Ideally, pilots like to keep their winged treasures inside. Like houses, hangars take many forms. You'll find individual or connected, rectangular structures for one or more aircraft depending on the craft's size. To make efficient use of space, many row hangars are divided internally into "T" segments, with the aircraft's tail fitting into the T's descender.
Regardless of its configuration, the benefits of a hangar should be obvious. Hangars protect aircraft from sun, wind, rain, snow, ice, hail, and sand storms, which do expensive things to airplanes. Hangars help protect aircraft from society's bad elements who want to liberate such things as avionics. On the other hand, creatures such as birds like to live in hangars, too, making your airplane a constant target of opportunity.
Hangars make pilots' lives easier, giving them a place to preflight out of the weather and relieving them of such nasty tasks as digging the airplane out of a snow bank or trying to free it from a coat of ice. Finally, hangars give pilots a place to keep all of their other aviation "stuff."
Outside storage at a tie-down subjects an airplane to all the things that a hangar serves as a barrier to, except the birds have to be more determined. A midpoint between the two is a covered tie-down, which is like a hangar without walls. A covered tie-down provides some protection from Mother Nature, depending on which way the wind blows, of course.
In many cases, which way you go depends on economics (yours) and supply and demand (for aircraft storage space). Unlike insurance or fuel charges, which are fairly uniform no matter where a ship is based, local economic conditions affect the rent for hangars and tie-downs. At any thriving airfield in a metropolitan area, you'll be hard-pressed to find hangar space. Many airmen desperately long for a hangar to house their winged pride and joy and have been waiting on some list for 10 years or more. The two limiting factors are simply real estate and cost.
Somebody has to own hangars, and usually it's the airport, an investor, or an individual such as a pilot. If a country, city, or local government entity owns and maintains the airport, there's a high probability that the hangars are part of an overall development plan. Whether the hangars are single or multi-unit structures, the airport governing body realizes that to attract tenants and, thus, revenue, they must include hangars in the overall scheme.
The good news about renting space from a municipally run airport, for instance, is that there seems to be only a slight "profit motive." Generally speaking, the government that owns the buildings is more interested in having the cash flow to simply pay for and maintain the structures rather than produce a profit. The bad news is that government means bureaucracy and, as such, you could face a laundry list of regulations, access limitations, insurance requirements, and unsavory personalities on some airport board that the airplane owner must contend with.
At other locations, an investor might erect, own, and manage the hangars. In this case, the investor buys or leases the land and starts construction. Typically, an investor builds a hangar designed to accommodate, say, 10 airplanes under one roof. Most often these are T-hangars, and each stall has its own door.
Others are large open-floor hangars, where all the aircraft are parked together. This arrangement often means that one or more airplanes may have to be maneuvered around to achieve access to a specific machine. If this is the case, the hangar operator often provides what is called "in and out service." To minimize the danger of one airplane pranging another during the shuttle process, trained personnel will do the moving and shoving. Naturally, the cost of this service is built into the rent.
Note that the term "investor" is used in the previous descriptions. If you rent or lease a hangar from such ownership, rest assured that the financier is looking for more than just the chance to recoup an investment in material and real estate. The cost of erecting an "eight-plex" could well exceed $250,000. Not only does the landlord want to recover the cost of materials and construction, but he also wants to make some money.
Finally, a hangar could be personally owned. Where the airport management doesn't want to fund hangar construction, it offers attractive, long-term leases to individuals who might like to build their own hangar. At some airfields, the lease could be as little as $100 annually for 20 years. However, there could be a catch. Some leases will call for the lessee to turn over full ownership of the structure to the airport at the end of the lease period. If you consider this option, you and your attorney should read the fine print carefully.
Again, the hangar availability issue is largely dependent on real estate and cost. Any number of pilots can be interested in getting inside, but if the airport doesn't have the land to build a hangar on, it's a moot point. On the other hand, if the airport has the land, the high cost and low return might not make economic sense unless it can charge high rental fees. Even a single unit, personally-owned hangar can cost up to $30,000 and more when you take materials, construction, and site preparation into account.
And just what does it cost to rent or lease a hangar? At a little airport in the boonies, expect to pay a minimum of $150 monthly. If the airplane's home is in a heated hangar managed by a big name corporate FBO at a big city airport, the tab can be $500 to $1,000 per month, depending on the size of the airplane.
Despite the "ouch" factor of paying for a hangar, it's essential to protect your bird as much as economically possible. Granted, the temptation is strong to whittle down your monthly airplane bill by strapping a $50,000 airplane to the dirt for $35 a month, but try to avoid it if hangar space is available.
Another way to look at hangar rent is to balance it against the cost of repairing the damage done by the elements. A good paint job and a new interior, for example, can run you $12,000 to $15,000, depending on your airplane. It gets more expensive if you live in tornado alley and a big blow pulls the tie downs out of the ground.
If you can't get into a hangar, opt for the covered tie-down. It's usually cheaper than a hangar, and more expensive than a straight tie-down, but the roof does provide some protection. Any number of magazines advertise steel arch structures or large size heavy duty canvas "tents" on durable frames in the less-than-$5,000 range. If the airport authority will allow it, these structures offer additional tie-down protection.
If these won't fly with the airport management and, depending on your area's meteorological environment, invest in reflective window shades or cockpit covers to protect the interior. Use cowl plugs to seal off the engine compartment, and periodic washing and waxing goes a long way in protecting the airframe against the elements. A number of companies also make wing and aircraft covers that help protect the airplane from the elements. Some even have "fences" that run along the wings' span to reduce the lift they create when the airplane is stationary and the wind is really moving.
Another option depends on your airport. Form a group of like-minded aircraft owners and pool interests and resources. Work with the airfield management or ownership, lease a larger chunk of land, and construct a four- or six-plex on a condominium basis. With a number of airplane owners each chipping in a share of the project's down payment costs, the members of the condominium owners' group could easily support financing over a long period of time.
The only true way to learn whether you can keep your aircraft inside or outside is to visit the airports in your area and ask about what's available - and what it costs. You might also look for pilots who have one airplane in a hangar big enough for two, and ask whether you can share the space - and the cost.
You do have one more option. If it suits your needs, buy or build an airplane with folding wings. It takes up less space, which means you might find some hangar space to share. If that doesn't work, and you live close enough to the airport, you could tow it to and from your home. But this presents another dilemma. Where do you keep your car - inside or outside?
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