Aircraft Doors in Hangars.

[Guptar]

Got asked the other day by an owner if he should leave is aircraft that's in a hanger if he should leave it with the door open. I didn't know but always thought door closed but with the storm window. So what are the thoughts on here for:

Small un pressurised GA prop aircraft

Pressurised turbo prop/jet.

Doors open for ventilation or locked up tight.

These are for aircraft that are flown weekly (or maybe less) but not every day.

Any difference in practice between a dry climate and a more humid climate.

[dubbleyew eight]

close the doors.

an aircraft deteriorates mainly by the long term effects of moisture on the structure setting off corrosion.

if you always close the doors of the hangar they stay drier and warm well into the night.
if you want to check out how warm a hangar stays just sleep in it one night.
you'll be pleasantly surprised at how nice the environment is inside a hangar.

it is a truth in aviation that no matter how expensive, a hangar will more than pay for itself in the reduction in maintenance costs.

closed doors also keep out those mindless idiots who think pilots are all too wealthy and need to be taken down a peg by the damaging of aircraft.

I'm quite serious in suggesting that if you want to own an aeroplane, work out where you are going to hangar it first.

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

My aeroplane is hangared - doors closed and locked.

Dr :8

[A Squared]

W8

He's asking whether or not to leave the aircraft door open, not the hangar door.

[A Squared]

it is a truth in aviation that no matter how expensive, a hangar will more than pay for itself in the reduction in maintenance costs.

Not a truth.

Hangars in my neighborhood are $180,000 ish

Figure 20% down on a 30 year mortgage at current rates (optimistic as you're not gonna get residential mortgage rates for a hangar) That's about $800 a month for the payment. That doesn't include taxes, utilities, association dues, anything. That's $9600 a year. I don't pay anywhere close to $9600 a year in maintenance.

Much as I'd like to have a hangar, "saving money" is a specious justification. it wouldn't, not by any stretch of the imagination.

A back of a matchbook calculation shows that just the property tax bill over 30 years will exceed the value of my airplane.

[Wally Mk2]

Forky didn't know you owned an aeroplane:E


Wmk2

[Aussie Bob]

Hangars in my neighborhood are $180,000 ish

My hanger is $150.00 per calendar month and this includes a dunney and kitchen. Guess that is the benefit of living in the country.

My aeroplane is hangared - doors closed and locked.

Mine too, both hangar doors and aircraft doors.

[A Squared]

My hanger is $150.00 per calendar month and this includes a dunney and kitchen.

I'd love to find one for that price.

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Forky didn't know you owned an aeroplane:E
Wmk2

I pay $600/month to put the aeroplane that I don't own in a hangar! :E

Dr :8

[Propstop]

Hangar doors closed and aircraft doors closed, else the local feline will have a nice comfortable place to sleep. If that is not so then the rodent population will move in.
Trying to evict either is very difficult, especially if the aircraft becomes a nursery and then the whole interior will have to come out. Missing just one of the litter has far reaching consequences. Trust me; I know!!

[bentleg]

Aircraft doors and windows closed, otherwise the possums will party in there.

[VH-XXX]

All doors closed otherwise someone will steal my ipads.

[Oracle1]

Go to Woolworths and buy yourself a Hippo. They remove moisture from the air inside the cabin stopping sweating and corrosion. $7 bucks to remove 750ml of moisture. I find they last about three months. My aircraft is hangered and I wont put it outside unless I am forced to by circumstance. At one stage my aircraft was outside in the rain with full covers on and without the Hippo the stench of mould soon sets in.

[dubbleyew eight]

hangar door and aircraft doors closed to stop mice, birds nests, possums, snakes and whatever.

also if you have the aircraft open in australia you need to place control locks to prevent islamic terrorists using them. locking the hangar door is an adequate control lock for that purpose.

for mould you need to run an ozone generator in the closed aircraft occasionally.
ozone is fatal to mould.
dick smith's used to sell little ozone generators for office use back in the days when it was run by dick smith.
where you would get one now I dont know.

you realise that the reason for absurdly high hangar costs is actually to drive General Aviation into bankruptcy dont you. The bastards doing this are trying to get at the land for the quicker buck offered by conversion to housing.

[dubbleyew eight]

'a squared' if a hangar costs that much in your location the solution is to spread the cost over many aircraft.
a crowded hangar also means lots of friends around.

[A Squared]

you realise that the reason for absurdly high hangar costs is actually to drive General Aviation into bankruptcy dont you. The bastards doing this are trying to get at the land for the quicker buck offered by conversion to housing.


Ehhh, not in my neighborhood. It's Alaska which is about as Aviation friendly as you're going to get. GA's a necessity and an integral part of the local culture. There's a few who don't grasp that, but they're in the minority. In my city, Real estate is expensive and construction is expensive. The hangars are heated , so in that respect cost more than an the unheated, uninsulated building which might be ideal in warmer climates. It's just the way it is, no conspiracy.

if a hangar costs that much in your location the solution is to spread the cost over many aircraft.
a crowded hangar also means lots of friends around.

Good thought, but that's the price for a single plane hangar. The only way to put in two planes would be to install a storage lift. Some folks do that. A hangar with the floor space to house more than one plane is going to be considerably more expensive.