Carroll County was a good airport, but York (KTHV) was closer to my home on Lake Pahagaco, so when a T-Hangar became available there in September 2018, I moved the plane. Very old hangar (70+ years old) with a lot of rust, but servicable with a concrete floor, good electric supply. Sliding doors. Price: $307 per month (3680/yr.) 10 minute drive from my home. Fuel and A&P on site.
York arbitrarily decided that they were going to demolish the old hangars due to excess maintenance costs. I had 3 months to leave. I checked at Lancaster (waiting list), Carroll County (waiting list), Baublitz (waiting list), Forest Hill (waiting list) and Capital City-Harrisburg. There was one available at Capital City (KCXY) so I took it and moved the plane there in late August. Old T-Hangar hangar (40+ years old), but servicable with an asphalt pad for the plane and gravel in the rest. This was my first experience being based at a Class D airport with a control tower and in a ATC TRSA. 45 minute drive from my home. Price: $300/mo ($3600/yr.)
About 2 weeks later, I got a call from Baublitz (9W8). A "community" hangar for two planes was available. I had moved my residence to New Freedom (downsized to a condo), and Baublitz was less than a 30 minute drive. Plus, I always wanted to be based at a grass strip. So I moved to Baublitz. Beatiful hangar with nice concrete floor and sliding doors on a curved track. Fuel and A&P on site. Price: $265/mo ($3180/yr)
Small airport with less than 10 planes based there. In the middle of farm fields. Only challenge was the area in front of the hangar was sloped quite a bit and pulling the plane into the hangar was more than I could handle single handed. I did it once--estimated pulling effort was almost 200 pounds.
So, I engineered a solution using lines, pulleys and a winch for force multiplication, and a special bridle for the tail wheel.
Manuevering a taildragger on level ground with a quality tow bar is pretty easy, especially for a Cub weighing less than 900 pounds. But, pulling it uphill with a required force of 200 pounds seemed to be an excessive load on the tow bar, and the tail wheel mechanism.
First, I added a caster wheel to the towbar so that it would not catch on the ground. Then I rigged up a bridle using a 31" axle strap and a 72" recovery strap. I first tried looping the axle strap around the part of the tail wheel assembly below the pivot, but decided that looping it around the part above the pivot placed the least stress on the components. By lightly coupling the recovery strap to the tow bar handle--the handle and the straps work together with the tow bar proving "steering" and the straps carrying the pulling force.
Using a pulley attached to the recovery strap, and anchoring one end of a line to a ground anchor; pulling on the free end of the line, I was able to get a 2X mechanical advantage--good enough for most of the movement except the transition from the steep area to the flat area near the entrance of the hangar. For the last part of the pull, I used a 1500 pound electric 110V winch. I anchored the winch using a rubber pad and plywood weighted with 350 pounds of sand and metal ballast.
This arrangement allowed me to pull up to the hangar sideways to avoid blowing air into the hangar if I left the doors open, and on a spot where the ground was level so I could exit the plane without setting my brakes.
Landing on a grass strip is "different" than landing on a wide asphalt runway. Each grass strip tends to be different in shape, slope, bumpiness, and crosswind issues. But a grass strip is what my Cub was made for, so the plane is happy! Moving has made me feel a bit like a gypsy, but each airport has provided unique and valuable learning experiences and I am a better pilot because of it.
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