Own and Rent?

cocolos

cocolos

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
468
Location
Davis, CA
Display Name
Display name:
cocolos
Just out of curiosity how many of you own for 70-80% of the time and rent for those trips for the whole family? I get the feeling most just bite the bullet and own what would cover 100% of their trips.
 
I could see owning something small, and then renting once or twice a year for a family trip.

I rent a car most of the time for really long trips.

You might run into issues of being current/competent in whatever aircraft you plan on renting.
 
That's why I asked. It would be nice to rent an A36 every now and then.

rrmkru said:
I could see owning something small, and then renting once or twice a year for a family trip.



I rent a car most of the time for really long trips.



You might run into issues of being current/competent in whatever aircraft you plan on renting.
Click to expand...
 
don't "rent" but we do borrow. If there is icing or mountains we take the neighbors C-414 and leave my travel air with the tiny 4-cyl engines at home.
 
You hear folks talk about that but nobody does that. Typically the plane you need to rent when your plane won't cut it is...

1) expensive
2) complex and requires frequent use to maintain proficiency
3) subject to FBO rules such as minimum use and lack of availability when you need it
4) often of unknown or questionable mechanical history
5) uncommon at most FBOs, who mostly rent 172s, Diamonds, or a Cirrus
6) gone, a few short months after going on the rental line as no one is using it.

...so the reality is the folks who buy for 85% of their missions end up driving or flying SWA the other 15%. Buy a plane for convenience, not to save money.
 
+1 a Well put, I hear people all the time saying to rent for that 10% of the time when your airplane won't do. But, the reality is, it's very hard to rent a "more capable" airplane. Let's say you buy a 172 and it works for most of your trips, when you need to take 4 folks with you on along trip, what are you going to rent? Very few 6 passenger planes sitting around waiting on a renter with limited experience in type that wants to take it on a 4 hour round trip over a holiday weekend. :rolleyes: If you can find a club with several different planes available, it might work. Best bet is buy what you need and like Jeff, find something you can rent or borrow from someone. :D

Brad Z said:
You hear folks talk about that but nobody does that. Typically the plane you need to rent when your plane won't cut it is...

1) expensive
2) complex and requires frequent use to maintain proficiency
3) subject to FBO rules such as minimum use and lack of availability when you need it
4) often of unknown or questionable mechanical history
5) uncommon at most FBOs, who mostly rent 172s, Diamonds, or a Cirrus
6) gone, a few short months after going on the rental line as no one is using it.

...so the reality is the folks who buy for 85% of their missions end up driving or flying SWA the other 15%. Buy a plane for convenience, not to save money.
Click to expand...
 
After we built the -7A, we still needed a 4 or 6-seater for family trips, so dad stayed in a club where he could get a Cherokee Six and I had access to a 182RG. Once we got the -10 built, we have only needed six seats once, so we flew the both -10 and the -7A. At least dad and I didn't have to flip a coin to see who got to fly each leg. :D
 
This isn't practical for the same reason that pure renting isn't practical. It's very difficult for availability and weather to line up when I want to go.

If you want cheap flying, get a cheap airplane and putter around. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I wanted to go places, so I got a faster (more expensive) airplane. But it WILL go, go fast, and go when I want. Otherwise, I just can't justify the cost of owning.

That said, there's some tail wheel rental in my near future, I plan to join the local glider club and rent those, I'm definitely going to be renting a sea plane briefly next year, etc.
 
In the best of times in GA, it was common to hear that one should purchase to cover most of your mission and rent the other times.

Of course, one could rent real twins, complex and 6 seat planes. The problem is that you can't rent those planes.
 
I rent when my plane is down for maintenance, but it is usually a similar plane to what I own, so the FBO doesn't worry about currency. I did get my complex and do my flight review in an arrow (I had a Cherokee I just sold). Now I am buying an Arrow, so that will help withe the insurance requirements. I also rent when I travel for work, to check out new places, but in those cases I am flying with a CFI, as it isn't practical to go through the whole checkout thing.
 
