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Plane Living
by Judy Betz
Why a fly-in community could be your next move. We reveal the ins and outs of airpark living.
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Photograph by Byran Allen
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Owning an airplane allows you enjoy flying. Living with your airplane lets you take that relationship to the next level.
But, you may ask, can normal people really live in an airpark? Don’t you have to be retired or an airline pilot or something to be able to truly immerse yourself in flying to that degree? What will your friends say? More importantly, what will your family say?
Those are all very good questions, and you should consider them. But before you talk yourself completely out of it, take a few minutes to seriously consider airpark living and what brings not only to your flying life, but also to your family life.
Unlike the generic suburbs of today, airparks tend to be more like the traditional "neighborhoods" many of us grew up in. Airparks are social entities where groups of people drawn together by a love of flying share common interests and likes in ways you don’t see much any more.
This is a phenomenon that airpark residents talk about over and over when questioned about why they live where they do. There is a sense of community that comes from living with like-minded families, and it’s a feeling of belonging that is missing in many modern suburbs.
You may find, as thousands of other families have, that living in an airpark is one of the best decisions you could ever make.
Many of the factors you need to consider—like runway surface or length, hangar size, etc—involve the airplane. But don’t forget the needs of your family. Like any home, an airpark home must satisfy your family’s needs for community and services. This means considering schools, shopping, and other community services in addition to the factors that affect your airplane..
By necessity, runways need room, and airplanes need space. So no matter how close an airpark is located to a metropolitan area, it will not be as close to conveniences such as shopping, schools, churches, medical facilities, public transportation, and cultural or entertainment amenities as you and your family may be accustomed to.
Aviation People
Who lives on airparks? Just about anyone with an interest in aviation is eligible move right in. Different types of people move to airparks for different reasons. Residents run the gamut from retirees to young working families, from professional pilots to the newest student of aviation.
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Share your checklist tips with other pilots. Visit our Stuck Mic. |
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“We moved here to be on an airstrip. We felt we could live with the commute, we could make the drive to our jobs near Washington, DC. It was worth it,” said Anne Fichera about their move over 20 years ago to Kentmorr Airpark.
Kentmorr is located across the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis, on Maryland’s eastern shore, it is a 50-mile drive into Washington. When Joe Fichera planned his retirement from restoring airplanes for the National Air and Space Museum, he wanted to work on his own restoration projects, and he wanted to be able to do it in comfort and with convenience. For him that meant in a hangar attached to his home.
Eric and Penny Garrett have two young children and are quite a few years from retirement.
But when Eric’s job required a transfer to the Ocala, Florida, they decided they would like to find a place to keep their airplane with them. They found Leeward Air Ranch had everything they wanted.
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Preflighting Your Airpark
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Is the runway paved or grass? Does it make a difference? How long is it? How wide? Is it lighted? How are the approaches?
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Who maintains the runway (and at what cost)?
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Is there fuel available? Maintenance and other services?
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Is the runway publicly or privately owned? Is it open to the public, even if privately owned?
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How is safety, for both aircraft and people handled? Who is liable in the event of an accident?
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Are the roads and the taxiways one and the same? If so, what are the safety provisions? Who maintains the roads and taxiways and at what cost?
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Is it a gated community or is there some other security mechanism in place?
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How are community/airport improvements decided and paid for?
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Are there facilities for transient or guest airplanes on the field?
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Click here to Download a PDF of the checklist so you can print it out and carry it with you.
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“We came to Leeward when Emily and Max were six and three,” said Penny. “Now they are 13 and nine. They’ve had the opportunity to grow up as part of a real community. They have all sorts of surrogate aunts and uncles and grandparents. We love it here.”
Some airparks restrict property purchases to those holding a current pilot’s license and/or ownership of an aircraft or kit project-in-process, but others do not.
People have a tendency to group together at aviation communities. Often airport friends and fellow pilots will leave a commercial airport and all buy property at the same nearby airpark.
Similarly, commercial pilots working for a particular airline may choose to be on the same airpark if it is near their hub city. But that doesn’t mean that everyone knows one another before moving to an airpark.
Home Prices
There are airparks all budgets. The location of the property determines the price, and experts say an airpark home typically isn’t any more expensive than a comparable home in a similar, non-aviation neighborhood nearby..
“If you can afford a house you can afford a house in an airpark,” said Kathie Beaty, owner of Aviation Homes & Land, a real estate and marketing company for aviation properties. “We had one home that was in Oklahoma,on 260 acres, it had rolling hills, trees, creeks, a house, hangar and runway, for around $260,000,” she said. “It was in the middle of nowhere, but if you’re not stuck having to work in a certain city, you can get some real bargains.”
Building lots start as low as $12,000 or as high as $450,000 on airparks, depending on the part of the country you are pricing. Stick a home and hangar on the lot, and the range is still typical of a normal home, under $100,000 in some areas, to millions of dollars in others.”
Supply and demand play a big part in what you’ll pay. The larger the airpark, the more choices you’ll have. The more amenities an airpark has, the more you’ll be paying.
