Airparks: Home Is Where the Hangar Is

Unique spots offer pilots coveted chance to live alongside their planes.

Grant Boyd

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Zach Vasile

Pecan Plantation, a master-planned development, covers 4,200 acres and consists of two airparks in Texas. [Credit: Gustav Schmiege Photography/Patten Properties]

Key Takeaways:

Airparks offer a unique lifestyle for aviators, integrating flying into daily life within communities designed for aircraft owners, fostering strong camaraderie and mutual support.
There are 710 cataloged airparks globally, predominantly in the U.S. (Texas, Florida, and Washington leading in numbers), providing diverse options for fly-in living.
These communities vary widely, from large, amenity-rich developments like Spruce Creek to more secluded, nature-integrated ranches such as The Refuge, or those with unique features like river access at Abel Island.
Residents often benefit from the convenience of hangar homes, shared passion for aviation, access to various recreational activities, and proximity to both natural beauty and essential services.

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For many, living at a residential airpark with a plane of their own in the hangar is the ultimate aviation goal. Those who live at a fly-in community integrate flying into their daily lives, sharing the spoils of flight with like-minded neighbors.

Ben Sclair has been documenting airparks for more than three decades and followed in the footsteps of his father Dave, who moved the Sclair family to Shady Acres Airport (3B8) in Spanaway, Washington, shortly before creating the Living With Your Plane (livingwithyourplane.com) directory. This resource maps current and anticipated fly-in communities across the country and defines an airpark as a “runway surrounded by residential property where there’s two or more lots with deeded legal access to that common airstrip.”