Hanger or tie down on ramp

[Greg Banfield]

Looking for input on what is the really drawback to not letting them sleep inside. My PA30 has older paint and home based in Florida. Of course would love to get inside or even a shade hanger, but costs are 3 times for shade hanger and 5 times for T. What is the real downside to outdoor living, heat, salt air (in my case), sun....? Also what parts are most affected? Trying to figure out cost benefit to move to shade hanger or stay put on the ramp. Any tips on best practices to care for runner parts, paint... would be appreciated as well. Thinking when , if new paint , then move out of the sun. Oh- I do have a canopy cover already on the plane

Greg

[Scott Ducey]

I am sure someone else can give you a more detailed response, but here is my two cents. Even though the Comanche is one of the best corrosion proof airplanes, an aircraft parked inside has a longer life on paint, windshield, etc. I think the quesiton you pose also has to do with not only with the fact that it is outside, but where is it outside...which state. When it is inside you do not have to deal with hail, taking snow off the airplane, and you don't have to be concerned about someone blowing their propwash (and the gravel that follows) on your airplane. I have kept both my twin comanche and piper archer inside. personally, with being in the hangar allows me to work on the airplane even in the dead of winter. it also makes pre-flighting and pre-heating much easier. however, i thought keeping the airplane inside keeps the birds away. i do find bird crap on my plane even though it is in a hangar. now i have a pellet gun.

is all of this worth $500 a month? for me it is because i like convenience and comfort. if you do the math, setting $500 per month aside, you prob could paint your airplane every few years.

i try to take care of my PA-30. i feel better that she is parked inside away from the elements, but it is a big expense. christ, most things with airplane are unfortunately....

hope this helps.

scott

[trmckn]

What Scott said....

I'd feel lucky if I could find a $500 T-hangar in my area. It's $650 for me. Clearly, there isn't a way to make a financial justification because there isn't much damage that the outdoors could do that $650 per month wouldn't fix with plenty left over. It's as much about me as it is the plane. Winter time, the hangar is heated, and I can do a leasurely pre-flight, putz around over a cup of coffee and check weather, file, or whatever. Summer time, I'm out of the sun, the cockpit is comfortable when I get in. Tires need inflation, and I just wheel over the compressor. If I wanna clean the bugs off the leading edge, I fire up a radio, listen to the ballgame, and clean away. Unless you're in a very inexpensive area though, it's doubtful that you could make a financial argument stick.

[N3322G]

hi Greg,

My 2 cents is given you are in FL, the salt and rain would cause me to move inside if feasible because they are so pervasive and invasive.

If inside isn't possible, I'd watch those things that aren't corrosion-proofed like the landing gear wiring and all the rubber stuff down there, tires and the conduits. I'd also watch the fuel door areas for water as well as the access panels on top of the wing and their gaskets. The sun will fry them faster.

Took me awhile to figure out that when all is in good shape, there is not any garbage at all in the fuel drain. Anytime, there is garbage in there, something needs fixed ... gas caps, fuel door gaskets, access panel gaskets.

Hope this helps.

[Chris Kuyoth]

Greg,

The fuel bladders take a beating when the airplane is parked outside in the hot sun. The top surface of the wing gets hot and conducts the heat directly to the bladders. This promotes bladder dry rot from the top down, especially in areas where the fuel is not in contact with the top surface of the bladder to help conduct the heat from the bladder.

This problem can be mitigated by keeping the tanks topped. Remember however, that when the fuel heats up in the afternoon sun and expands, it vents through the overflow. When this happens, you end up with less than full bladders and hot spots.

I am no expert and really have no data to back this statement up. I am just summarizing what I have gathered from the technical gurus through the years. I could not even guess as to what extent the hot sun reduces the life of the bladders.

Also, since you are in Florida, I imagine that hail is not uncommon. I would lose a lot of sleep at night knowing that my $70k .025in thick aluminum skinned hail magnet was tied down outside. Does your insurance policy cover hail damage?

Chris

[tomburke1]

[Jay]

[Tony Scarpelli]

If you can fly the plane 1 hr a week that goes along way towards mitigating damage of leaving the plane outside. It rains daily and as others said some parts dry better than others. Running the engine will keep the moisture out of the oil - engine - prop which can hold corrosian and rust down.

If you are not flying for 30-45 days at a time, then find a way to keep her out of the rain. If you get in covered then use preoilers to keep the corrosian down.