Wow, flying's getting expensive

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Feb 23, 2005
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Castle Rock, CO
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Everything Offends Me
I hate to say it, as I never, ever looked at flying in dollars and cents, but I'm starting to get priced out of aviation! Renting a plane here in Albuquerque runs around $150/hr for a C172....and I hear that the price is about to go up.

I went from flying every week to flying monthly, and now, I'm lucky if I fly every 6 months or so. When I do, I have a blast, but jesus, how am I supposed to afford this now? I'm actually making more money now than I ever have in the past, also!

Any ideas? I don't want to hang up my cert, but if I can't find a way to stay safe and proficient....
 
Basically--the only thing I can come up with--is either keep cutting money out of other parts of your life or make more money. The only real option is to make more money.
 
Get your comm, and get paid to fly?
 
Isn't 150 bucks still kind of high for a 172? I'm paying slightly less than that for a Mooney. What abut the homebuilt you were working on Nick?
 
Danos said:
Isn't 150 bucks still kind of high for a 172? I'm paying slightly less than that for a Mooney. What abut the homebuilt you were working on Nick?
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I interviewed with a school yesterday who charges $120 for a 172R and $112 for a 172P. Tack on another $8.75 fuel surcharge. If fuel would remain stable, they would simply include the fuel surcharge into the aircraft rental fee. Even so, that's still a good rate for a pretty decent airplane. I flew the R yesterday... a very nicely maintained plane. It makes the R I fly for traffic appear twenty years older.
 
KennyFlys said:
I interviewed with a school yesterday who charges $120 for a 172R and $112 for a 172P. Tack on another $8.75 fuel surcharge. If fuel would remain stable, they would simply include the fuel surcharge into the aircraft rental fee. Even so, that's still a good rate for a pretty decent airplane. I flew the R yesterday... a very nicely maintained plane. It makes the R I fly for traffic appear twenty years older.
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That sounds like about what I'm looking at here.
 
My 1979 172 rents for $105 wet (no fuel surcharge- it seems like a gimmick to me) and my 2007 172 SP with glass rents for $130 wet.
 
redcloud said:
My 1979 172 rents for $105 wet (no fuel surcharge- it seems like a gimmick to me) and my 2007 172 SP with glass rents for $130 wet.
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That's pretty good, Scott. What are the actual avgas and auto gas rates up there?

Last I saw, avgas at this airport is $4.75 for self serve. Full service is $5.45. It's just about the cheapest around. PDK is $6.45.
 
We also are $4.50/gal (100LL). Of course, that's liable to change when the next shipment comes in!:hairraise:

Auto fuel is about $3.46 for regular. a 172SP goes for $128/tach hr with no fuel surcharge.
 
gprellwitz said:
We also are $4.50/gal (100LL). Of course, that's liable to change when the next shipment comes in!:hairraise:

Auto fuel is about $3.46 for regular. a 172SP goes for $128/tach hr with no fuel surcharge.
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$3.99 weekends at 10C. He is selling at cost right now to attract new tenants. Figures this way they get to see the new hangars, runway, and taxiways.
 
$87/hr for a 172N here...retail 100LL is $5.24. At Signature in Des Moines 100LL is $6.62:hairraise: Of course, that is Signature we're talking about. Prices are way up, business is way down. I'd say we have a half to a quarter of the number of transient aircraft from a year ago.
 
$5.10 / gal at OLM a couple weeks ago. We're paying $77/hr for the 180 hp C-172N in the club. Key word - club.

I paid $200/hr dual for a 172 out of Kona last year. There's an outfit charging $99 a head for a one hour sightseeing ride in a 182 here on Kauai with a minimum of 2 passengers. That's $198/hr with a pilot. Less than I paid for a 172 last year. Go figure. Same outfit that also provides flights in a 2002 Waco for $366 a couple for a 1 hour ride. We flew with them 4 years ago. Great fun! www.tropicalbiplanes.com
 
When I started instructing here in summer '05, the 172 rented for $79/hour. It is now up to $102/hour. Beats $150 though, holy cow! :(

A cheaper way to fly? Sport planes, for one, if you can luck out and find a cheap one to rent. Some of the models seem to rent for almost as much as a 172, unfortunately. But our Ercoupe for example will rent for only $65/hour. Very affordable! Split it with a friend and now you're talking $32.50 per hour!
 
you just need to become an owner again nick.
 
SkyHog said:
Any ideas? I don't want to hang up my cert, but if I can't find a way to stay safe and proficient....
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Yeah I do have an idea for you. Not to be flippant about it, but get your butt back in school, finish that degree you started and get an even better paying job!!

You don't want to be working the call centers when you are in your 50's do you?
 
SkyHog said:
I hate to say it, as I never, ever looked at flying in dollars and cents, but I'm starting to get priced out of aviation! Renting a plane here in Albuquerque runs around $150/hr for a C172....and I hear that the price is about to go up.
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Holy crap!!! $150 for a C172? That's utterly ridiculous, even if it has G1000, leather, and air conditioning.

172's here, including fuel surcharge, run about $88 per Hobbs hour wet for a 172N, and $117/hr wet for a 172SP with steam gauges and King GPS. I've been a lot of places, and I've never seen anything more than $135 for a G1000 172.

So, I suggest joining a club. Not one of those "FBO clubs" but a real club, where nobody's making a profit. If there isn't a suitable club in town... Start one! You can't be the only one who wants to fly for less money.
 
If you just want to stay close to home and fly low and slow, check one of these out. http://www.quadcitychallenger.com/index.html Check out barnstormers.com, there are two for sale in AZ. Fuel burn is about 3.5gph and will carry 500lbs, cruise is 70-95 MPH. Not one to take to Gastons, but fun at home.
 
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tonycondon said:
you just need to become an owner again nick.
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You might be onto something here....I contacted the owners of Juliet...they're running numbers to see if they want to sell a share to me....how freaking cool would that be? Just gotta find a way to get a bunch of money :D
 
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