The Real Cost of Owning an Aircraft

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Apache123

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Hey, Steve!
A little while ago I posted a candid, detailed summary of my real-world costs of owning a light twin. Here's that little item: http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-cheap-twin-piper-apache-n1234p.html

My wife and I are selling the Apache, as some of you are aware. After listing her for sale I received many requests for info on how the buying process actually goes. I'll be posting as much info openly as I think I can without putting any identity-theft related risk targets on my back.

If anyone's interested, I'll be posting regularly to http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/ as details/info becomes available. =)

That said: owning an airplane is a huge pain in the ass while simultaneously being one of the best and worst experiences in the world.
 
Apache123 said:
A little while ago I posted a candid, detailed summary of my real-world costs of owning a light twin. Here's that little item: http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-cheap-twin-piper-apache-n1234p.html

My wife and I are selling the Apache, as some of you are aware. After listing her for sale I received many requests for info on how the buying process actually goes. I'll be posting as much info openly as I think I can without putting any identity-theft related risk targets on my back.

If anyone's interested, I'll be posting regularly to http://realcostofownership.blogspot.com/ as details/info becomes available. =)

That said: owning an airplane is a huge pain in the ass while simultaneously being one of the best and worst experiences in the world.
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Not to get off topic but I really like the look of your Apache. If I had the resources for plane ownership in every aspect I would take it off your hands.
 
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Hey Steve.

My story was pretty much a mirror of yours. I bought an old unsupported Aero Commander 520 from 1953 for peanuts. My first aircraft. Ended up spending almost $70K on her over the 3 years I owned her, but that included panel upgrades, prop overhauls etc - stuff like that. The annuals were at the cheapest $7K and at the most was $20K (phew, but that was the prop AD and overhaul). Any regrets - absolutely none! I loved that plane and she took me all over the USA and Canada without much trouble. Twice I had to leave her behind. Not that bad for a 60 year old lady.

I've since moved to an Aerostar. Much, faster, much more complex, but it has all the things I need for my foreseeable future - pressurisation, de-ice, speed, comfort etc. Plus, it's well supported. We've already done a coast to coast x-country and back and she's not had any major troubles.

If you're looking to upgrade to a twin that's a little more capable, but still retain some of the bush capabilities, then the Aero Commanders are well worth a look. The 500B is a wonderful work horse and can tick all boxes, except the pressurisation one.

If you don't mind giving up the short, grass landing capability, then I can really recommend the Aerostar. It's the cheapest twin to run in pure fuel burn except for the newer Diesel TwinStars. Mine burns 25gal doing 200kts. That's what my old 520 used to burn doing 140kts! Pulled back, you can do 184kts on 20gals. That's real frugal for a twin. Aerostars have never been cheaper than now, so it's a good time to buy. I bought mine for not much money.

Good luck.
 
I once did all the record recall and arithmetic to determine what it cost me to own my aircraft. I immediately and irrevocably decided to never do that again.
 
Apache123 said:
That said: owning an airplane is a huge pain in the ass while simultaneously being one of the best and worst experiences in the world.
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Sounds like the definition of a marriage.....
 
The 2 Financial Rules of Owning and Flying Small Aircraft:

1) Never try to cost-justify owning and flying your own small airplane. It's not possible.

2) Never add up all the money you've ever spent on owning/flying small aircraft. You don't want to know.
 
Neal Howard said:
The 2 Financial Rules of Owning and Flying Small Aircraft:

1) Never try to cost-justify owning and flying your own small airplane. It's not possible.

2) Never add up all the money you've ever spent on owning/flying small aircraft. You don't want to know.
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A man after my own heart!! :yes:
I have a meeting tomorrow in Columbus GA, it's about 1:45-2:00 driving, depnding on traffic. I figure it's 30 minutes flying and 5X the expense, but we're flying anyway. :D
 
Neal Howard said:
The 2 Financial Rules of Owning and Flying Small Aircraft:

1) Never try to cost-justify owning and flying your own small airplane. It's not possible.

2) Never add up all the money you've ever spent on owning/flying small aircraft. You don't want to know.
Click to expand...

I flew to an airshow that was about 70 miles away vs. driving because you got free entry when you flew in. Tickets were $24 each and parking was $10.


Never mind that the plane cost $160 to rent for the hour and a half I had it, I got in for free, I was saving money! :goofy:
 
When I first purchased my first airplane a 172 I did a cost breakdown on a spread sheet that I copied from one of the clubs.have owned three aircraft since and have never any listed costs since ,better to not have any evidence if questioned by the better half.
 
My better half knows it's $390/mo even if the prop doesn't turn and also knows the operating cost delta between rentals and ownership means there is a point where the linear costs cross somewhere around 4 hours a month. Don't fly it 5 hours a month, might as well rent. That's the hard numbers anyway, including engine replacement costs.

There's other tangible and intangible benefits to owning, but numbers-wise, you'd better know you're going to fly it or it isn't worth it.

How much you fly it, then becomes the negotiation point. :)
 
Agree the more you fly the cheaper the overall cost.so keep flying
 
I can't bring myself to calculate my actual costs. Ignorance is bliss.
 
frfly172 said:
Agree the more you fly the cheaper the overall cost.so keep flying
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Incorrect. The more you fly the cheaper the hourly cost only as compared to renting, where someone is attempting to make a profit on the venture.

After you beat the rental price, the line is still straight. The overall cost goes up for every hour you fly no matter what.

Cost is linear for the most part, unless you fly so much you can negotiate lower fuel costs over a wide area of the planet, and lower replacement parts costs from suppliers.

As some have pointed out, you can move or make arrangements to fly only where things like MoGas are readily available and lower the cost of one of the multipliers, but since airplanes travel, you won't be able to beat the average fuel price on any trip that requires a fill-up outside of the local area, over the long haul.

So you can nibble at the margins if you have time or got lucky, but it's fleeting. Cost rises linearly with more flying.
 
Neal Howard said:
The 2 Financial Rules of Owning and Flying Small Aircraft:

1) Never try to cost-justify owning and flying your own small airplane. It's not possible.

2) Never add up all the money you've ever spent on owning/flying small aircraft. You don't want to know.
Click to expand...

I followed your rules, and now I'm back to work and selling my Mooney!!!!
But, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else in the world. :goofy:
 
N747JB said:
A man after my own heart!! :yes:
I have a meeting tomorrow in Columbus GA, it's about 1:45-2:00 driving, depnding on traffic. I figure it's 30 minutes flying and 5X the expense, but we're flying anyway. :D
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I'm breaking the "justify the expense" rule, but time is money, too. Round trip, that saves you ~3 hrs. :D
 
rbridges said:
I'm breaking the "justify the expense" rule, but time is money, too. Round trip, that saves you ~3 hrs. :D
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I do have a buddy going with me, so that makes it half as expensive, right?? :D
 
rbridges said:
I'm breaking the "justify the expense" rule, but time is money, too. Round trip, that saves you ~3 hrs. :D
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Got back into flying because to visit my son at his college is 7.5 hours by car; flying commercially when you factor everything in is 6 hours plus Ohare parking, airfare and car rental. Flying yourself is 2.6 hours each way. When you pay to rent it's about $800 for the trip; going commercially is about $500. Driving is a lot cheaper but time IS money and sanity. And that you can't quantify into dollars renting or buying.
 
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