Hello all, new member here. I recently joined because I noticed a post where other users in Texas were having a hard time finding premium rentals which seems crazy given the size of our state and that we have some of the US's largest cities here. It seems in any city you can rent a Piper 1X0 or C172, but should you want a Cirrus, a modern 6 seat or a nice twin they are far and few between? Is it just me or is this service greatly lacking in our good state? Anyone know why it's not offered here? You have plenty of places offering them in other states, why not here? I have seen the CTL people in Addison but there offering is mostly a major buy-in to a Cirrus from the group + a pretty large hourly rate for an owner IMO. Haven't seen them offer hourly rates only. And not only focusing on Cirrus, just modern, faster Piston planes in general. Thanks for your time. I don't join many blogs, but my searches all keep coming back here so looking forward to being part of the group.
Welcome to the boards. The majority of the rental fleet across the U.S. will be the Piper 1x0, and Cessna 100 series. Due to the fact that they are also used in the flight training rental fleet. As to the high performance, complex, and multiengine aircraft, The insurance cost, and mx cost is extremely high for a rental, compared to the simpler training types. Thus driving the rental cost up to some astronomical rate. But that's just my thoughts on the subject, and may well be wrong.
I dunno, I've lived in 7 states and the dynamics are not significantly different than here. As to TX in particular, I'd say because the some of our major cities, as a median, may be populous enough to give you the impression they could support a healthy population of renters, but in reality are full of poor people. And don't shoot the messenger here, but the historic majority-minority Mexican-American population of the San Antonio area, which hails mainly from the RGV, is in practical terms not a demographic that is dialed into this avocation. We could have some seriously socio-political discussions as to why this is the case in this Country, but this forum is not set up for it. Suffice to say the area might as well be Lubbock in effective size for the purposes of supporting recreational piston aviation. There's plenty of commercial aviation, but recreational? The demographics don't support it. Strong rental presences are almost always symbiotic with flight training fleets, which do little for the travel market but are economically solvent, since the zero to hero kids and the VA cheddar payments keep it afloat. So it's not about being in a populous city, it's about being in the right socioeconomic density of a city, college towns exempted. I'm going to say that based on my experience in TX, the DFW suburban airports probably offer the best density to be able to piggyback into airplane rentals (I consider flying clubs under the rental banner as well) you can actually use to travel. Houston exurbs might offer another possibility on the flying club front. Forget about ATX/SAT though. Hell of a time finding a hangar as it is (I'm 9 months and counting slumming it outside with the rest of the...anybody know the german word for interloper?), let alone finding a healthy fleet of rentals not associated with the VA payments graft. Good luck in the search. But I don't think this is endemic to Texas ime.
I think it’s the combo of higher mx costs of higher performance aircraft and (nothing against u) the ppl renting them tend to use/abuse them harder-not as proficient, not flying as often, lots of reasons for which many are unintentional. I would imagine there are a plethora of clubs out in TX though with their fair share of higher performance aircraft. Just have to find the right one for you.
I keep begging to take out the King Air but it is cost prohibitive and too many buttons and switches.
At KDTO, a new rental operation is closing in on it's first anniversary. They started with just a 172 and a Cherokee 180, but now have added more Cessna's, aJabiru, and a Comanche. And rumor is they are looking at additional aircraft that might fit the OP's wants. www.InThePattern.com
@AggieMike88 -- These the guys at the end of your row? If so, I flew with @flyin'gator in their 172 and 180. I may have to get checked out in their Comanche for when I need more seats.
Nothing against us young pilots who put the planes through their paces right I get it, not saying someone needs to build a fleet of new High performance planes to rent at $100/hr but do think there’s a happy medum, but maybe the demand just isnt what I think it would be. Thanks for the feedback though, and happy to be here. Good thing about being in CenTex is not too far from options, just don’t know of them yet.
There is a 182 for rent at west Houston so maybe you just need to look around a bit more. They used to have a Bonanza.
Tidal Aviation rents a sizable number of SR-20’s and -22’s out of KTME in Houston, not sure if they have a Dallas based fleet or not, but they’re not cheap, maybe $400-450/hr after you fuel. Run some numbers and you’ll see why it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. Look for flying clubs or, if you want multi-city flexibility, Open Airplane. I noticed recently several locations are now renting DA-40’s. Nice cross country plane if you’re not hauling much.
Since you are in Temple, the closest option for you for high performance rentals would be Lift Aviation at Austin Executive in Pflugerville on the north side of Austin. Still a bit of a drive for you, but you're not likely to find anything else close by. They have Cirrus SR22s and some single engine turbo props available for lease. https://liftaviation.com Tell them Hank Gibson sent you
