Guest landings and PPR at a residential airpark

Decide who may land

A residential airpark decides who may use its runway. The published rules we read follow three models:

• Sponsored guests only. A member sponsors the visiting pilot and answers for them. The Sea Ranch Association in California asks non-member pilots to name the member sponsoring them, and Elk River in North Carolina limits use to aircraft of members, their sponsored guests and their house guests.
• Guests with the owner present. Leeward Air Ranch in Florida lets a property owner invite a guest for occasional, non-commercial visits with the owner present, and asks pilots who haven’t been invited to call for permission.
• Transient pilots by PPR form. La Cholla Airpark in Arizona asks every transient pilot to submit a PPR form at least 48 hours before arrival, and approval is required before landing.

Write down which model you use, and whether day visits, touch-and-goes, training flights or commercial operations are allowed. Leeward, for example, prohibits training flights and touch-and-goes by non-resident guests, and Elk River forbids commercial activity except properly approved charters.

What to ask for in a PPR request

• The aircraft: N-number, make and model.
• The pilot’s name, email and phone.
• The host resident and their lot, if the guest is sponsored.
• Arrival and departure dates, and the nights on the field.
• Proof of liability insurance, naming the association if your rule requires it.
• Where the aircraft will park: a host’s hangar, a tie-down or the ramp.
• An acknowledgement of your field rules.

Hold guests to the same insurance rule

Guests should meet the rule your residents meet. In the airpark rules we read, $1,000,000 is the figure for pilots:

Check the same four things you check for residents: the right aircraft, the limit, the dates and the name. Decide what to do about rented aircraft; The Sea Ranch leaves pilots flying an aircraft they don’t own to staff discretion.

Set a notice period and a decision rule

Give the office time to check insurance: La Cholla asks for 48 hours. Decide who approves (the airport manager, the office or a board member) and approve or decline before the arrival date. An approval should name the dates it covers; anything else is a new request.

Fees for guests

If you charge, keep it simple and say who pays. La Cholla charges ramp fees by the night: $10 for a piston single, $15 for a piston twin, $20 for a turboprop and $25 for a jet. An airpark where residents sponsor their guests can bill the host instead of the pilot.

Send the field rules with every approval

An approval is the moment a pilot is most likely to read your rules, so put them in it: pattern and runway notes, parking, quiet hours, what’s prohibited and who to call. La Cholla emails the approval, and pilots must print it and display it on the glare-shield.

On the day: check the N-number

Whoever meets arriving aircraft needs one answer: is this aircraft based here, or a guest approved for today? A printed list of today’s approvals works; so does a status-only check page that shows the approval without names or documents.

Doing this in Baybook

In Baybook™ for residential airparks residents request a landing for their sponsored guest from their own page, transient or sponsored pilots use the guest landing (PPR) form link you share, and the office can enter a request taken by phone. The office sees whether the pilot’s insurance certificate meets the rules your residents meet, then approves or denies the request. Approving it emails the pilot your field rules, a nightly fee can be billed to the host, and approved guests show on the check page by N-number. See pricing, or try the airpark demo.

Template: guest landing (PPR) rules

Post this on your website or send it with every request form, and fill in the parts in braces.

{Airpark name}: guest landings and prior permission (PPR)

{Airpark name} is a private airfield. Every aircraft that isn’t based here needs prior permission before landing.

Who may request
- Residents may sponsor guests and are responsible for them while they’re here.
- Choose one: Transient pilots without a host may request permission. / Every guest needs a resident sponsor.

How to request
- Send the request at least {48 hours} before arrival: {form link or office email}.
- Include the N-number, make and model; the pilot’s name, email and phone; the dates; the host’s name and lot, if sponsored; and where the aircraft will park.
- Attach proof of liability insurance of at least {$1,000,000} per occurrence, naming {association legal name} as additional insured.

Approval
- You’ll receive an approval or a decline by email before your arrival date. Don’t land without an approval.
- An approval covers only the dates it shows.
- Guest fee: {amount per night, billed to the host / none}.

While you’re here
- {Pattern, runway and taxi notes}
- {Parking: the host’s hangar, tie-downs or the ramp}
- {Not allowed: touch-and-goes, training flights, commercial operations}
- Questions or changes: {airport manager}, {phone}.

Questions

Sources

The published rules and articles this guide quotes, as we read them in October 2026. Each community’s own documents are the final word on its rules.

• La Cholla Airpark: PPR, prior permission request
• The Sea Ranch Association: airstrip terms acknowledgement
• Elk River: sponsored guest memorandum of understanding
• Leeward Air Ranch: airport regulations