Aircraft hangar owners: usable for cars ?

[Deschodt]

I've been looking for alternate storage for my classic car lately. No room for a garage expansion, expensive local storage fees. The mythical barn in a field has not materialized.. I was surfing "for sale" ads and saw a few hangars at my local airport that are dirt cheap compared to real estate. Although here seems to be a monthly "land lease" fee that almost negates the benefits... Not sure what that is about...

So just wondering.. Do airports frown upon hangars being used for something other than planes? Even airports that aren't doing all that well with lots of available hangars ? I've seen aircraft owners use them for their plane and car, heck even on this site, so I know it's done here and there but that might have been an airplane community. I imagine it would not be encouraged realistically, but thought I'd ask you guys... If mixed use is tolerated, are their sites that advertise an airplane owner offering some space to recoup their cost ? Just curious - I'd like to own a plane someday but that's not in the near future ;-)

[Dantilla]

If the airport has received federal funding, and most have, there are rules requiring hangars to be used "primarily for aviation purposes".

Technically not allowed, but every airport has its own personality on this- Some don't care, others have gone so far as to tell pilots they cannot even have a refrigerator or extra chair in their hangar.

At my local airport, there are several hangars filled with cars and other non-aviation stuff, but there are also a few empty hangars with For Sale or For Rent signs.

As long as there are no airplanes sitting outside on a waiting list for a hangar, I have no problem.

Go ahead and inquire, buy one if you want. Just know that at some point, you may have to move the cars out, but if so, you could rent the hanger to somebody with an airplane, and have the rental income pay for storage elsewhere.

Also- And this is critical- Behave yourself when driving anywhere on airport property!! Airplanes always have the right-of-way, and if pilots hear loud engines revving, or anybody driving too fast (anything above jogging speed) you will get all cars tossed off the airport very quickly!!

My hangar is large enough for one airplane, plus space behind with a separate rear garage door.
inside right now is one airplane, one 944 race car, an older Chevy truck, and yes, a refrigerator well stocked with ice cream bars. My airports management is pretty reasonable on this matter. As long as I have an airplane in there, they don't care if there is other stuff, too. They keep talking of cracking down on non-aviation uses, but as long as there are a few empty hangars, there has been nothing but talk.

[Dantilla]

How is this enforced?

I have purchased two hangars, and the closing documents of both had language spelling out that it is a requirement that the hangar be used for aviation purposes, and that is one of the things that must be signed upon closing.

There is no way one can claim "I didn't know", but on the other hand, I've never heard of an airport forcing a hangar owner to relinquish any ownership (it's legally owned real estate, after all), or any sanctions other than being told to get the stuff out and put an airplane inside.

[slodave]

My dad's hanger at KVNY is a public airport and it was frowned upon to keep cars there, store boxes, work on cars.... The manager for the FBO would drive around periodically during the day. At one point the FBO changed hands and the new owners reiterated those rules. That said, I've never had a problem working on my car there and I usually keep the hanger door open in the hot months.

[Dan J]

I rent a hanger to store cars In my case as Dantilla states above be respectful of the neighbors
and it's no issue

[GH85Carrera]

The airport where we have our airplane flat out do not want anything but aviation related storage in the hangars but most everyone have some other personal "stuff" in them. They even sent a letter out advising that they did not want the owner of the airplane to park their personal car in the hangar while the airplane was out of the hangar on a flight. It mostly was a pissing contest with the local fire marshal. He did not want a car with a 20 gallon tank of gas parked in a hangar while the airplane with a 100 gallon tank of gas is fine in there. Yea, that makes sense.

In the end it is astonishing how expensive storage units are at the average storage place. An aircraft hangar is far cheaper per square foot. It also always amazes me to go through a neighborhood and see $50K cars parked in the driveway and the garage is stuffed with 400 buck worth of crap they will never use.

[jhynesrockmtn]

A friend is a private pilot out of Boeing field in Seattle. He was one of many who stored non aviation stuff there including classic cars for years. About 2010-11 they were making noise about enforcing rules regarding non aviation items in hangars driven by homeland security. I don't know that anything really came of it. I think his Isetta is still stored there.

[mikeferg75]

I rented a hanger with two buddies for almost 15 years for cars, and we were recently booted. Airport said their hands were tied, and we could not renew our lease. Sucked big time, as it was great for storage and really cool to be there on weekends ect.

We even had a wing and prop hanging on the wall to comply with having aviation equipment stored there. We got by with a wink and a nod for all those years, then just like that, no more.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Although here seems to be a monthly "land lease" fee that almost negates the benefits... Not sure what that is about...

The airport property is owned by the city/county/whatever, and is one big parcel. If you want to build a hangar, the airport's management can lease the ground to you, usually for 20, 30, 50 years or whatever.

This is another way to enforce the "aviation use"- It's part of the lease agreement.

In the first hangar I bought, I had to sign the lease agreement that acknowledges the federal requirement. The same language was required when I sold that hangar to the new owner.

At that airport, there was a 30 year ground lease, with an option to renew for another 30 years. Somebody was thinking smart- Two years after construction, it was discovered that there was no requirement to wait 30 years before exercising the option, so they exercised it then. Now they have use of the ground guaranteed for 60 years.

[Deschodt]

Ok, thanks guys, that's good info... I was afraid it was too good to be true, the hangar price is great but there's a $300/mo land lease which is as much as I pay now for storage. I will ask anyway, I hope they're nice about turning me away ;-)

If anyone knows of such an arrangement in Marin, Sonoma or Napa counties, let me know...

Yes, being respectful on an airport area wasn't gonna be an issue, I'm a plane buff too, it would be a storage-only deal for me, not even used for wrenching - I can use my own garage for that (small and full of cars already). I even asked my neighbor if he'd consider renting me a spot in his unused garage for decent $ but he was not very nice about it ("have you considered selling a car instead?" - I so hope he needs something from my garage in the near future so I can ask him if he'd consider the dealer instead), so there's that idea... Sadly, I have considered selling a car instead - but I know it's gonna be exactly like when I sold my last 356 10y ago. I'll kick myself down the road.

I'm trying to satisfy Hagerty's garage requirement for when my '73 2002 returns from paint. I already have the 68 912 in storage but adding the 2002 would bring it to $600 a month... Add in $$$$ daycare and $$$ afterschool and that's a pay check. Ouch. If nothing comes up, there'll be a pretty 68 912 on the Classifieds forum soon

[Dantilla]

$300/month is really high! Ouch!

[KNS]

There has been some movement by the FAA to make hanger usage for aircraft only, particularly if there are federal dollars involved, as Dantilla states. You can a have a car in there but the space must be primarily for aircraft and related stuff. This would be bad for Jerry Seinfeld as he has at least one hanger at Santa Monica full of Porsches (he's not the only one that does this at KSMO).

I think storing cars in them is fine but if there is a wait list for guys wanting to store their planes, they should come first. Storing cars along with your plane shouldn't be an issue either but it depends on the airport. I know in Phoenix - KDVT, absolutely no cars are allowed, not even while your plane is out and you're flying.

Several years ago at KDVT some guy was doing some painting on his plane in his hanger (not allowed). Some overspray had drifted up and into the next hanger where a guy had his car stored and spotted the car. The guy complained to the airport and the airport said 'tough $hit'.

I remember many years ago at El Monte, CA, a guy had a small but nice upstairs apartment built into his hanger (a T hanger!), and still room for his Skylane.