Yep, and it’s one thing to have a hanger that may have utility for other purposes, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out why the owner of the derelict Cherokee 140 across from me continues to pay the $90 a month for the shadeport spot.

I see old planes in my hangars that are JUNK. The husband has convinced his wife for years the plane is VERY valuable and it’s worth storing.

The husband dies and the wife tries to sell with unrealistic expectations. She thinks everyone is trying to cheat her and won’t sell it for what it is worth.

I came across a guy to whom I'd given some instruction way back in the early nineties. I hadn't seen him since. But he'd bought himself a B36TC back then, only a hundred hours on it. Turns out, not long after I'd worked with him, he had a series of heart issues, including an attack. Took him years to regain his medical. He said, well, I am now gonna sell the plane. He had it hangared at my airport all these years, and he hadn't flown it but a few dozen hours since those early nineties and...it hasn't been out of the hangar in fifteen years. Gorgeous plane. He has a measure of OCD and every single thing he owns has to be perfect. [You scratch a fastener opening a panel on his Bonanza, replace that screw.] Anyhow, point to this missive is that he has now done his research and figures his plane is worth over $450K. Low time, etc. Avionics are state-of-the-art mid-nineties. Wanted to know if I am aware of anyone wanting something like his plane. Told me he figures he is letting it go at a bargain price if he negotiates it down to $430K. I simply told him I had no people to send his way.

He will receive a shock to his expectations, but I kept quiet.

Its clone is sitting in the hangar next to ours. It hasn't flown in 10 years and is surround by stuff that would have to be excavated before you could remove the plane.

3+ years waitlist for hangars and there sits a Bonanza shaped sculpture in storage and the owner works for AOPA.

At my field, I’m convinced the “waitlist” is an Excel sheet that gets passed around from desk to desk as the overseer of hangar rents seems to change every few years.

A little over a year ago, I bought a 150 and asked the City to rent a plane-port for it. I was told there are 40 names ahead of me... I had to email back to make sure we are talking about the same thing because 50% of them are empty.

I can understand that a City staffer doesn’t know the GA landscape, like how owners find other options, needs change, etc and the waitlist should be culled from time to time. What I don’t understand is why the employee won’t drive down and verify my statement herself when I tell her they’re half empty and I’m a ready tenant. I seriously doubt those empty spots are from paying customers.

Now hangars are a different story. They’re all taken.

There was a low time V-35B that was for sale for sale on and off for years at my old airport. The owner could no longer get insurance after his second (most said third) gear up. So there it sat with a brand new engine and prop in his T hanger. When the market got hot he bought a new battery, pulled it outside and fired it up after years of sitting. The potential buyer walked once he learned about it. It eventually sold but I have no idea what for. What could be better than a low time Bonanza with a new engine and prop…

At least the answering machine won't get worn out.

Because people bought airplanes that they could not afford or were unwilling to spend the money needed to maintain them.