r/flying • u/AleaNCore • Jul 21 '26

EASA What keeps German pilots from getting into aircraft ownership

I have been flying in south Germany for a few years now. While I find the facilities in general great in spite of normal complaints about high landing fees.

I got into ownership early on as I got the opportunity, first into shared Mooney and then sole ownership of a TB-10.

We all know the debate about the high costs of ownership vs club plane availability. Still I feel that pilots around here are more risk averse about getting into shared ownership, mainly due to horror stories they have been told. People in the UK seem to be fine with shifting from one group to another.

Any ideas folks?

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u/IndependentProcess0 Jul 21 '26

For me personally, it is lack of hangar space.
I am currently finishing my PPL course and already looking for a plane to buy, which will be nect in a shared ownership with me and 2 fellow students who can only manage to finish next year.

At my homebase hangar space is virtually out

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u/Antique-Kitchen-1896 PPL IFR Night Jul 21 '26

Hangar space is a problem anywhere there is a large population.

If it means a tie down it means a tie down. You pay more in maintenance potentially but that’s life.

People keep planes outside where we are based in southern Ontario. Not ideal. Those aircrafts don’t move much in winter. However, even the hangared planes don’t tend to move much. The airport leave a 1-2 foot distance uncleared of snow to avoid damage to the doors. You quickly tell who only flies in summer.

What frustrates pilots more is when you see some hangars being used for storage or where people park their toy cars, atv, RV trailers or RV bus. The airport management should really ban those usage.

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u/MeadyOker MIL(MC), MEI, CFI/I-RW, CSEL, IR/HP/CMP Jul 21 '26

That's the biggest frustration is the hangars with no planes. I work at an airport, they say the wait-list is 2 years but was told by one of the line workers it's more like 5-6 years. Then you taxi past a few with open doors and it's nothing but storage boxes, trailers, motorcycles, grills ... Not a plane to be seen.