Hanger first or aircraft first?

[RayV]

I am looking to progress my flying “career “ and after asking on my local Cheshire club site, I have been offered a very nice Mainair Blade 462 from a fellow flyer who doesn’t have time to fly it. The Blade is currently hangared 1.5 hours away from me, so not an ideal location, and I don’t know if I would be able to keep it there anyway. My issue is that I don’t have anywhere else to hangar it. It would appear that hangarage is at a premium near me (Stockport) and it has been suggested that I may be better off trying to find a local “hangar queen” of similar spec and trying to persuade the owner to sell the machine to me along with the hangarage. I do not own a trailer and my only 4 wheeler is a company vehicle that I am not permitted to alter, so no tow bar. I have looked at local syndicates, but the only one that I have found so far is a half share in a lovely Quik R, which is too expensive for me.
I am very tempted to buy the Blade but I am not sure what I can do with it if I do! Any advice gratefully received.

 

[Mike Calvert]

chicken and egg.... I believe many have found that it's best to find the hangar space first, and then sort the plane, unless you have some temporary storage solution available...

While 1.5 hours sucks, that's better than one of the gents in my syndicate who's closer to 3 hours away! Mind you, his choice - there are closer clubs to him, he just likes our airfield too much So he comes down and stays for a couple of days and does multiple flights.

 

[RayV]

chicken and egg.... I believe many have found that it's best to find the hangar space first, and then sort the plane, unless you have some temporary storage solution available...

While 1.5 hours sucks, that's better than one of the gents in my syndicate who's closer to 3 hours away! Mind you, his choice - there are closer clubs to him, he just likes our airfield too much So he comes down and stays for a couple of days and does multiple flights.

All I can say is that you must be good company! I could live with 1.5 hours to start with, however I got the impression that it was probably unlikely unless stored de-rigged. I am just trying to find out what route experienced pilots have taken before I start making schoolboy errors.

 

[Andy Dixon]

Getting hangarage first your usually paying for hangarage,then you 'panic buy 'your plane.
with a flexwing I would always buy the plane first as your not backed into a financial corner , any airfield will take you derigged if you have no where to store it.

 

[oldbaldyman]

It is essential that before you buy an aircraft you have somewhere to store it, its as simple as that!!!

 

[MadamBreakneck]

You might want to look out for a second-hand flexwing trailer and keep it in your garage (or some similar wheeze). That used to be the norm back when the Blade 462 was a spring chicken.

Silly me, I should have read more carefully; you can't fit a tow hook. If you like the aircraft, I'd leave it where it is, and where you know the locals, until you find somewhere nearer. Storing derigged will introduce you to how microlighting was 'in the old days' that some among us will remember.

 

[Mike101]

I had just the same question some months ago. I live in south Wiltshire and hangar space down here is very rare.

So I found a space then bought a QuikR so I could fold the wing.