ClarenceOver

The short answer is you are going to pay an arm and a leg if you buy a plane. You are going to pay the same arm and leg if you rent. You may be able to save a little money if you join a flying club. No matter what you do aviation is expensive. Plane (pun intended) and simple.

deftone

If I could afford to buy a Lear I wouldnt be worrying about building hours to make mins to find a aviation job

deftone

I did consider a flying club, there are several in the area, but really no cheaper than renting from say a school. One concern I would have would be other members getting mad at me running up all the hours at a 10:1 ratio as my plan would to be fly several hours a day, several days per week. Having never been in a flying club I am not sure of the etiquette.

JathinB

I did almost all my flight training at a club. Trust me, they are thrilled to have you fly that much

Jathin

EasternATC

To the OP, in your situation, the advantages to owning are that the airplane would be available whenever you wanted it, and you wouldn't have to answer to anybody about when and where you're going. That's about it.

Unless you're flush with cash, you won't be able to fly as often as most people might think; not with gas at $5.50 a gallon.

dl773

I doubt the airlines would care how you time built for your CPL, but they will for your ATP 1500 hours.

Look into a Piper Tomahawk. They are cheaper than Warriors in my area.

ComancheGuy

I got my private in a club and saved alot it was like 100.00 for a 152 wet with instructor. After I got my private I wanted to keep getting my ratings and thought for a commercial cert I would need 250 hours at roughly 100x25 thats $25,000 with nothing to show for it but the rating and some flight time. I then went out and bought an 85 warrior for 19,000 "stole it" shortly after I bought it the flight club that I got my private which I was still a member asked me to lease it back to them. Was the best move I ever did I was able to off set my flying cost and owner ship cost by about 90% I got my instrument then half of my commercial and CFII in that plane it has finded my whole aviation adventure from that little warrior net income for 2012 was about $16,000 out of that came 3K annual, and 3600 in payments the rest went toward flight time. Please dont go out and by a 150 or 152 like alot of people I here want to do. Get your self a 4 place so you have a nice plane to have fun in and enjoy and maybe lease out..

Timbo

No employer gives a rat's arse what you flew to build hours for your PPL, COM, and Instrument. That is kindergarten in the world of flying and if you can buy a cheap plane to use to get 250 hrs, through your Com/Inst, and fly the crap out of it, that might save you some money, vs. renting. As the poster above pointed out, you might be able to lease it back too.

But don't forget all the costs involved with owning a plane; Insurance, Annuals, AD compliance, and hanger rent if you are going to keep it indoors, oh, and fuel of course. And if you are going to put as much time on it as you say, you may have to pay for an engine overhaul too....NOT CHEAP, unless you are an A+P and do it yourself.

But to get a job with a Regional, you will need to build some multi engine time. That gets expensive. You might be able to sell the single and buy a cheap twin, if there is such a thing.

Prices have come down for old twins, but only because feeding a twin is twice as expensive as a single, oh, and the annual costs at least twice as much, two engines and retractable gear inspections are not cheap.

See if you can find a partner who is an A+P, looking to build time too.

Have you looked at Trade A Plane online:

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/

or Barnstormers for prices?

http://www.barnstormers.com/cat.php?mode=search

Panzon

A couple of thoughts:
> The first annual on a plane is always expensive. On a Warrior or 172 it can easily run to $3,500 because your A&P will find lots of small things that need to be fixed or replaced. If you need to replace a radio or transponder the bill might double.
> Plane prices are continuing to fall. You may have to take a haircut when you go to sell the plane.
> Some planes develop expensive problems. Are you prepared to accept the risk of having to replace a vacuum pump, alternator, starter, or jug? Those are all "cheap" problems. Are you prepared to pay for a top overhaul or a major?
> Is building time quickly a priority? If yes, how big a problem will it be if your plane is down for three months while the engine is topped?

The advantage to using club planes is that the financial risk associated with things breaking is spread out amongst the club members, whereas you bear all the risk if you are the sole owner.

If you buy your own plane you bear all the risk of having the plane down for MX, but if you belong to a club your risk is much lower.

I agree with the earlier comment that putting a plane on leaseback can be a cost effective way to defray your training costs. However, it has its own set of potential problems, and you will need to do the trade off between extra complications and potentially lower training costs for yourself.

I also agree with earlier posts about night and instrument time: get as much as you can.

If you can, do as much of you PPL at night as you possibly can. This will help you get more comfortable using instruments. Then start working on your instrument rating, again, doing as much as you can at night or in true IMC. Once you have your IR you can start time building. Do as much as you can at night until you have at least 75 hours and 25 landings (to meet the ATP requirements). If you get more night time that will be a bonus.

Barring a minor miracle like someone offering up his plane for use free, my guess is that you will be best served by joining a club with multiple planes.

deftone

I spoke with a guy today about taking a 50% ownership in his '59 Bonanza M35. New paint, glass and interior. 300hr since last overhaul and he is an A&P. Seems like a good deal for $24k

Seems like it might tick a lot of the boxes mentioned in this thread, although I read somewhere that a Bonanza can be a tricky aircraft for a new pilot.