Thinking about renting my plane

William Pete Hodges

William Pete Hodges

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Petehdgs
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I talked with AOPA about this and apparently it is acceptable to do... I am considering renting out my airplane in 20 hour blocks of time. As I understand it, if I rent the airplane only and don't provide an instructor this is an acceptable way to recoup some of my Costs of ownership. I am still thinking this out.

I have a 1964 Mooney Super21. It is an early arched window M20E with a 200 hp IO-360 Lycoming. It is in for annual and some minor panel modification now. It is being maintained for VFR but has twin nav-coms, one ADF and 2 GPS units. I use it mostly to travel from Culpeper Virginia to Dexter MI during the summer months for a week at a time. I Fly about 30-35 hours a year. I am willing to rent the airplane only for up to 60 hours per year in 20 hour blocks of time. I am still thinking this through, so if anyone is interested message me about this.
 
I would suggest (in my experience) that most renter’s will not take care of your plane to the same degree of care that you do. Frost on windscreen? Scrape it off with a automobile scraper, leaving permanent scratches! Cut the corner on a taxiway in the grass? No problem, the prop didn't completely stop when it hit the ground! Spilled soda from turbulence on the seat? No problem, it will evaporate and only be sticky for a few months. If this airplane is only a tool for you and you have no emotional connection at all to it, then renting it out can possibly help with expenses IF insurance increases and maintenance increases from engine/gear abuse don’t cost too much.
 
You won’t be able to defer any costs at 60 hrs a year…proper insurance pricing will take all of that…Liability issues of a personal aircraft, unless operating on a leaseback under the control of a third party are also a problem. Even those liabilities issues can’t stop you from suit in my experience even though you do everything right.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I talked with AOPA about this and apparently it is acceptable to do... I am considering renting out my airplane in 20 hour blocks of time. As I understand it, if I rent the airplane only and don't provide an instructor this is an acceptable way to recoup some of my Costs of ownership. I am still thinking this out.

I have a 1964 Mooney Super21. It is an early arched window M20E with a 200 hp IO-360 Lycoming. It is in for annual and some minor panel modification now. It is being maintained for VFR but has twin nav-coms, one ADF and 2 GPS units. I use it mostly to travel from Culpeper Virginia to Dexter MI during the summer months for a week at a time. I Fly about 30-35 hours a year. I am willing to rent the airplane only for up to 60 hours per year in 20 hour blocks of time. I am still thinking this through, so if anyone is interested message me about this.
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I'm not familiar with the rules around renting nor am I telling you anything that you probably aren't thinking about already but... you probably want to be selective who you rent it out to :)
I'd rather give a sweet-heart deal to someone who I believe would treat the aircraft with respect than a random guy who pays quite a bit more but beats the hell out of it.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I am considering renting out my airplane in 20 hour blocks of time.
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As others said, do you like the plane? If so, consider not renting it.

How about a partnership instead? You can define the terms of it, from joint 50-50 with all expenses split equally, to something less than that, with a cap on hours flown and liability.
 
I’d get an equity or non-equity partner before I sold 20hr blocks to some rando.

The partnership agreement gives you everything you’re looking for without the hassle. The partner(s) can then be named insureds and can be billed for the amount of the policy increase if you so desire.
 
you may be able to find some pilots building hours,looking for retractable time. The price of insurance may sorprise you.a partnership would probably work better for you.
 
You must be better at sharing than me. Been working on that since pre-school.
 
If you were near me, I’d be discussing a partnership of some type with you, that’s for sure.
 
We need a sticky on this.
1) Your additional insurance
2) Required maintenance - 100 hr or annual or ?
3) Renter's insurance
4) Scheduling

Just because AOPA says so, doesn't make it practical. There are many activities that are legal but not practical or even good to indulge in.
 
