I'm interested in possibly owning a small aircraft sometime in the future. In the interest of finding out how much money it would cost, I recently called a local FBO and asked about a hangar rental. I was told that it starts out at over $300 per month and that there is an 18 month long waiting list to get one! I am talking about an older used piston engine plane, not a private jet.

I'm quite aware of the fact that it is money, rather than aerodynamics that keep a plane in the air, and I'm getting the impression that it takes a lot of money to keep a plane on the ground, too.

The only other thing I know of is to tie it down, which I was told costs $150 per month at this same FBO. The issue I have with that is concern about the weather. I live at high elevation; the summer sun is very intense, thunderstorms and hail and common in the summertime and winter brings plenty of snow; sometimes up to two feet at a time. Temperatures fluctuate from about 0 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was wondering if there are ways to effectively protect an aircraft from the elements while it is tied down, or if there may be some more cost-effective storage solution than a rented hangar.