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Old 03-17-2006 | 07:18 AM
  #24  
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Schnides
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Joined: Nov 2005
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Flying Ninja is right... People forget about the extra costs. I'm Navy pilot with an A&P, and even with my pay as a LCDR and being able to do my own maint... it was too much. I wanted to get a plane and looked into all the options. I bought an old Mooney after looking at several twins. When you do your annual.... pray to the airplane gods. An older twin can run-up $5k-$20k at an annual in an instant.... and if you don't fix it... the plane can't be sold or flown... My Mooney was with insurance, hangar/tie-down, and routine maint was costing between $450-$600/month before I even started it to go flying (less if you tie down instead of hangar it.. but that destroys your investment). Then consider your engine burn will be 9-10 gal/hour if you're lucky (at$3/per gallon). If you have one big money item break... you're done... how much is the purchase tax on it...? Go fly with a piston cargo company like airnet or flight express who has C210s and Barons.. Get your time the old fashion way.
You may get lucky with a plane.. but the risk far out weighs the benefits.. One good job will fulfill all of your flight hour needs.

Last edited by Schnides; 03-17-2006 at 01:57 PM.
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