Your opinion please: which airport to keep your baby at.

[Eduleo]

Hi All,

I am the proud owner of a 87' J with a nicely upgraded panel that I intend to keep until I either am told I can no longer fly by an AME, or I can no longer afford to maintain her. Mistresses are expensive!

I fly about 250 hours yearly, mostly commuting for work, so I fly IFR, and at night.

There are tow airports I can keep her, and I can't figure out which one is best. Can you please help me?!

Gettysburg PA (W05)

• 10 minute drive from home on local road
• cheaper gas
• communal hangar, $25/month cheaper than individual hangar at second option, with rusty doors that take 20 minutes to open and close 
• plane gets pushed in and out to accommodate other planes
• uncontrolled
• part time FBO only
• shorter single runway (24/06, 2,500 w/ displaced threshold)
• circling approach only, NA at night 
• rwy 24 NA at night (usually the one with the prevailing winds)

Hagerstown (KHGR)

• 40 minute drive on busy interstate with heavy truck traffic
• pricier gas (by .65 per gallon)
• individual clean hangar ($25/month more expensive than communal hangar at W05), with nice electric door
• no one else touches her
• class D
• several A&P's and one large FBO
• long runways with ILS and LPV approaches
• no approach restrictions

Where would you park your plane? Is it worth the extra hour driving each time you fly and the more expensive gas/hangar rental to keep it in a place you know nobody else is touching her, and where you can come in and out whenever you want?

[Ragsf15e]

I hate the extra drive, but individual hangar and better approaches suits your mission much better.  2500’ is doable, but certainly more challenging at night with no straight in approach.  I personally wouldn’t do that.

[toto]

Hagerstown 

[FoxMike]

2500' is Ok but not great. I ferried an M20K for a friend who bought it from a competent pilot but who had an incident on his home airport due to it being only 2000' long.  Getting an IFR clearance on the ground at uncontrolled airport can be a problem.  I have a drive of 35 minutes to my airport but have little other choice.  Even though it is further I would go for Hagerstown.  

[jaylw314]

If you fly 250 hours a year, I don't think there's much question.  You only save 10 minutes a trip on the ground if it takes 20 minutes to open the hangar doors!

[Amelia]

I think I know which one you’re favoring, just wishing you could move HGR closer to home, right? I love the camaraderie I find at little uncontrolled airports. But sometimes the big FBOs will pull your plane out, have it topped off and ready to go? (I wouldn’t know) I love having Mx on field. I would not love difficult hangar doors, poor approaches and night limitations. I sure wouldn’t  love 2400’ of icy, snow-covered runway with a gusty crosswind and low ceilings all winter.. $25/mo extra isn’t much to pay for the security of your own hangar. A big monopolist jet-loving FBO and a long drive would be drawbacks for me.. But sounds like much of your flying is for trips, not going for a half-hour hop after work, where convenience would be a plus. You’d spend the extra drive time juggling planes around to get yours out of the gang hangar., anyway. Subscribe to books on tape, and go for the longer drive.

[Rusty Pilot]

How about Cumberland, cheap individual hangar and long runway.  Is it too far?

[Tommooney]

I would choose HGR for all the reasons but especially no one else moving it.

I have driven the extra 15 miles each way to OXR instead of CMA since 1987 for similar reasons.

Tom

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, Tommooney said:

I would choose HGR for all the reasons but especially no one else moving it.

I have driven the extra 15 miles each way to OXR instead of CMA since 1987 for similar reasons.

Tom

@Tommooney Help me understand the similar reasons...CMA is towered and has a 6000 foot runway (OXR is 5900) with a bunch of instrument approaches down to 250 feet, same as OXR.  Why would you drive the extra 15 miles?

[Tommooney]

The biggest reason is OXR is so much slower than CMA. There is virtually no one ever in front departing. Fuel guys I know by name come pretty much immediately when needed.

I did own a hanger at CMA 1989-91 w/ Twin Commanche .

In 1987 when I bought my hanger at OXR , CMA had no precision approach. ( pre gps,  May grey / June glum problem ). OXR was an airline airport w ILS.

I recently spent three months at CMA due to OXR closure and there is often several planes waiting to depart ( like 6 ) with students and jets landing all trying to use one runway. (The Ovation has no cowl flaps, long idle in summer is not good ). Oh and the jump plane, separate ulra light rwy and Helo school....It seems crazy busy to me.

A T hanger in OXR can be had for $30K ish if your patient. I lost track of prices at CMA but two or three times more?

Hope that helps.

Tom

OXR T hanger 14 

 

 

[MikeOH]

2 hours ago, Tommooney said:

The biggest reason is OXR is so much slower than CMA. There is virtually no one ever in front departing. Fuel guys I know by name come pretty much immediately when needed.

I did own a hanger at CMA 1989-91 w/ Twin Commanche .

In 1987 when I bought my hanger at OXR , CMA had no precision approach. ( pre gps,  May grey / June glum problem ). OXR was an airline airport w ILS.

I recently spent three months at CMA due to OXR closure and there is often several planes waiting to depart ( like 6 ) with students and jets landing all trying to use one runway. (The Ovation has no cowl flaps, long idle in summer is not good ). Oh and the jump plane, separate ulra light rwy and Helo school....It seems crazy busy to me.

