Finding a Hangar to Rent Can Be an Elusive, Remarkable Achievement

Searching for a place to house an airplane often comes with lengthy, decades-long waiting lists.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 10:11 AM ET

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Uncharted, private strips like this one sometimes resemble derelict airplanes, unused and slowly becoming lost to time and the elements. [Courtesy: Jason McDowell]

Key Takeaways:

The author, a new airplane owner, faces significant challenges finding a hangar to rent, with public airport waitlists in their region extending for decades.
To find a solution, the author began exploring private, often uncharted, airstrips via online maps and property listings, hoping to find unused hangars or suitable properties.
On-site investigations of these private strips largely revealed them to be derelict, poorly maintained, or not available for rent or purchase, despite a promising encounter with one owner.
The search for a home with an airstrip or an available hangar continues, highlighting the scarcity of such facilities and the unfortunate deterioration of many private aviation assets over time.

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The other day, I asked AI to list some of mankind’s most remarkable achievements. The resulting list included the discovery of fire and electricity, the development of language, vaccines, agriculture, math, splitting the atom, inventing the computer chip, and landing on the moon.

Notably absent from the list was a first-time airplane owner managing to simultaneously purchase a home and find a hangar to rent from out of state. Given my total lack of success in this area over the past few years, I am left to assume it is simply insurmountable and has never been accomplished in our history.