flight planning. You will like the varied seasons. Fall in this area is spectacular.

Most folks are very very friendly and you will quickly find a community. I have had the opportunity to fly the Hudson from near its origin as far south as I wanted to and land on 9 different grass strips in the same day in VT, NH, and NY. I think there is really a variety of places to visit and enjoy.

As far as farm strips you will have to look at local governance. Each county can be a bit particular. It will depend on you locality and neighbors.

All of these areas geographically quite close. Might want to focus on what's best for you and your situation financially etc. The flying is all great and close.

My 2 cents.

MW

You will be closer to Canada

You won’t like the weather and most all land is privately owned so access is limited to who you know.
If it weren’t for my job I’d be living out west - better flying, more access.

I’m based in VT on a funky grass strip, we have 6 airplanes on straight skis. I have 100 places to land within 50 miles or so to try to hit this winter. A few of them are on the charts, most “off airport”. The private strips around are generally open, usually nice to call first, but people are generally happy to have visitors. Maine is full of backcountry flying. Check out the Maine aeronautics association website. Upstate NY is similar. So lots of opportunities, just perhaps a little under the radar, no YouTubers here...

Dirt911 wrote:no YouTubers here...

I think that's a good thing...haha.

Your going to be able to put that float rating to good use Zzz

Well, I guess I should chime in, even though they won't let us Northern New Yorkers be part of New England. Pretty much what 185Midwest said. Lot's of good grass strips and even though I don't fly floats, there is a pretty good sized float community here. There is a TON of water here. Granted, a lot of it is off limits due to land classification, but there are so many lakes & ponds that there is still plenty to go around (Unless you are trying to make a living flying guests to remote lakes). This translates well to skis in the winter. I took a quick ski flight with a friend last winter and in a hour we landed on 7 different bodies of water, some accessible to snowmobiles, some first tracks and we even got the $100 hamburger in. There really isn't any public "backcountry" strips, like out west, but there are plenty of cool places to fly. It probably doesn't matter which state you live in either from a "get there" standpoint. All of Northern NY & New England are within a days flight for most planes. Taxes in general in NY are definitely on the high side, but they can be managed. On the other hand depending on where you live, property taxes can be quite low. Property tax on our house for example add up to about $1,500/year total and our raft base which is commercial and is assessed at $275,000 comes in at about $2,500/year. We live in the Adirondack Park, and that is definitely not for everyone, but if you like outdoor activities and don't mind being a bit removed from the rest of the world it's great. Once you get into the the areas outside the park, property taxes are higher and will vary depending on the town and county. Generally they go up as you head south. The are plenty of personal strips around (within a hour's flight for me) and I have no idea what the regs. were to build them, but one is only a few years old and the couple that built it didn't mention any issues or hurdles to jump through. I can't say if you will dislike the weather or not, but it is different than the west. We lived in Yakima for a couple of years and spent a bunch of time in LaPush with friends that lived there, so I have a decent handle on a wide variety of PNW weather and the Northeast is different for sure, but neither good or bad in my opinion, just different. Our door is always open if you wanted to make a Northeast swing. Don't hesitate to PM me for contact info. A few photos to peruse as well.

Pete

Your welcome to wander above the 49th parallel we like airplanes there as well.

I was going to say I'd love to have a license plate that says "Live Free or Die", but now I have 2 things I like about NH.

Zzz wrote:

Dirt911 wrote:no YouTubers here...

I think that's a good thing...haha.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Pete, I will look you up if I am back that way.

Looks like far upstate NY is really cool and has plenty of lakes. Vermont looks like it has Champlain and few smaller lakes here at there.

One thing I like about New England vs the upper midwest is mountains. It actually has some topography, even if it's not the 9,000-11,000 ft peaks of the Cascades and Sierra.

One thing I'm wary of is that it's within a day's drive of 80 million people.

Lots of requirements for us as we have 2 kids who will need to go to school, and jobs that rely on good internet connections. Fingers crossed that Starlink works out, even though it's a blot on the night sky. But then the amenities of society like electricity and natural gas are nice too.

I admit the idea of moving east is terrifying because it's so far from what I have known on the west coast, but lakefront out here is reserved for tech sector billionaires now. And the one I did live next to didn't allow seaplanes.

Mudwagon wrote:You won’t like the weather and most all land is privately owned so access is limited to who you know.
If it weren’t for my job I’d be living out west - better flying, more access.

It doesn't snow enough where I'm from and most of my flying destinations are friends' strips anyway. Seems like knowing a few people from this site could open doors.

In the PNW we get long wet, misting wx that's moderate in temp but miserable in other ways. I kinda relish the idea of frozen lakes and useable snow. However, our mosquito situation is definitely favorable, and relative humidity is almost always unnoticeable in summer.

One thing I would miss is river bars/beaches. Any of that on NE rivers?

Zane, New England lake prices are also VERY high. Just sayn.......

Also, black flys and mosquitos that carry nasty stuff are an issue in NE.

Kurt

As you know, I'm partial to Vermont. We lived there for 8 years and I learned to fly there. Good accessible skiing/hiking, huge lake (Champlain), great beer, Burlington is a fun town, Montreal is only 1 1/2 hours away, tons of bucolic grass strips, great people. Everything is close in the North East compared to here in the west.

Long and cold winters, and things get sloppy during mud season in the spring, but on the positive side there'll be days when you can cross country ski out your front door.

Northern Maine lake real estate prices are actually still quite reasonable, I'm in the business of selling so have some perspective. By "northern", I mean anyplace that's more than 90 minutes north of Portland. I was raised in Vermont, and have lived full time in the western mountains of Maine (at Sugarloaf ski resort) for the last 20 years. I also spent 6 yrs in Idaho between Ketchum/Stanley/Garden Valley, so I have that perspective as well. My biggest critique of New England vs out west, is the lack of public land, and the jaw dropping grandeur in the mountain states. Like others have said above, there are lots of places to recreate in this neck of the woods but it's essentially all privately held. Of course if you're looking to fly into places, you'll likely get introductions from pilots in whichever state you're exploring, and your aviation network will grow very quickly, which should give you lots of options. "Northern" Maine is like Vermont and New Hampshire was like when I was a kid in the 70's/80's, it's still wild and an easy place to get lost, in a good way. And I have no idea what Kurt is saying about black flies and mossies carrying "nasty stuff" in NE. If you want to worry about an insect born disease in NE, then focus on Lyme, anything else is like getting struck by lightening, about as common as getting attacked by a bear out west. Like others said, if you decide you want to do NE swing to get a better idea, look me up if you come to Maine, I'm based at B21.

https://www.cdc.gov/easternequineenceph ... e-2019.jpg. Map of cases last year.

Not necessarily pandemic level but it is there. As for the Black flies, I got eaten alive one day at Stillwater, although not technically New England, its was in the region. I used to have them around my place in NH, some years were worse than others.

Should that weigh into your consideration? I dont know, but something to be aware of.

Kurt

Cannot beat western,central and northern New York. Lakes, mountains but high taxes. Lots to do and places to fly.