Home Is Where The Hangar Is

What's your idea of a dream home? If you're a pilot, chances are it involves a runway near the house and a taxiway to the garage -- which, of course, doubles as a hangar.

"As the cost of tying down or finding a hangar on a public airport has increased, people have said, 'Why don't I take the X number of dollars that I am paying for the tie downs and put it into a home?'" said David Sclair, publisher of "Living With Your Plane General Aviation News" for some three decades.

His remarks came in an interview with the Bartow, CA, Desert Dispatch. Sclair and his wife, Mary Lou, life on the taxiway (as opposed to the fairway) at Adelanto Airport in California's Victor Valley. "It is a growing trend that has been increasing over the last 10 years."

That actually makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. Security is an increasing concern at GA airports nationwide. And have you seen what it costs to tie down an aircraft these days? The solution? Park where you live (like John Travolta, who owns this house and these planes near Orlando, FL).

Sclair says there are now some 600 aviation communities where main street isn't a street at all, but a runway.

"Why not live with your toys?" helicopter pilot Joe Pike told the Dispatch. "It's every pilot's dream to walk out of your house and go fly anyplace you want."

"If you think about it, it is no different than somebody that lives on a marina or a dock with a boat," Krause said. "It is just a matter of where your heart is."

FMI: www.livingwithyourplane.com