Building a hangar and landing zone next to your home may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's certainly one of the ultimate aviation affectations, as Ted Carlson reports in this article from the December-January issue of Vertical.
How many of you, while sitting in rush-hour traffic resembling a parking lot, have ever thought what it would be like to have your own helicopter or ultralight and be able to fly between work and home? And, of course, occasionally take your flying machine for a spin around the neighborhood? I'd wager all of you have had these thoughts cross your mind - at least, I'm certainly guilty as charged.
Someone else who has had the same thoughts, but the means and perseverance to do something about it, is Rick Lindsey of Heber City, Utah. Lindsey runs Prime Insurance, a specialty helicopter insurance company, and is the proud owner of a pristine MD 500E, for which he has built a landing zone and hangar on his property. The hangar also doubles as a garage for his cars, and comes complete with an indoor basketball court. But, while the set-up is a dream come true, building and approving a home landing zone (LZ) is a process fraught with challenges.
This beautiful MD 500E is a relatively common sight in the skies over Heber City, Utah.
Here, owner Rick Lindsey takes his machine for an afternoon spin around the scenic town,
which is nestled at the base of the Wasatch Mountains. Ted Carlson Photo
How He Did It
The benefits of a home LZ are obvious. For one, it's a huge time saver: you can fly directly to work, bypassing congested roadways and shaving off a multitude of precious hours that would otherwise be lost sitting in traffic each week. A convenient landing pad also lets you take your date, spouse, friends or neighbors for rides on the weekends. Of course, many of us do what we do simply for our love of aviation - it's in our blood - so having a helicopter and LZ at home would enable us to fulfill that passion/pursue that hobby as well.
A home landing pad can also be cost-effective. If you already have a helicopter, you probably pay a fair sum to house it at your local airport. If you have a home LZ, it starts paying for itself the day you start using it (of course, you should make a detailed analysis of just how long it will take to pay for itself).
So, how did Lindsey design his facility? Since his property is on a hill, he had a retaining wall built first, and then extra-thick concrete (embedded with rebar) poured on a specifically designated landing zone just outside the garage/hangar door. The LZ has a slight slope built in to ensure good drainage for water and snow. And, two windsocks are in place to aid with takeoffs and landings: one at the top of the roof of his home, and the other near the bottom area of the sloped LZ.
To tow the 500E in and out of the hangar for each flight, Lindsey uses a ramp (a low-profile trailer on wheels) attached to a quad-runner-style all-terrain vehicle that serves as a tractor (and as a recreational vehicle when it's not towing the helicopter). The specially made hangar doors are a two-piece design that fold in the middle. The 15-foot height allows enough clearance for an aircraft as large as a Eurocopter AS 350 AStar, and the width allows for about five feet of clearance on each side of the 500E's blade diameter.
When flying from his house, Lindsey sets his transponder code to 1200 for visual flight rules and monitors the local airport UNICOM frequency, since the airport is only four miles to the south of his LZ. For jet fuel, he occasionally drops in at the airport and tops it off - he does not have any of his own fuel on site. If intensive maintenance work is required, he ferries the 500E to wherever it needs to go. Minor work can be accomplished at his local airport, or the mechanic can drop by with the necessary tools and parts if something should happen to break at home.
Lindsey, at the helm of his flying machine, negotiates a lift-off from his home LZ.
Note the specially constructed retaining wall in the background. Ted Carlson Photo
The Downside
Let's face it: owning your own helicopter, having your own hangar built and hiring a contractor to construct the LZ isn't cheap. And, the other downsides of a home landing zone are quite strong, too, and include Federal Aviation Administration guidelines and county regulations.
FAA regulations and requirements state that one can only fly a helicopter from a residentially operated landing zone three days per week, and no more than 10 times in one day. Yes, technically that means you could actually fly from an LZ up to 30 times a week, but then there is the reality. And, if Lindsey were to apply to register his landing zone as a helipad, the number of takeoffs and landings would have to exceed 10 per day - so a landing zone it is.
Okay, so, you can't take your rotary-winged flying contraption to work all five days a week, but three days a week is certainly a worthwhile compromise, right? Well, it definitely was for Lindsey... until the local government changed their minds.
Recently, Lindsey's local county made an ordinance that helicopter LZs must be on properties of 20 acres or more. Lindsey's property is closer to 13 acres. Fines of $25 per event have been threatened, but never enforced. Even if they were, Lindsey said flying from home would still be cheaper than keeping his helicopter at an airport. (FAA guidelines do not specify an acre requirement, but rather an area "must be safe" to land, which is also the case where Lindsey lands at his workplace parking lot.) Lindsey also noted that the 20-acre rule came into effect after his operation commenced, and that the county had previously approved his building plans, which specifically noted a landing zone and a hangar.
Lindsey's MD 500E relaxes on the wheeled ramp following a flight.
The hangar is to the left of the aircraft. Ted Carlson Photo
What Will the Neighbors Think?
Most importantly, when it comes to a home landing zone, the question is: how will the neighbors react? Will there be noise complaints or fears that the new-to-the-neighborhood flying contraption might fall out of the sky onto one of their homes?
Lindsey found that an important part of dealing with his neighbors was educating them. And, providing them with rides was not only a good way to introduce them to the thrill of aviation, but to let them see first-hand how harmless it is. It was also a good way for Lindsey to meet his new neighbors.
As one might expect, 90 percent of Lindsey's neighbors were fine with his landing zone and didn't consider it to be a big deal. Some even said it was "way cool," and that they were okay with him flying as much and as close as he wanted. Of course, there is always one in every group who is a "hard sell" and still doesn't subscribe to the idea. For that, all Lindsey could do was take a "such is life" approach.
Overall, though, Lindsey has been very happy with the outcome. "I took my time with the design of the LZ and hangar, and wouldn't change a thing. The hangar is great, and being able to keep the helicopter out of the elements is fantastic. It is very convenient for work travel and fun flying around this area."
For Lindsey, the hangar and LZ have taken his love of aviation and the convenience of flying to the next level. It is a dream come true and a very unique setup that is the reward for a couple of years of effort and planning. And, for those of us who dream of someday doing the very same thing, it gives us a lesson on, and inspiration for, how we can make it happen, too.
Ted Carlson is a professional aviation photojournalist and runs Southern-California-based Fotodynamics.com. He specializes in aerial photography of military and civil aircraft, and his images have adorned over 300 covers of various publications. As a writer, Ted has had hundreds of his articles published worldwide. He can be reached at: fotodynamics@cox.net.
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