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How Many Homeless Are Camped Out at Your Airport?

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180_jeff

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Just curious. Besides the tents, I am also counting the janky-ass motorhomes parked on airport property.
 
You must be from Krazy Kalifornia. If someone shows up at my airport without a good reason - we'll call the Feds.
 
A lot of towns / counties use their airport for emergency and other management stuff. I landing in Lander Wyoming in the middle of the wind river flood and saw way more zodiacs, tents, campers, and the like than airplanes. They left a little room for airplanes still and a local loaned me a car for the night.

sj
 
The Port of Port Angeles, near me in western WA, recently leased out one of their empty industrial buildings near their airport to the city,
to use as a CV shelter-in-place site for people who had nowhere else to go (aka homeless).
Dunno if it's gotten much use.
We're pretty lucky around the Port Townsend, not too many homeless people in evidence.
I'm sure we have some but apparently they're considerate enough to keep a low profile.
But I do see some people with "anything helps" signs at the exits from a couple local grocery stores--
although that might be a "job" for some, rather than proof of homelessness.

A recent rumor at my airport was that the port was preparing to empty out the two hangar stalls they use for their mowers etc,
and prepare them to accomodate cold-storage of excess dead bodies from the CV crisis.
Doubtless to be paid by with FEMO (or similar) funds.
Dunno if it was true or not, happily it didn't happen.
We've only had 28 confirmed cases of CV in this county, and no deaths.
Also, no new cases so we are eligible for an early start into phase 2 of the governor's "opening plan".
 
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We keep the homeless in the subways in NYC, just in case the number of Corona cases might decrease. They should put up a billboard at the boarder of the city. “Enjoy NY where you’re only a subway ride away from death” it’s only a question of how you succumb. Pushed onto the tracks buy a maniac, mugged by a different maniac or simply catching the virus.

But none at the airports. A lot of guys who look homeless but when questioned they are just airplane owners. :).
 
I used to use small airports when I was riding road motorcycles (quit that 10 years ago, wild life (not mine, but deer etc.) makes them too damn dangerous, plus my current Prius gets better mileage then my last Gold Wing, can haul more, etc.) and I needed an overnight site to camp. Already knowing how to do it from flying (SMALL airports, smaller the better, funky and out of the way places) and then just find some dead end spot out of view/out of the way and just do it. I never had any issue doing this, and if I was ever asked, my backup story (if on the bike, if in the plane, no excuse is required....) was going to be "I'm waiting for someone to fly in." The most important thing, and I'm sure the homeless are figuring this out, is what looks like a prime out of the way site during the day, can be terrible once the rotating beacon fires up after sundown! I can see others who have "been there" nodding their heads......and we don't even want to talk about the pop up sprinkler systems that can turn on at 2 in the morning (and 4, I once found out, 2 AND 4, had to move twice). It's a throw back to our barn storming roots, for we pilots anyway, and I am glad to report that it is still widely accepted, or at least ignored, in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming anyway. No issues with homeless at strips here yet, though I did get a little PO'd one evening at a big motor home hogging the pilot's picnic table/campsite at Henry's Lake (Idaho), until I realized he may have been a pilot, using the same trick I did on my motorcycle, maybe he was waiting for a friend to fly in!
 
I got a laugh from your MPG comparison, and I know it's true. The Gold wing probably got about 45 MPG highway, and the Prius probably gets 50.
 
Absolutely true, plus the Prius allows inside climate controlled camping, winter or summer, thanks to it's hybrid system. Just set the thermostat to the desired temp, and the computers handles it all, with intermittent auto starting of the ICE engine. I used to be anti Prius, until I bought one, at 70, it's the best car I've ever owned.
 
My hangar is about 50 ft from the closest spot in the state park campground next door. Yesterday morning there were about 8 camper trailers that had been there for a couple of days. Probably 35 spots plus some cabins next to the lake that is about 100 ft from the runway. We're not fenced either. I like our little airport. My aunt lives in Minneapolis and told me that a state politician from up north was against keeping the campgrounds in his district closed. He took a picture of homeless camped out at St Paul and said if they can why can't we? Guess he got in trouble for that.
 
No homeless here, unless you count the guy who does shoddy maintenance and his non flying buddy. This guy lives in his freshly modified hangar house and tells the feds it’s just a pilot lounge, and his non aviation buddies monster motor home on a pad with full hook ups. Airport accepts grants yet this guy is allowed to live rent free on our public airport, he must be a bubba. Ohh and by the way they won’t let me build my own hangar.
 
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