endless money pit

brien23

brien23

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Brien
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What aircraft are endless money pits, Cessna 337 or any Twin, any aircraft that sits or does not fly for 10+ years, any aircraft with a Franklin engine, any military jet F-86, T-33, Mig-15 Mig-17.
 
Properly-maintained, most aircraft are not "money pits"; provided, however, that "properly maintained" includes ongoing expense that, added-up, might equal "money pit" money expenditure.

Pay now, pay later - pay now (properly administered) is a lot safer, and generally more reliable.
 
A good portion of the GA fleet fall into this category. Cheap owners who do minimal to no maintenance on their cream puffs. When they go to sell them to an unsuspecting buyer and he gets hit with all the deferred maintenance and thus declares it a money pit.
 
lets face it, unless you are using it as a business, you can never justify the cost of owning an aircraft. now, insert boat, RV,exotic cars, golf addition, vacation condo ect in place of airplane. I can not justify owning the RV-4 let alone the T-6, but i own them because I can afford them and airplanes are my passion. isn't that what life is about, enjoying your passions?
 
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Yeah, the very concept of "recurring maintenance" means it never ends.

One man's money pit is anothers' couch change.
 
unsafervguy said:
lets face it, unless you are using it as a business, you can never justify the cost of owning an aircraft. now, insert boat, RV,exotic cars, golf addition, vacation condo ect in place of airplane. I can not justify owning the RV-4 let alone the T-6, but i own them because I can afford them and airplanes are my passion. isn't that what life is about, enjoying your passions?
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I disagree. There are certain niche situation where the cost is easily justified. 2 hour flight vs an 8 hour drive vs 12 hour airline trip plus rental car because you're still 90 minutes from end destiation after you get to nearest commercial airport. And it's a trip you make often.
 
brien23 said:
What aircraft are endless money pits, Cessna 337 or any Twin, any aircraft that sits or does not fly for 10+ years, any aircraft with a Franklin engine, any military jet F-86, T-33, Mig-15 Mig-17.
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Mine
 
Doc Holliday said:
A good portion of the GA fleet fall into this category. Cheap owners who do minimal to no maintenance on their cream puffs. When they go to sell them to an unsuspecting buyer and he gets hit with all the deferred maintenance and thus declares it a money pit.
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Or us owners that spend money to try and keep it viable. Yea, just replaced the Archer's wings spars..... :oops: At least in the club we share the pain.
 
Half Fast said:
An airplane is no more (or less) a money pit than a wife or child. But that’s not how we evaluate such things.
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(In an Al Bundy voice).. “On the basis of cost to return on usefulness and happiness, I’d be willing exchange my wife for a j-3 piper cub with a missing cylinder and rat nests in the wings..” I’ll see see myself out….
 
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Rcmutz said:
If it flies, floats, or #$&@, better to rent than to own! :)
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I know it costs a lot of money, but i kind of like owning all three...
- you can get the model you want instead of taking whatever is available
- you can get it set up just the way you like it
- you don't have to worry about what the last guy did to it
- you get to know exactly how it performs and reacts
- you figure out all the tricks to get it started
- you don't have to worry about leaving your stuff in it
 
Jim K said:
I know it costs a lot of money, but i kind of like owning all three...
- you can get the model you want instead of taking whatever is available
- you can get it set up just the way you like it
- you don't have to worry about what the last guy did to it
- you get to know exactly how it performs and reacts
- you figure out all the tricks to get it started
- you don't have to worry about leaving your stuff in it
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And you can always trade it in for a later model.
 
brien23 said:
What aircraft are endless money pits, Cessna 337 or any Twin, any aircraft that sits or does not fly for 10+ years, any aircraft with a Franklin engine, any military jet F-86, T-33, Mig-15 Mig-17.
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All of them. The hole is infinitely deep, it's just a matter of how wide it is. Of course infinitely deep means the volume of money you can throw in it does not depend on the width of the hole.

Jim K said:
I know it costs a lot of money, but i kind of like owning all three...
- you can get it set up just the way you like it
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Well... You can try, anyway! :rofl:

Jim K said:
- you don't have to worry about leaving your stuff in it
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Except that airplanes and boats don't fill up with really loud batches of undersized spare parts when you do. ;)

Ed Haywood said:
And you can always trade it in for a later model.
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Whoo, the depreciation, though. You think a *car* depreciates a lot the moment you commit to it? :o I mean, trade-in value on the wife almost instantly goes negative...
 
Doc Holliday said:
A good portion of the GA fleet fall into this category. Cheap owners who do minimal to no maintenance on their cream puffs. When they go to sell them to an unsuspecting buyer and he gets hit with all the deferred maintenance and thus declares it a money pit.
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And owners shopping for the cheapest annual that misses lots of issues.
 
Saw the title. Wondered why someone made a thread about my plane.

I defer virtually no maintenance at all and I've dropped stunning amounts of cash into this little plane. Ironically, being maintenance-oriented recently bit me in the rear when a mechanic was playing with hoses (chasing an oil temp problem) and somehow hooked up my vacuum line to the engine breather tube. Quickly noticed no vacuum reading and dead AI. Turned off the engine, and the AI filled up with steam. Now it's toast. The shop is doing the right thing and replacing it, but I've had this plane in the shop longer since I've owned it than I've had it available to fly. That's not an exaggeration.
 
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