Have you seen what insurance is going to cost for this? I have been on both sides of the leaseback industry (both as an aircraft owner leading my plane to a flying club and as a flying club operator leasing planes).
If you think this is a way to defray the personal ownership of the plane, you're going to be in for a rude awakening. AIrcraft leasing is a business, and if you don't treat it as one, you will lose your shirt.
 
murphey said:
We need a sticky on this.
1) Your additional insurance
2) Required maintenance - 100 hr or annual or ?
3) Renter's insurance
4) Scheduling

Just because AOPA says so, doesn't make it practical. There are many activities that are legal but not practical or even good to indulge in.
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100 Hours aren't required unless you the instructor comes with the plane (or the plane is carrying passengers for hire).

But insurance is a big issue. My insurance for rentals was about 3x what my (even low time) private-use insurance was.
 
I was asked to teach High Performance/Complex in my Bonanza for a school with NO solo work. I would be the instructor...my insurance quote was raised by $8000/year. Definitely a losing proposition. I wouldn't rent mine out nor would I do a partnership. I don't share my wife nor my airplane.
 
I don't know the reasons behind the OP. If you don't fly the plane anymore, for some reason, and aren't going to, then sell it. Otherwise you're talking about making a tiny bit of money and risk losing the entire airplane. If you like to fly the plane, fly the plane, don't rent it. Otherwise, you're facing a pretty decent risk of losing the plane, again for making close to or less than nothing. If you like to fly the plane, but you can't afford it anymore for whatever reason, sell the plane and rent something else. OR...Maybe sell the plane to a club or a friend, with a written agreement that you get to rent the plane at X/hr + fuel for up to Y hours per year, and that you'll carry renter's insurance on it...or that they'll list you on their policy. That last bit could be handy if you're not able to get renters insurance for a retract anymore or at some point.

All the above just my opinion, based on very little except having friends who have leased, purchased and rented aircraft and ran clubs and businesses to do same...and knowing that as others have pointed out there's a reason rental retracts are pretty rare.
 
I have been the renter in two situations like this. Both worked out well for both me and the owner. I’ll take @murphey’s punchlist as a sample of some of the issues.

murphey said:
1) Your additional insurance
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Some policies - read yours, they can be very different - permit a certain number of regular private rentals. As I recall 4 or 5 named persons without upgrading it to a commercial or club policy.
murphey said:
2) Required maintenance - 100 hr or annual or ?
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No 100 hour required unless providing paid flight training (or carrying passengers for hire, which should not be an issue).
murphey said:
3) Renter's insurance
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A good idea if the policy won’t treat them as insureds with subrogation waivers. Liability is typically not an issue. Hull is. (Yes, to repeat, read yours). I needed non-owned insurance for one of mine, but not the other. In my case, the difference was the way the setup was organized.
murphey said:
4) Scheduling
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If we’re talking that 4 or 5, it can be as simple as a Google calendar.

I’m going to two things I think are important. Written rules and policies. And due diligence in to whom you give the keys and written. A checkout is obvious. Driving record/credit checks. For a more extreme example, in one of mine, the owner rejected an applicant because he didn’t like the way they kept their logbook.
 
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MD11Pilot said:
I was asked to teach High Performance/Complex in my Bonanza for a school with NO solo work. I would be the instructor...my insurance quote was raised by $8000/year. Definitely a losing proposition. I wouldn't rent mine out nor would I do a partnership. I don't share my wife nor my airplane.
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You need to shop insurance.

I had a similar quote on my CAP-10. Dual only. Current (new policy) is an extra $750 per year to do dual only instruction.
 
Highly unlikely this confers any financial benefit to you, and highly like to impose a lot of additional frustration instead. If you can't afford the plane, or just aren't using it enough, sell it. This kind of situation is just unlikely (thought not impossible) to actually be financially successful for you.
 
I remember my father upgrading to a Baron, way back when. He wanted to recoup some costs and so rented it out around the small airport he had. I was young so not privy to all the details but an off airport landing in Nebraska by one of the "renters" put an end to our aircraft ownership for a while. It must have cost my dad a lot of $$$. Next aircraft a C120 that was my first trainer. :)
 
I think most of these deals are "renter meets the open pilot warranty and vaya con dios mfer" situations, not "let me shop for rental/club insurance and pay 7x what I'm paying now"

For a mooney I would fear the gear-up-and-ghost. Or worse.
 
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