Agusta 100 hourly/annual inspection $A42,140
I put my 2003 Agusta A109E in to the service organisation at Bankstown Airport for its 100 hourly/annual inspection. The aircraft had a total time of 996.1 hours and went in with no reportable deficiencies.
My Agusta has been a fantastic aircraft and incredibly reliable. Typically it goes in for a 100 hourly and there are no squawks to report.
In this case, the 100 hourly cost was $42,140 Australian dollars, including $3,800 in GST. The engineering labour cost was 113 hours at $140 per hour (which is $15,890). A few of the expensive parts included bellows at $2,400, a tail rotor duplex bearing at $4,500 and the five year hydrostatic test on fire bottles at $5,800 (for the two).
Considering the aircraft had only done 45.8 hours since the last 100 hourly, it seems like a lot of money, but I think it is pretty typical of the previous 100 hourlies I have had in the last 10 or so years.
Can anyone comment on whether this is similar to the charges in the USA or the UK for a 100 hourly on a similar aircraft? I’m interested to know if there are unique requirements in Australia that make the aircraft so expensive to maintain. There seems to be quite a drop off of A109Es operating in Australia. I’m wondering if it is because the servicing costs are so high.
I ask PPRuNers not to misunderstand me – I’m not complaining about the high cost, I’m just stating it as a fact. It could be one of the reasons that general aviation in Australia is so depressed.