At several points in my flying life I've both owned and rented during a given year. I had a Pitts S2A for a while to scratch an acrobatic itch, but there was nothing practical about that airplane (other than scratching my itch really well). All of my XC trips and weekend getaways were done in rental aircraft when I was a Pitts owner. I also had a Grumman Traveler AA5 once upon a time, but rented a retract while I was getting my commercial ticket. Now I have a Maule that does most of what I want except the acro - I'd rent a Pitts if I could find an FBO that would put one on the line, but I'm not holding my breath. I occasionally rent a Decathlon to keep my basic acro skills intact. It is impossible to find one plane that is good for long XC work, does competitive acro and allows you to land in the back country. As long as those are my 3 flying passions, I'll keep renting something until I can afford to buy 3 planes.
 
airplane rental for more than a couple hours local flying, is not financially doable for me.
@ ~$200/hr for a 2 hour flight to SSI, then 4Hrs/day @$200/hr while it sits on the ramp for a week (5 days), then another ~$200/hr for the trip back. gets real expensive real quick. But If you have the financial wherewithall to do that, go for it. :D
 
bluerooster said:
airplane rental for more than a couple hours local flying, is not financially doable for me.
@ ~$200/hr for a 2 hour flight to SSI, then 4Hrs/day @$200/hr while it sits on the ramp for a week (5 days), then another ~$200/hr for the trip back. gets real expensive real quick. But If you have the financial wherewithall to do that, go for it. :D
Click to expand...


But if you only do that a couple times out of the year it might be worth it.
 
I've rented a 182 when needed for passengers/DA altitude considerations, and used a 172 otherwise.
 
I hear people talk about doing it, and I see fewer actually do it. Most buy something and fly with a lot of empty capacity 90% of the time... Not that that is the financially prudent thing to do...
 
I own a 2 place RV-6.

If the whole family is going, I borrow from a combination of planes available to me or rent a Saratoga.

It's always cheaper to rent..
 
A lot depends on what is available as far as rentals.

When I lived in San Diego, I had a few 6 seat airplanes I could rent at very reasonable rates for family trips. At the time there was only one poorly maintained tailwheel airplane available....so I bought a 170 and rented when I wanted to take the family somewhere. It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to own a big plane there.

When we moved to Norfolk, it was a whole different story. There were no 6 sweaters available anywhere nearby. So, we bought the Baron.
 
cocolos said:
But if you only do that a couple times out of the year it might be worth it.
Click to expand...

Do you think you could safely fly an A36 only flying it a couple times a year? Do you think your insurer or rental operation would be ok with that?
 
In addition to owning a plane, some maintain a share in a larger partnership or club to have access to such an aircraft.
 
Here in Central Texas there really isn't anywhere where it is practical to rent tailwheel, acro, multi-engine, or six place singles for anything other than training.
 
weilke said:
In addition to owning a plane, some maintain a share in a larger partnership or club to have access to such an aircraft.
Click to expand...


That's what I am thinking would work the best. Buy some 2seater that's cheap(relatively) to operate and just take the club plane otherwise.
 
While I owned my 140 for 18 years, I rented another airplane 3 or 4 times. When my airplane was down for maintenance, when I wanted to take 2 full-size passengers, and when I wanted to try an Arrow for a longish cross country.
 
The folks in my flying club generally own more capable aircraft and use the clubs 172s when theirs are down for maintenance, etc. I see how it could be impractical to rent the more capable plane due to availability, proficiency, etc.
 
cocolos said:
That's what I am thinking would work the best. Buy some 2seater that's cheap(relatively) to operate and just take the club plane otherwise.
Click to expand...

The 'problem' with that plan is that you have to have the required hours to be insurable in the bigger plane and you have to be willing to spend some money on proficiency flying. This tends to work best if the bigger plane the club owns is something simple as a Cherokee Six.
 
weilke said:
The 'problem' with that plan is that you have to have the required hours to be insurable in the bigger plane and you have to be willing to spend some money on proficiency flying. This tends to work best if the bigger plane the club owns is something simple as a Cherokee Six.
Click to expand...
It's only a problem until you get enough time in type to meet the rental requirements. As long as you are willing to spend the time/ money to get a thorough initial checkout and periodically fly it, it isn't a big deal.
 
Fearless Tower said:
It's only a problem until you get enough time in type to meet the rental requirements. As long as you are willing to spend the time/ money to get a thorough initial checkout and periodically fly it, it isn't a big deal.
Click to expand...

Yep. FBO where I used to live had a 182RG for rent. Initial requirements were something like: 10 hour checkout in plane unless you have 25 hours of retract time. If you have > 25hrs retract time, it's only a 5 hour checkout. After that it was a 1-2 hours every 6 months kind of thing, which was pretty easy to maintain. Don't remember the exact numbers but it was definitely obtainable.
 
As pointed out unless you fly a whole lot, renting is going to be cheaper.

Reasons to own:

Pride of ownership.
Ability to have a plane not normally avialable as rental.
Absolute control over maintenance.
Nobody else messing with your plane.
etc..
 
I'm, considering renting a bunch this summer, and I own.

Thinking it's time to finish the Commercial and maybe a glider rating, and add a tail wheel endorsement, none of which a C-182 does particularly well. :)

I hate to let the bird sit, but sometimes the good old 80% airplane isn't quite 80%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top