If you own an airplane, fly quite often, and have a family, you may want to consider a hanger home for your Cessna Skyhawk. All across the United States there are many communities that are situated near an air strip for smaller airplanes to which homes are annexed to. Of course, contractors will need to build the homes far away from the takeoff and landing area but it’s a very conventional place to live for a single or twin engine airplane owner. Planes can access the air strip from their very own hanger that’s attached to their home via a wide paved path or neat grassy patch. 

Being that I live in the Northern United States where we tend to see harsher winters these hanger home communities won’t be found near here and are more commonly found in warmer climates like Florida and California. In those states there is no need to worry about snow, ice, sleet, and freezing rain which can be a major hazard when taxing out of a homemade air hanger. Hanger home communities usually enjoy good weather as you never know when will be their next takeoff.

Hangar Homes Are Really Neat

When you think of an airplane hanger, living in one is not  the first thing that comes to mind. We usually think of it as an all metal structure which is very airy and not such pleasant living quarters. You will be surprised to see that hangar homes are not just a means to house your own airplane but are also beautifully designed and can be very pricey. You have to be a diehard pilot to shell out the cash for one of these exquisite homes as they are definitely something special. We will review the aesthetics of the living area and how the airplane hanger completes the dream look for a pilot’s home. 

What Is Your Preferred Airstrip?

When you are selecting your dream location for your air hanger home there are two types of air strips to choose from. Green grass air strips are well-maintained, closely mowed, with good drainage to prevent standing water. Hangar home villages that surround such air strips generally have fewer homes and a country-like feel . These communities are scattered all throughout the United States as they take up less real estate and are relatively easy to plot down by land developers. For example, in Clayton, GA there is a neighborhood called Big Creek Flying Ranch. It’s situated in a beautiful mountainous area in Northern Georgia right near the border of South Carolina. Besides the pleasant greenery, this hanger home community is spotted right on the Stekoa Creek that enhances the area with a gorgeous brook. The only downside to living in such an area is the shortened air strip that typiclly handles single engine aircrafts.

In Wellington, FL there is an air strip where dream pilots have the best of both worlds, beautiful hangar homes and a regular paved air strip. Residents can taxi their single or twin engine planes via the paved and grass arteries which lead them to the air strip. Some of the homes have air hangers in the back of the house while others have them in the front of the home, similar to a traditional driveway. It’s not uncommon for your neighbor to be taxing a plane towards the runaway while you’re driving in a car on the same block, everyone respects the planes right of way until it passes. Some of these homes go for well over $1,000,000 and are fitted with everything that you can imagine in your dream home. One home is a two floor house with a gorgeous pool surrounded by palm trees and an air hanger that has enough room for two airplanes. 

What’s Happening In The Aircraft Hanger?

To be honest with you, the actual hanger is really no different than an oversized garage. The hanger door is going to be very wide and it is operated remotely like most garage door openers. Some of these garages will tend to have a section for a small car garage right beside the hanger area that can be used as a natural car garage. The ceiling needs to be high enough to give plenty of clearance for the plane’s rudder so no hanging fans or fixtures interfere with the plane. The one commonality for all air hangers is that they are very wide and large. What is special about a hanger home is that your garage can host your single or twin engine airplane and no need to pay a local airport for aircraft parking. 

Choosing Flooring For Your Personal Airplane Hanger

Most airplane hangers will keep the original cement foundation for the flooring. Some hanger home owners will choose to smooth the surface and polish the concrete to give it a nice appearance. There is the option to paint the floor with an epoxy solution that creates a shiny, and durable surface. Depending on how handy you are will determine if you can treat the concrete floor to enhance its appearance. If you have any hesitation about being able to treat the concrete floor in your airplane hanger, better off that you hire a professional to do the job right.

There is another flooring option for your airplane hangar which is called interlocking floor tiles. What is nice about this option is that you can create a neat pattern to enhance the floor of your airplane hanger. Some aircraft owners will color code the floor to where the front and back wheels of the plane should rest. Another added benefit is that the PVC interlocking floor tiles are durable and will absorb the impact if any expensive tools slip from your hand. Instead of it smashing on a concrete floor the tool will hit plastic. These interlocking rubber tiles give a nice appearance and have become quite popular in airplane hangers and are found in the facilities of aerospace manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. The tiles are relatively easy to install for a square or rectangle or hanger. The only problem is when you have to go around a pole and need to cut a circle in the interlocking floor tile. These tiles can be installed by both yourself and a professional. 

No, You Can’t Make Your Own Airport!

In Afton, Minnesota, a man had made an airstrip on his own property for personal use. According to Newsweek, Jeffrey Walker had built the airstrip behind his home and has been using it ever since 2003. What was interesting about this story was that the airport was actually registered and claimed to be listed on the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) website. The only problem was that Jeffrey never applied for a permit to develop his 2,200 foot long airstrip and had been cited multiple times for allegedly operating a private airport on his property. This could be very dangerous in case an aircraft needs to make an emergency landing and the airstrip is not able to handle it because it never met the necessary requirements by the local city’s ordinances. 

Therefore if you are thinking of building a hanger home on your property and it is not annexed to a legal airstrip you need to get approval from your local municipality and register it with the FAA. Hangar homes are very neat and are often affiliated with a local airport. The same goes for purchasing a hanger home, be sure that all the legal parameters are checked in regard to the use of the airstrip. The last thing any pilot wants is to be stuck with a hanger home that you can’t use for takeoff and landing. 

Final Words

Hangar homes are the perfect option for pilots who can afford a lifestyle literally built around aerospace. Not sure how that would work out for a family that has kids going to school but I am sure any kid would love to grow up in such a neighborhood. But there are many of such housing options for aircraft owners all throughout the United States. Some of these homes are quite exquisite and fitted with all the luxuries that a homeowner can possibly imagine. In most cases, the actual aircraft hanger is an oversized garage that has plenty of clearance for the plane’s wings and rudders.

One of the most amazing parts of a hanger home is the dual capabilities of having access to it by both air and car. Try and imagine that you need to go on a trip and you are not interested in sitting in local traffic. Just head to your garage and check your aircrafts engines, taxi to a nearby airstrip, and off you go. Sounds like a lot of fun but is not the ideal lifestyle for most of us. One day we all hope that we all can have the luxury of owning a dream home, and maybe that might be a hanger home. Regardless of where one is living, they should always enjoy the flight of life with the ones they love most, which are family and friends.