High Time Aircraft and Rental Value

[Nate G]

Hi All,

High airframe and engine times are known to reduce an airplane's resale value, but does it affect its rental value? Is airframe and engine time something a renter looks at, or are they more concerned about if its airworthy, is maintained, and has passed annual/100 hour/50 hour inspections?

Specifically, I am looking at a 2000 Piper Arrow with 11000 TT in airframe and 2300 SMOH on engine as a personal airplane as well as a potential rental. Would a flight school or flying club even be interested in a lease back on such an airplane?

Thanks,

Nate

 

[Rgbeard]

Run out airplanes are more common with organizations that have strong maintenance.

Is the airplane already in pretty bad shape? If so, at least it won't degrade much after being on lease-back for a week.

Did you read this thread already? Captain Jason’s Leaseback Advice:

 

[RyanB]

High time means absolutely nothing for rental value. It’s not something the average renter pilot pays any attention to at all. Many of the aircraft that are used in a rental fleet will have shockingly high airframe time, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Tantalum]

Hi All,

High airframe and engine times are known to reduce an airplane's resale value, but does it affect its rental value? Is airframe and engine time something a renter looks at, or are they more concerned about if its airworthy, is maintained, and has passed annual/100 hour/50 hour inspections?

Specifically, I am looking at a 2000 Piper Arrow with 11000 TT in airframe and 2300 SMOH on engine as a personal airplane as well as a potential rental. Would a flight school or flying club even be interested in a lease back on such an airplane?

Thanks,

Nate

No. Renters absolutely do not care. They just want the cheapest airplane they can find

Our club has a few very nice airplanes, and a couple that are well. not. Do you know which ones are the most consistently booked on the schedule? The ones with the lowest hourly rate

Keep in mind that most renters are going to be there as students, working on ratings and eventually either buying or moving into a flying job

And frankly, cosmetics aside, I personally feel safer in an airplane that's flying 40 hours a week then I do flying something that flew 3 hours in the last month...


As long as your airplane is maintained and kept airworthy no one's going to know or realistically care how many hours are on it

 

[flyingron]

The thing that is the key for rental is availability. If the plane is frequently down or otherwise unavailable (like perhaps the owner is blocking out a lot of time), then people are going to stop trying to rent it and go elsewhere. The key is getting maintenance in shape to keep the availability up.

 

[Clip4]

Renters can have some really low standards.

 

[40YearDream]

Isn't it kind of a standard assumption that a rental is going to be tired, ratty, and 'clapped out' - but at least good enough to pass a 100-hour check? (Any exception to that is a pleasant surprise!)