You walk up to the hangar in the early morning light, just as the sun casts its first shadows on the alleyway between the rows. Inside each one, you know an airplane sits, waiting patiently for flight. You open the entry door and step inside, and even before a light pops on, you breathe in faint aromas of a well cared-for machine: oil, avgas or Jet-A, leather, fabric, paint on metal. You turn to the wall panel near the entryway and press a switch, and that first crank of the motor begins to open the main door. A stab of daylight illuminates the airplane in front of you, and that sense of opportunity, of readiness compels you to join the aviation family once more, and get into the air today.
You joined this community of aviators for your own purposes—but for most of us, a sense of belonging to the special cadre of pilots forms a primary reason why we keep coming back. Why we invest the time, money, and effort into finding an airplane, keeping it healthy, and maintaining our skills so we can take part. Why we want to capture the most from that commitment of resources.
When you achieved your pilot’s license, you took a big step in life, but feeling part of the community on a daily basis, in a meaningful way, takes a little bit more. One goal to ensure this bond is to have your own place at the airport. A hangar to call your aviator home.
Belonging has a secure place on the hierarchy of human needs—not as high as food, water, and air, but important enough to affect our behavior. When you solo an airplane, there’s often a ritual apart from signing your logbook to mark the milestone—cutting a shirt tail, taking a douse of water, or simply posting a picture on social media of your smiling face in front of the aircraft you flew by yourself for the first time. That warm feeling becomes one you relate to flying, and you seek to recapture it by sharing other moments great and small with fellow pilots. You’re finding your people, those you like to spend time with in the air and on the ground talking about flying—and life.
Then, you buy an airplane—or perhaps you purchased one to learn to fly in and had a head start on ownership. Maybe because of local restrictions or lack of space you had to keep your airplane outside, or you’re searching for a place to park your new machine before you pull the trigger on the sale. Either way, you want more than a roof over your wings—you want a functional space that will not only allow you to keep your investment safe from the elements and other hazards, but also spend time with your airplane when you’re not flying.
Once you have that hangar facility established, you can focus on making it a nice place to relax and perform any work you need to accomplish on the airplane, for maintenance, cleaning, updating avionics, or other routine tasks. Your hangar gives you a place to welcome guests before or after you fly with them, to introduce those new to flying to the airplane in a calm, sheltered location, out of the sun, wind, or rain. You might furnish your hangar with comfortable couches upon which to sit and chat, talking about the flight before you go, or debriefing the mission afterwards. You might put in a fridge, a wet bar, or a mini kitchen to host your guests or simply refuel yourself, and a bathroom to see to your other needs.
You can hang photos or posters or signs on the hangar walls, helping to tell your aviation story to whomever drops by. And to remember the good days, the milestones, the special moments you’ve spent flying. Or to prompt you to achieve more, attain new goals in the sky. You can surround yourself with the tools you or your technician need to keep your airplane in top condition, and the spare parts or consumables like oil, tires, and fluids close by.
All of these accoutrements go a long way towards turning the hangar that you own into your “fourth place,” away from home, work, and/or school, where you can pass time in a way that builds you back up, and refreshes you. An aviation place where you come home, whether you share it with others or make it your solo spot for quiet industry and reflection. Either way, a sense of belonging, from which you can draw energy and excitement—or peace.
Owning your hangar allows you to do this to its fullest, without concern for whether you’ll keep up a lease or need to move following restructuring or change of leadership or authority around the airport. You can make your hangar a place for your own belonging in a critical way. It becomes your oasis from which you can launch without hassle, and return to securely post flight.
We’re here to help you make that belonging transform your aviation experience.
