This flying seems awfully expensive...

Chrisgoesflying said:
That is very unique to your situation though. Here where I live, communal hangar is $200 per month and individual T-Hangar is $350 per month. On the flip side, a boat slip for a 28 ft long boat (I have my eyes on one to possibly buy this spring) at a nice marina with power supply is $4,000 for the season of six months, which checks out to $667 per month, almost double what I pay to keep my plane indoors!
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I agree, but my main point was that it is fairly easy to get into boating and be able to minimize storage fees (and fixed expenses) . Storing at home or even a typical storsge rental facility is reasonable. Pretty difficult to keep aircraft at home unless you live at an airpark. You can get cheap ramp parking, or outdoor storage space for a boat, but neither the boat or aircraft are going to fare well out in the elements.
 
SoonerAviator said:
my main point was that it is fairly easy to get into boating and be able to minimize storage fees (and fixed expenses) . Storing at home or even a typical storsge rental facility is reasonable.
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That also depends on where one lives. Indoor boat storage where I live runs at about $300 per month (so about the same as hangar rent) and I would not be able to store a 28 ft. long boat at home. It would block my driveway and I'm sure it's against HOA rules. So, cutting down the cost of storing a boat is as difficult as cutting down the cost of storing a plane, at least for me (and I'm sure others who live within city limits).
 
I just got a price list for ballroom dance lessons. $135 per 45-minute lesson. There is no cheap hobby. Maybe hanging out at the public library and reading all the books for free. But if you have an airplane, you can go to a lot more public libraries and read even more books. Airplanes still win.
 
My wife keeps a spreadsheet. Said spreadsheet gets mentioned at non-opportune times. I have to convince her that the ROI on our airplane investment improves daily. I mean, they ain’t making these planes anymore…supply and demand. That’s science my man.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
This prompted me to do the math (gross).
For 2 years, 1 month and 2 days, Owning a 1961 Comanche has cost $51,175 in exchange for 362 hours of defying gravity in style ($140 / hour).
This doesn't include hotels, Oshkoshes, Sun n Funs, Checkrides, CFI fees, etc.

Now, $27k of that is fuel. Fly less, spend less.

Is it worth it? I don't think so but I'm also not going to quit.
So what I think I have figured out is this is all pretty irrational and I'd say, don't ever do the math.
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Smart of you to not include the hookers and blow. Makes the costs seems manageable.
 
texasclouds said:
My wife keeps a spreadsheet. Said spreadsheet gets mentioned at non-opportune times. I have to convince her that the ROI on our airplane investment improves daily. I mean, they ain’t making these planes anymore…supply and demand. That’s science my man.
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She could at some time substitute “husband” for “airplane” in that spreadsheet. Then talk about not making these models anymore, cost of maintenance, trade in value, newer models, etc.
 
WDD said:
She could at some time substitute “husband” for “airplane” in that spreadsheet. Then talk about not making these models anymore, cost of maintenance, trade in value, newer models, etc.
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or "wife"...

(posted from the safety of the interweb and also from the safety of being single)
 
Got me thinking. The cost of maintenance and ROI flips for men. As a guy gets older his toys and knee operations gets more numerous and expensive. And then he retires. Now he’s 100% overhead.
 
Walboy said:
Word of advice. Don't trade flying hobby for horses. Flying will seem cheap.
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That's why I named my first plane Peggy, short for Pegasus because it is just as expensive as owning a horse.
 
I heard that flying gets cheaper the more hours you fly a year. :rofl:
 
I had long since come to the conclusion that the only way I was going to fly more than a token number of hours was to have "Uncle Sam pay his share" -- i.e., manufacture a business use for the airplane so I could deduct flying expenses. A pre-tax dollar goes $0.35 farther than a post-tax "dollar".
 
