Purchasing used aircraft
 

If someone were to buy a used aircraft for around $40,000..How much would it generally cost overall to run it for 1 hour? Based on fuel/maintnence/whatever else would be needed?

Depends on the type.

Key bank will loan you the money to operate it whatever type you buy.

Assuming a single piper or cessna, probably on the order of $30-45/hour. I'm not really in tune with current GA fuel costs however. Also, hourly costs usually include set-asides for the next engine-rebuild...if you want to fly it to build time and then sell it quick you could skip the rebuild set-asides and reduce costs further.

Look at your local FBO or flying club...what do they charge? Unless they have a monopoly in your area they probably charge cost + 10-15%

How many hours until rebuild time I am curious?

One I just found, after paying the initial $1425 member fees..are $65/hr

Most of those engines are about 2000-2400 hours TBO, whatever the mfg suggests. You can legally fly over TBO if the engine passes it's annual and runs well (but there is always an increasing risk of sudden mechanical failure as an engine ages). If an airplane is used for flight training, that tends to wear out the engine sooner; a x-country only engine often lasts longer than TBO if treated right.

The value of a GA airplane is VERY dependent on the time on the engine(s). A low-time engine could increase the cost of a used airplane by 50% or more. This is because it costs $25-40K+ to rebuild an engine on a typical GA single.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Award...QQcmdZViewItem

Wonder if she comes with the plane ;)

Fuel, Routine Mx, Non-Routine Mx, Engine overhaul Reserve, Insurance, Annual, Hanger/Tie Down, Surprises.

In 1997 a good number to use to safely operate the aircraft and pay for all expenses, except for a loan payment, was four times the cost of fuel. It worked out pretty well. From 1996 - 1998 I owed a V-tail Bonanza (285 hp). I flew it 250 hours. It cost $100/hr average plus the cost of the loan. Fuel was $2.00/gal at the time. At an average of 13 gal/hr the cost is right at the number above. Knowing fuel is double that now maybe it's about three times the cost of fuel currently.

Just found my old aircraft cost calculator: for a single engine, fixed gear, four cylinder aircraft with a mid time engine and average avionics, figuring $4 gal for fuel, and 20% down with a $32,000 note at 9%, 120 months: here would be the total costs - 100 hours - $15,300 or $153/hr, 150 hours annually, $18,300 or $122/hour, or 200 hours annually, $21,300 or $106 hour. These cost do not include a monthly hanger or tiedown fee, but include estimates for everything else. I might be overestimating Mx by about $5/hr, maybe more depending on how much you can do yourself, how good of shape the aircraft is in, and how lucky you get.

Initial membership fees are charged to help reduce the published hourly rate of the aircraft. The average GA club pilot fly's about 40 hours annually during the first year. If you take the $1425 fee and divide it by 40 you get about $35/hr. Add that to the $65/hour (is that dry or wet? Bet it's dry...) and you get about $100/hr real cost (plus fuel). Remove the small profit for the club/FBO owner, add hourly fuel, and there's your real cost...guessing in the range of $115/hr.

My previous estimate was a bit on the historical side .... I'll use today's real numbers this time....

$79/hr wet for a 172 (at a high-dollar SOCAL airport).

I forgot the membership fee: $28/M x 12 = $336

$336/40 = $8.40/hr

$79 + $8.40 = $87.40 /Hr my cost, wet.

My "club" is a for-profit operation, so assuming 10% margin, their cost can't really be any more than $79 or so. Of course, the airplane sees a lot more than my 40 hours/year, so that helps to spread out the fixed costs.

So for a typical owner-operator, actual cost/hr for a 172 could conceivably be $100/hr. Less if you fly a lot a more or buy a 152 or a cub, or even an experimental.

Are you thinking of buying a plane for time building? One option is to buy a fairly high-time airplane, burn the hours you need, then sell it before the engine breaks. That saves you hopefully most of the mx costs.

Yep. I agree. Based on my calculator at 500 hours per year the cost would be $71/hour ($35,700/yr), plus the club's 10% - 15% margin. So that should give you some pretty good ballpark numbers.

A good person to ask also would be SkyHigh, he owns a luscombe, a light taildragger. He would have some input I am sure.

As for a flying club, I am in one back home in SoCal and i do not recall the total prices but I think it was like 300 per year and then 30 per month or so. The prices are cheap. The 152 was 57 per hour and the 172's were 78 per hour. The most expensive planes were the Arrow, Dakota and Cardinal and they were around 105 per hour. That club is www.pacificcoastflyers.org, this is not an advertisement for them just for reference purposes. The prices may have gone up or done since i have not flown there for almost a year due to deployment. Those prices are wet by the way..forgot to mention that.

All the clubs I am familiar with down here charge about $28-32/month membership. There is no annual fee on top of that.

come to think of it you are right. The initial few hundred i paid was probably for the year. I forgot that i do not make payments just pay in one lump sum.

Thanks for pointing that out, sorry for issuing the bum scoop.

Buy a cessna 150
 

Buy a Cessna 150. Burn auto gas. Do most of the maintenance yourself. Don't get insurance. Find an alcoholic IA to do your annuals. Many of you might disagree with this approach but an owner can do a whole lot of maintenance legally and safely.

I would bet that your costs could get down to $15-20 per hour.

SkyHigh

I know because I did it myself. In the end I sold it for more that the entire cost to own and operate.