Remember to weigh your purchase price against the savings you’ll have by owning your own hangar in a GA-friendly community, and factor in the savings on hangar or tie-down space.
Not Just About The Airplane
Aviation communities come in all shapes and sizes, some with special amenities and others without anything unique except a runway.
While all share the unique feature of being able to live with your airplane, many also offer diversions for family members who are not so fixated on aviation.
Spruce Creek Fly-In, Daytona Beach, FL (7FL6) has 1600 home sites on 1200 acres surrounding a 4000-foot paved World War II-era airstrip. It also features its own country club and a par 72, 6,717-yard championship golf course. Spruce Creek is one of the oldest fly-in communities in existence, and it survives today as a tight-knit community of pilot-friendly golf enthusiasts.
Cannon Creek Airpark, Lake City, FL (15FL), has one subdivision that provides facilities for living with your horses as well as your airplanes. Here, any home on a lot greater than two acres can host a horse in addition to an airplane. With the heavily wooded terrain and the meandering network of taxiways, sometimes one loses sight of the fact that Cannon Creek has two crossing runways.
Eagles Nest Aerodrome, Crescent City, FL (44FD), offers water as well as a runway. Located in northeastern Florida on beautiful Lake Estella this airpark has a quiet country setting but is within an hour of Jacksonville and St. Augustine. With a seaplane ramp in addition to the 3200-foot grass strip, plus excellent bass fishing locally and in the other lakes and the St. John’s River near-by, this is an excellent combination of the two elements of air and water.
Westgate River Ranch Aviators Club, River Ranch, FL (2RR), offers full-service resort living. Located at the heart of 1700 acres of Florida wilderness 60 miles south of Orlando, this resort features a 5000-foot paved and lighted runway. The Aviators Club, currently under development,  will be a unique community of luxury homes, custom-built with adjacent hangars. Aviators Club homeowners will be able to enjoy all of the other amenities at the resort, including golf on one of three, 18-hole championship courses courses, boating and fishing from an onsite the marina, and access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean via the Kissimmee River. The resort also features horseback riding on heavily-wooded nature trails, attendance at the weekly old-time family rodeo, and use of the trap and skeet shooting range.
Location, Location, Location
Where are all these dream locations? According to the Living With Your Plane Association, over 425 residential airparks are now listed in their annual directory, which is available with membership enrollment.
Annual membership also includes an online newsletter, actual home/hangar floorplans, helpful tips, frequently-asked questions and answers, a library of actual aviation community covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs) for various airparks, a listing of aviation sales professionals, and classified ads for airpark properties.
Home 4 Sale Resources
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If you think airpark living might just be the thing for you, the next thing to do is start investigating properties, right? Unfortunately, homes with runways are a special need, and one that your local real estate agent might not be able to accommodate.
Most airparks have their own real estate agents to handle marketing of the properties, so your biggest challenge will be finding an airpark that suits your needs.
Happily, there are plenty of online resources to help you get started on your search for the perfect airpark for you.
One excellent resource is airporthomes.com, which is a great starting point in your search for the perfect airpark home. In addition to listing properties for sale or rent, this valuable resource also features an online directory of airparks, e-mail alerts, its own newsletter, articles about airpark living, and even plans for homes with hangars.
 Another useful resource is www.livingwithyourplane.com, operated by Mary Lou and Dave Sclair, the former publishers of General Aviation News. This site features classified listings as well as a registry of airparks.
Another good resource is aviationhomes.com, featuring not only home listings but a number of good real estate agents who specialize in aviation-related properties.
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The annual LWYP directory covers many of the categories you will be interested in when purchasing airpark property. It provides information such as when the airpark was opened, the type of ownership and use, the number of based aircraft, the runway elevation, length and surface, and whether there are any obstructions, lights, approach aids, fuel, and whether maintenance or tie-downs are available. It also includescontact names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and/or web sites for the property owners are also listed.
In addition to the LWYP directory, most airparks now have their own web sites. There are two regional research guidebooks, The Illustrated Guidebook to Residential Airparks – East and The Illustrated Guidebook to Residential Airparks – Southwest. Published in the mid-1990s, however, these are no longer available without considerable searching.
Skip The Trip To The Airport
Convenience and camaraderie are the main reasons people give for choosing to live on an airpark.
Convenience means that when you’re ready to go flying, or want to work on your airplane, there’s no longer a need to make the long drive to the local airport.
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Know of other unique airpark communities? Share with other aviators at our Stuck Mic. |
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You’re ready to go with a short walk into your hangar. But there are other conveniences.
Being based at home, you no longer have to pay someone else expensive hangar rent. Instead you will be investing your money in your own property. Many municipal or regional airports are suffering from a scarcity of available hangar space. This is particularly true in area where an airport closes, and the tenants scramble for new homes for their planes.
Any worries you may have about inadequate airport and hangar security disappear when you are on your own airfield and in your own hangar. You and your neighbors control security by watching out for one another. This goes back to that sense of community and “real” neighborhood living.
Likewise, your property owners association will now create the airport’s rules to suit the needs of the community, rather than being at odds with the needs of the airport as is usually the case.
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