A T hanger in OXR can be had for $30K ish if your patient. I lost track of prices at CMA but two or three times more?

Hope that helps.

Tom

OXR T hanger 14 

 

 

@Tommooney  Thanks, that all makes sense.  It just didn't seem comparable to the OP's situation; I was thrown by "similar reasons."

[1964-M20E]

Closest airport to your home unless economics are seriously of wack.  The airport 10 minutes from my house is 4 times as expensive for tie down as where I keep the plane and I own the hangar at my airport.  However, there have been many flights coming home and I see the closer airport and fly over it to my airport and think gee I can be home much quicker if I was landing there.

[DCarlton]

KHGR seems like it has all the right stuff.  However, if I had to drive 40 mins to fly, I would probably have stopped flying years ago.  My airport is 5 mins away; 10 max in traffic.  I have a friend that's wanted to partner or kit build 40 mins away, and I've never pursued it.  If I have to drive that far, I'll always find something else to do.  Too many years on the road commuting to work.  Tough decision.  

[Boilermonkey]

Recent moved from KHFY to KBAK.   Some similar reasons.   Having a tower, fire rescue, restaurant,places to land if engine out, and crosswind runways.

[DonMuncy]

I do wish I had a close airport where one can own his hangar. When I look back at the $ I have paid on rent in the last 21 years, I could have built one heck of a hangar.

[Marauder]

Hi All,
I am the proud owner of a 87' J with a nicely upgraded panel that I intend to keep until I either am told I can no longer fly by an AME, or I can no longer afford to maintain her. Mistresses are expensive!
I fly about 250 hours yearly, mostly commuting for work, so I fly IFR, and at night.
There are tow airports I can keep her, and I can't figure out which one is best. Can you please help me?!
Gettysburg PA (W05)

• 10 minute drive from home on local road
• cheaper gas
• communal hangar, $25/month cheaper than individual hangar at second option, with rusty doors that take 20 minutes to open and close 
• plane gets pushed in and out to accommodate other planes
• uncontrolled
• part time FBO only
• shorter single runway (24/06, 2,500 w/ displaced threshold)
• circling approach only, NA at night 
• rwy 24 NA at night (usually the one with the prevailing winds)

Hagerstown (KHGR)

• 40 minute drive on busy interstate with heavy truck traffic
• pricier gas (by .65 per gallon)
• individual clean hangar ($25/month more expensive than communal hangar at W05), with nice electric door
• no one else touches her
• class D
• several A&P's and one large FBO
• long runways with ILS and LPV approaches
• no approach restrictions

Where would you park your plane? Is it worth the extra hour driving each time you fly and the more expensive gas/hangar rental to keep it in a place you know nobody else is touching her, and where you can come in and out whenever you want?

Here is my experience with airports since I moved to Delaware. I was based at KILG for a decade. Great airport for IFR flying. 20 to 30 minutes to get there from home. Gas was expensive, the atmosphere was sterile and when the DRBA took it over, everything got more expensive, and they gave me a hard time about non-aviation stuff in my hangar. I left.

Moved to Smoketown. Hour drive to the airport. No instrument approaches and although it was friendly airport, who wants to drive 2 hours to hang out at the airport? It was also a royal pain getting in during IFR. Ended up at KLNS and had to deal with the ground logistics.

Current airport is N57. (Current TFR issue aside), I am 10 minutes away. Lowest gas price in the area and competitive hangar price. Airport manager is a real aviation advocate and runs kid’s aviation camps. Made lots of friends and before COVID was out there every weekend barbecuing with other pilots.

There is a lot to be said about the way of life at smaller airports. That said, if I was traveling for business like I was when I was based at KILG, having multi runways with multiple approaches was preferred. If you want to enjoy the atmosphere of an airport, a smaller airport is usually better.

I’ve done a fly-in at Gettysburg. It is a nice airport, but if I were based there, I would go out in the middle of the night and cut that friggin tree down!


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[JamesMooney]

I just did the opposite. I moved from KHEF and KGAI (40-60 min drive - but each with FBOs, instrument approaches, tower at KHEF or ground RCO to Potomac Approach at KGAI, maintenance on field, etcc.), to W32 - one of the "Maryland 3" inside the FRZ. Why? For a hangar. The idea of leaving my plane outside in DC/MD weather all winter (and all summer) was too much. The drive time is about 10 minutes shorter too. However, W32 is in rough shape. The runway and taxiways are fine, but:

- no lit approach lights (it uses old-school wooden panels to mimic VASI lights)

- RNAV (LNAV) only to one runway

- almost every business has left the field. The airport is on life support, it seems. (Rumors it will close in the next 18 months.)

Here in the DC area, hangars are a 2+ year wait (KFDK has a 5 year waitlist). So sometimes you have to give up the fancy touches if you want your plane out of the inclement weather.

The lack of hangars and state of some of the airports in the DC metro area is really depressing, esp for the nation's capital.

[hammdo]

I choose an hr drive to GYI vs tie-down when I bought mine.  GYI has tower, fbo, avionics and AP on field, ILS, RNAV, VOR approaches.  With the services offered, the extra 30 minute drive is not a big deal for me.  I would like to be @ Addison, Denton, or McKinney but I don't have to deal with a 'lot' of student traffic out there and I get to do a whole lot more flying vs waiting on the ground -- to me, its worth the trade off for now...

 

-Don