sealandair

Hey time builders, I thought I'd pass this along to those who might be interested. Vetter Aviation (flyvetter.com) at KHLN has a 1958 Apache for $160/hr, reduced by 10% ($145/hr) if you buy a $1000 block. This is absolutely, undeniably the sickest rate I have ever seen. Verified by a phone call today with the staff there. There are a couple things to be aware of:

It's an old plane. As such, they don't really like to rent it to the masses for weekend trips out of state. They are selective to whom they rent it to.

Though it is equipped with ADF, VOR, and ILS receivers (and would be suitable for passing an ATP multi check ride in), don't expect the avionics to be good enough to go flying in hard IMC. Not an aircraft for building actual IFR time in.

You would want to speak to either Harold, or, when he arrives there, Patrick...both MEIs.

Good luck.

doublerjay

$1,000 block or a 1,000 hour block?

yimke

Holy cow! An ADF! Sign me up!

sealandair

1000 DOLLARS. So that comes out to approximately 7 hours.

doublerjay

or 1,000 hours which is $145,000 dollars if my math is correct?....in which case you could buy your own twin engine aircraft....but.....who wants to do that?....

$145 wet an hour is a good deal on just about any twin, as long as it $1,000 'blocks' or 7 hour blocks...?....lol.

mtbthis

Can you confirm you can fly it solo? Or are you just assuming? Because due to insurance, a lot of places don't let you walk in off the street and solo their high performance/complex multi-engine aircraft... It's $210 with instructor (which still isn't bad).

sealandair

You're right, in fact NO place just lets you "walk in off the street" and solo their aircraft. You would need to establish an account there and get checked out with one of their CFIs, just like any other place. When I spoke with Harold a few days ago, he said they liked to keep the airplane "local", and not to let it out on extended cross country trips. They will let an account holder solo it and do cross country flights (although they may require a minimum amount of MEL time and/or CFI signoff). What they won't do is let you and your buddies pack camping gear in it and take it to Jackson Hole for the weekend... until they are very comfortable with you and your flying.

$210 (dual) on a light twin "isn't bad"?? Name one place you have heard of that can beat that.

sealandair

One thing I forgot to mention is that they are self-insured. That could very well mean that there ISN'T a hard and fast minimum that applies to everyone for soloing it. You really need to ask them yourself.

Flyhayes

Self-insured or non-insured? These are two very different things...

ATCsaidDoWhat

A "twin Apache?" You mean the dreaded 4 engine version???