DJTorrente said:
I had long since come to the conclusion that the only way I was going to fly more than a token number of hours was to have "Uncle Sam pay his share" -- i.e., manufacture a business use for the airplane so I could deduct flying expenses. A pre-tax dollar goes $0.35 farther than a post-tax "dollar".
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Please start a thread with instructions on how to do this.
 
kayoh190 said:
Yeah, but what's that Dodge gonna cost to operate? The up-front cost isn't what scares folks about an airplane.
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Have you priced tires for one of them??? :D :D

You can easily exceed airplane costs with just tires. :D
 
Pinecone said:
Have you priced tires for one of them??? :D :D

You can easily exceed airplane costs with just tires. :D
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Ha! No I haven't. You mean to tell me the tires cost more than those of my Honda? :D
 
My longest flight was 1333 nm (KBJC to 0W3). I did it in 7 hours 3 seconds flying time (according to Flight Aware) and burned about 75 - 80 gallons.

In my best mileage car (Fiat 500 Abarth) it would have been 1718 sm and used about 50 gallons. But it would have been 26 hours driving, plus fuel stops, and at least one if not two overnight stops.
 
WDD said:
She could at some time substitute “husband” for “airplane” in that spreadsheet. Then talk about not making these models anymore, cost of maintenance, trade in value, newer models, etc.
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Don’t worry, I broke the mold. They don’t make em like me anymore.
 
4RNB said:
Please start a thread with instructions on how to do this.
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Don't take this as tax or legal advice, and "consult your own professional advisor" etc., but if the costs of Angel Flights and/or animal rescue flights were deductible, it should have the same bottom line effect as spending it on deductible business flying.
 
This thread has influenced recent decisions more than I'd like to admit. If the survey doesn't find anything, come Monday, I'll be the owner of a 28 foot cruiser. I've been watching lake properties for 2+ years. Lake properties are appreciating faster than my financial means to afford them. For a bit, I contemplated plane ownership but have determined buying into an existing partnership is the only way that is going to happen. That's not going to happen soon and a plane purchase would mostly benefit me. I'm not getting any younger, and this summer might be the last all of my children live in the same city as my wife and I. I know a boat is financially stupid, but I expect we'll make some good memories this summer.
 
Mahneuvers said:
This thread has influenced recent decisions more than I'd like to admit. If the survey doesn't find anything, come Monday, I'll be the owner of a 28 foot cruiser. I've been watching lake properties for 2+ years. Lake properties are appreciating faster than my financial means to afford them. For a bit, I contemplated plane ownership but have determined buying into an existing partnership is the only way that is going to happen. That's not going to happen soon and a plane purchase would mostly benefit me. I'm not getting any younger, and this summer might be the last all of my children live in the same city as my wife and I. I know a boat is financially stupid, but I expect we'll make some good memories this summer.
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If the boat is squared away mechanically then you'll likely be fine. Most boating stuff is fairly predictable if maintenance is kept up, and you can work on any of it yourself if you choose to. Boating IS the destination when you have the family aboard, which is different for most people and aircraft. You aren't kidding about lake properties. Seems some of the lakefront stuff has more than trippled in 10 years. Hard to have a rustic lake place anymore once all of the developers have come in and catered it to the high earner crowds or VRBO set.
 
SoonerAviator said:
If the boat is squared away mechanically then you'll likely be fine...
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The boat is a 2020, so, I'm expecting I'll be fine with a positive survey. My only concern now is my shortsighted invite to @eman1200. He only wants to hangout at the threshold of LKN to video a crappy landings by @flyingron .
 
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Half Fast said:
Good move. If only I'd bought a boat years ago, I might have some good family memories today. Oh well; too late for me.
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From my understanding of your life, your family is not want of good memories.
 
Mahneuvers said:
The boat is a 2020, so, I'm expecting I'll be fine with a positive survey. My only concern now is my shortsighted invite to @eman1200. He only wants to hangout at the threshold of LKN to video a crappy landing by @flyingron .
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Yeah I'd expect that if a bare minimum of maintenance has been done over 3 years it should be pretty hard to mess that up, lol. Single or twin screws?
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah I'd expect that if a bare minimum of maintenance has been done over 3 years it should be pretty hard to mess that up, lol. Single or twin screws?
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It's a freshwater lake boat. Single Volvo Penta dual prop.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Hard to have a rustic lake place anymore once all of the developers have come in and catered it to the high earner crowds or VRBO set.
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I have my lakefront house up for sale very cheap - downside is, it's in the middle of the frozen tundra north of the border lol.
 
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