Request - what's a good resource learn about airplane ownership?

nj-pilot

nj-pilot

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Aug 17, 2015
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josh_me
Hello - I'm deciding whether to join a club or buy my own airplane. I have never owned before, so know nothing about airplane ownership.

Is there a good resource (books, web sites) that I can read to become smart about what all the various costs of ownership actually are, and how to do it "right?"
 
You are on it!

Seriously...this board is a wealth of information and was key in helping me with purchase information. Hit the search feature in the upper right corner with various key words and you will find a gazzilion threads on all aspects of the process...as well as a few opinions!
 
Join the club. Volunteer for all the maintenance related business. Free education while you fly at a presumably reasonable rate. If you know what you want type club forums have loads of info as well.
 
The Illustrated Buyer's Guide to Used Airplane by Bill Clarke comes recomended.
 
Talk with the local owners at your airport, get on the type forums for the aircraft you might want to buy, owning a amphib is different than a bo, talk to A&P
 
Aopa puts out some info,but the better info comes from the type clubs. This site also provides good info,when you ask specific questions .
 
Start browsing Tradeaplane.com and Controller.com

As for costs its:
FIXED COSTS
Hangar
Annual
Insurance

HOURLY COSTS
Fuel
Oil Changes
Maintenance (this is the big unknown)
Engine time (depreciation)
 
I'd say that owning is the best way to learn. Find some good partners. You'll never go back.
 
Hello,

Find a pilot that has the airplane you would like to fly and have him/her give you a rough estimate on how much things costs. Make sure you try to find a pilot in YOUR location because prices vary greatly from location to location.
 
I learned about the finances (and politics) of aircraft management by volunteering to be on a Board of Directors and Club Secretary for a flight club at least a decade before I bought into a co-ownership.
 
If you're into podcasts there's one called, "The Airplane Owner's Podcast." Lots of useful information.
 
Buy something common that mechanics have experience with. Keep it simple and keep it stock. Unless you want a maintenance project, buy a creampuff. One where everything works and has plenty of engine time. Check for corrosion. Hope you dont have anything expensive happen. For a simple airplane like a 172 or Cherokee, you might get by with $20 an hour of maintenance. Might need more though, so you better have some reserve. Hire a title company. Airplanes have old loans that were paid off and never recorded type title problems. They can be fixed. But you want to be able to sell it unencumbered, so buy it unencumbered. Hire a title company.
 
Last edited:
coloradobluesky said:
Start browsing Tradeaplane.com and Controller.com

As for costs its:
FIXED COSTS
Hangar
Annual
Insurance

HOURLY COSTS
Fuel
Oil Changes
Maintenance (this is the big unknown)
Engine time (depreciation)
Click to expand...

Don't bother with mx and engine reserves, it's imaginary stuff. Just pay for things as/if they break.

Hourly I have fuel and oil, been working great for years and through 2 aircraft.
 
Engine reserve (depreciation) wont affect your cash flow (until you sell or have to rebuild). The maintenance is just an estimate. Fixing things when they break, THAT is maintenance. After a while, everything on a plane is about 1/2 worn out. They get fixed and go on forever it seems.
 
If you really want to keep track of it, open a checking acct just for the plane. Have a credit card, just for the plane and pay it off with the planes checking account. That way you have a record of everything you spend.

But. Some people dont want to do it that way. Its not REQUIRED. But if you do it that way, you will get a valuable education in equipment purchasing and management. There are companies that will hire you to do that for a living you know. Learn how to make your equipment last.
 
James331 said:
Talk with the local owners at your airport, get on the type forums for the aircraft you might want to buy, owning a amphib is different than a bo, talk to A&P
Click to expand...
This times 1000!

POA can be a great source of info, but talking to folks one on one and reading through the type club boards will help you separate the wheat from the chaff here.
 
I bought a cheap, but nice 152 to make sure ownership was for me. I loved it and bought a 4 seater to replace it and haven't looked back.
 
Get a good pre-purchase inspection so as to avoid big surprises that will cost you a lot. Buy the airplane with all the avionics you want now because upgrading will be more expensive. Don't be afraid to buy an airplane that has everything you want but has a run out engine. Factor that well into the price and overhaul ASAP (make sure you understand what the true cost of doing this is). Putting money away for engine overhaul works only if you are disciplined. I'm not, so it always got spent on some new gadget or upgrade I couldn't do without.


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Perezhr said:
Get a good pre-purchase inspection so as to avoid big surprises that will cost you a lot. Buy the airplane with all the avionics you want now because upgrading will be more expensive. Don't be afraid to buy an airplane that has everything you want but has a run out engine. Factor that well into the price and overhaul ASAP (make sure you understand what the true cost of doing this is). Putting money away for engine overhaul works only if you are disciplined. I'm not, so it always got spent on some new gadget or upgrade I couldn't do without.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...



Also only works if you can tell the future, in which case money is no doubtly not a issue for you.

Engines don't know how many hours they have on them, I've seen engines with 500TSMO which were having issues, I've seen engines 500 past recommended overhaul in great shape and vise versa.


Your skill and experience as a pilot should also be taken into consideration, you don't give a 16 year old with a fresh drivers liscense the keys to a 70k car do you?
 
James331 said:
Your skill and experience as a pilot should also be taken into consideration, you don't give a 16 year old with a fresh drivers liscense the keys to a 70k car do you?
Click to expand...


Ummm, actually every glider club in the country does exactly this. And a couple years later, they hand over the keys to the nearly half million dollar Skyhawks.

Might be a bad analogy for aviation.
 
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