From: bills@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Bill Standerfer)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation
Subject: Re: fly-in community
Date: 10 Aug 92 21:23:24 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO

In article <1992Aug03.215512.15216@ncrcae.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM>,
hutton@ncrcol.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (ed Hutton ext. 6488) writes:
>
>	I am thinking about buying into a fly-in community.
>The airstrip is close enough to work (less than 30 minutes drive).
>My work place is right next door to the airport (I can walk from the
>airport to work in 5 minutes). Flight time to and from work would be
>less than 10 minutes.
>

What about preflight, runups, parking, etc?  It is very hard to beat a car
over 50 mile legs, even if you live at an airport.  If this is your
justification for the deal, think real hard about it 'cause I think you may be
fooling yourself here.

>	Probably every pilot has dreamed about having a runway
>in the back yard, I need to hear the cold hard realities (thats
>where you come in :-) net.friends) of such an arrangement.
>

We lived at Van Aire, a flying community near Denver, for 5 years.  It is,
indeed, something to dream about as a pilot.  To literally have the airplane
parked in the back yard is really fun.  As with any community, flying or
otherwise, there are personalities and differences of opinion that have to be
dealt with.

Talk to as many of the current residents as possible to find out how things are
run.  You probably want a pretty active homeowners association to make sure
the airport maintenance gets done quickly and economically.  Ask how that is
done and who does it.  At Van Aire, it was usually the same 10 folks or so that
did the work (the same can be said of just about every organization, though).
As long as the work gets done, I guess that's fine as long as everyone buys
into it.  Remember that you are buying part of an airport, so you also get
things like runway lights, radios for the lighting controls, taxiways, VASIs,
etc.  How well these things are kept up will determine how satisfied you will
be as a resident and user of the airport.

Are there covenents regarding who can give instruction there that may impact
what you want to do (can you bring in a non-resident to give you
instruction?)?  May non-residents tie down aircraft there (not desirable in my
opinion)?  How many airplanes may be parked on each lot (the airplane version
of the neighbor with the driveway full of inoperative cars)?  Who sells fuel
on the airport and to whom (make sure that the fuel concession is to your
liking and that non-resident traffic doesn't increase due to fuel
availability)?  Are individual fuel farms allowed (potential safety/EPA
concern)?  If there are empty lots, are there covenents to restrict building
types (someone buying the lot and just building a hangar should be avoided)?

>	The only wrinkle that comes to mind is resale. With something
>like 1000 pilots in the Columbia metro area, I don't think it would be
>very easy to sell (any thoughts on resale?).
>

It will probably take you longer to sell property there than in a "normal"
neighborhood.  Like any community, if it is well maintained as a community, it
will be easier to sell.  You are also at some risk of losing the "airport" part
of the deal if the county/state/city decides that the airport should be closed.
In Van Aire's case, the new Denver monstrosity... ah, airport has made selling
impossible for about 5 years or so.  No bank will lend any money until the new
TCA NPRM is published to make sure that Van Aire will stay open.  You could get
into some weird situation that could lead to similar results.

>	I've read the covenants, conditions, and restrictions for the
>development. I've inspected the site. I've flown in and taxied around
>on the runway. I'm definitely interested. What else should I be
>thinking about? 

I think any time you spend talking to current residents will be time very well
spent.  If most of them are happy, then you'll stand a good chance of being
happy there, too.

Good luck!

Bill Standerfer