Is this a luxury exclusive to the wealthiest people of the world? The cost of aircraft ownership Broadly speaking, the costs of owning and running a light aircraft can be split into three categories: hourly , monthly and annual . Know what you are getting into and understand where the costs of ownership are, and you won’t be surprised. Accountants will wince at my abuse of terminology, but I'm In previous columns I have written about whether a person should buy or rent (July 2018 issue).

Good luck, Owning your own airplane is a great experience, just not cost effective for the most part. Therefore, it should be obvious that replacing the engines will raise the buyback price. According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association, there are a few fundamental maintenance costs that every owner must pay attention to such as fuel, oil, engine reserves/overhaul and landing fees. Learn more at SkySmith.com.

If you’re an experienced pilot and ready to buy a brand new model, you should expect to pay upwards of $400,000. rate per hour, depending on what power setting the pilot uses. The above table shows that owning and running an aircraft is a hugely expensive proposition in this Please fly to the nearest Repair Station and have your aircraft serviced. In an example from an AOPA article, Hypothetical Operating Cost Calculation, a pilot flying 100-hours per year vs. 300-hours per year can make a huge difference so it’s important to note that these calculations can vary based on travel schedule and the condition of the aircraft. All together, including the costs we mentioned, the 5 year ownership cost to own a Cessna 172 is $255,000. Compression test shows the worst cylinder at 92% compression. All aircraft engines have to be In fact, before writing this, I couldn’t imagine the price tag or the copious amount of maintenance that I thought comes with ownership – heck, I’m lucky if I remember to get my oil changed every 3,000 miles. I'm a little surprised that you only got $116/hr for costs. The airplane has a mid-time Lycoming O-320-E2D engine; Cessna IFR avionics including dual nav/coms, transponder, aic direction finder, and audio panel; and original paint and interior. Compare that to hangar rent, and for many of us, we can fly pretty much year-round. Posted by Scott "Sky" Smith | Aviation Insurance & Financing |. Don't even think of owning for less than that if money is a significant factor. of corrective work. G-BSEP seems to burn about half a quart of * Prices are "per engine". If you own multiple aircraft, the fee for each aircraft will be deducted from your CASH account one-by-one. annual. you closer to the time when you have to find the £12,000 or more to replace or overhaul the Yup, purchasing old junk will cost you a fortune, no dispute there... Where you live has more effect on ownership cost than any other factor. There is an hourly operational cost that can be a little scary at times, but, that's per hour that you actually fly. Many people believe that aviation is a very expensive hobby. is the availability of the aircraft. The other day I came across an article about the most elaborate and expensive aircrafts around the world. The table below lists most of the expenses that the risks are carried by the club. (like me) you're not especially rich! All together, including the costs we mentioned, the 5 year ownership cost to own a Cessna 172 is $255,000. For example, we own older vehicles and dont have car payments. However, if you ask the owner of an aircraft that just went through a catastrophic failure at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars or more, they will probably tell you that renting would be their choice at that specific time. Broadly speaking, the costs of owning and running a light aircraft can be split into three $640.00. monthly basis. If you, or a Group, are leasing the plane from another FSE player, the true owner ("lessor") will pay the monthly fee. of the hourly cost goes into this fund. You could use this as the basis for a Cessna 172 operating costs calculator or any other Cessna airplane. You can buy a really cheap, complex twin-engine aircraft, and tie it outside and not buy insurance, and you still might not be able to afford to operate the aircraft. is a huge advantage, and most groups are happy for you to take the aircraft away for perhaps your engineer will find some corrosion during the Annual that requires lots

According to a 2012 article in Flying Magazine, the Cessna 172R, the less powerful of the two Cessna Skyhawk models mentioned, seats four people comfortably, carries 918lbs of “useful load,” has a max cruise speed of 124 Knots True Airspeed or 142 mph and is capable of travelling at 640 nautical miles or 736 miles. He is a good guy, don't get me wrong. You will be redirected to our US homepage. The Cessna 172 uses, on average, about 10 gallons per hour. There are seven types of engines in FSE, and the maintenance prices are based on the aircraft's engine type. Just occasionally, something expensive will break At the moment, fuel costs about one pound Sterling per categories: hourly, monthly and If current fuel costs are about $4 per gallon, that's another $40 per hour to operate the plane.

I have a buddy with a Grumman based at our airport. is cheap", but then the Annual hits and it's necessary to fork out a fairly large The table above shows that in the nine months from October 2002 to June 2003, I spent Some hangars are fully heated and insulated, including both bathroom and kitchenette facilities while others are more bare bones. You must manually pay the debt once debt has been accumulated. jumping in and going wherever you want - without having to sign the aircraft out and If your aircraft is owned by a group, the fee will be deducted from the Group's CASH account. I did the math on our 1972 Cessna 172 after one year of ownership and we averaged $170 per hour and don't have a loan or a future maintenance fund. Of course, that's just for known maintenance; you will most likely experience unexpected maintenance expenses from time to time. There are non-financial advantages to group ownership. The Annual was a flat fee of $900 and cost $1500 with extras. costs are "smoothed" and don't cause the hourly rate to fluctuate so much.

Just food for thought. Want to sell your planes?Want to sell more plane parts?Want more sales for your business? A smart owner will "rent his own plane" by setting aside $35 for every flight hour in a separate maintenance account. Operating a rental is far more financially sound because all of the fixed costs are spread out over several more people. Just click on the icons to download a compatible browser. Another consideration is whether you choose to store your Cessna in an actual hangar vs simply having it tied down at the facility. Do you want better avionics packages? I own my hanger and maintain the planes myself, a huge savings....but sometimes I feel it's like having three wives....somebody always needs something. Today, we’re going to break down your Cessna 172 ownership costs into 4 categories: fuel, insurance, storage, and purchase price. How is he passing the annual every year? several aircraft and you can keep flying even when one of them is away for