The unit deed and the ground lease
Especially the expiry date and any renewal or extension language.
Donate a deeded aircraft hangar unit or private airstrip right
Hangar donation specialists: (888) 228-7320
Donate an Aircraft Hangar Condo or Airstrip Right
Hangar condominium units at public-use airports are real property, but they sit on land the airport authority owns, held under a ground lease with a stated expiry date. That date, more than the building, is what the gift turns on. Private field hangars, shade structures and transferable airstrip access rights each work differently, and we read the paperwork before anything is promised.
Tell us about the hangar
Every property gets a look. Name, phone and email are the only required fields.
Fully IRS Compliant
We Handle the Paperwork
Form 8283 Done Right
501(c)(3) Recognized Charity
The ground lease is the asset
At most public-use airports the authority owns the dirt and leases it. You own the structure and a condominium interest in the hangar building, and your rights end when the ground lease does, unless it is extended. A unit with thirty years left and a unit with six years left are different assets with the same square footage, and an appraiser will treat them that way.
The authority almost always has to approve a transfer, and many leases contain conditions about aeronautical use: the space has to be used for aircraft, not storage, and subleasing may be restricted. None of this prevents a donation. It sets the sequence, because the authority’s consent comes before the deed.
Hangars on owned land
At private and residential airparks the hangar may sit on a fee parcel you own outright. That is a conventional real property gift with an unconventional building on it.
Why hangars come to us
The aircraft sold, or the medical did not renew. What remains is a monthly association fee, an insurance premium and a ground rent on an empty building two states away. Hangar resale depends on the waiting list at that specific field, which can be years long or nonexistent.
Estates are the other route. An executor holding a hangar unit at a field the family has no connection to is dealing with an airport authority, a condominium association and a lease term all at once. A donation collapses that into one transfer.
What to have in front of you
Three documents decide how fast this moves.
The authority’s transfer policy
Who approves a new owner, what the application asks for, and how long it usually takes.
Fees and rent status
Association dues, ground rent and any special assessment for taxiway or door work.
Questions about hangar and airstrip donations
My ground lease has eight years left. Is the hangar still worth donating? +
Possibly, and the appraiser will say by how much. A short remaining term reduces value rather than eliminating it, particularly at fields with a waiting list. Tell us the expiry date early, because it is the first thing anyone asks.
Does the airport authority have to agree? +
In nearly every case, yes. It is a routine application rather than an obstacle, and we handle the correspondence. We do not ask you to sign anything before we know the authority will approve the holder.
What about the aircraft in the hangar? +
A separate gift through our sister program, Aircraft Donation. Owners frequently move both in the same season.
My hangar is on my own land at a residential airpark. Is that different? +
Simpler, usually. It is a fee parcel with a building on it, so the transfer looks like any other real property gift, subject to whatever the airpark’s covenants say about who can own a lot.
How is a hangar unit appraised? +
From sales of comparable units at the same or similar fields, adjusted for door height and width, floor area, utilities and the remaining ground lease term. Above $5,000 the IRS wants a qualified appraisal and Form 8283 Section B, which you commission and pay for.
We do not provide tax or legal advice. See IRS Publication 526, Publication 561 and the Form 8283 instructions, and consult your own advisor.
Related guides
Tell us about the hangar and we will review it
The airport identifier and your unit number are enough to start.