Originally Posted by
340drvr
100-150 hours a year would barely justify ownership of a much smaller plane, let alone a Gulfstream. And, for only once a year overseas, you really don't need that large longer-range plane for every trip. From a business sense, the numbers would simply never make sense.
And, what everyone else said, older airframes can be problematic.
Fractional operations are an ideal fit for your planned mission profile, and depending on what program you were in, might even allow a selection of appropriate aircraft better fitted to suit each trip. I'd suggest contacting several fractional outfits during your research.
Wanted the extra space to travel nicely even within the US.
I looked at ONE fractional outlet and ONE Jet card - I got on the phone with NetJets and here is what I was told:
1. A jet card from them is tied to the type of plane you want for your longest trip. I think he said that would be a Challenger 6000. Therefore, the card was $550K for 25 hours. When I stated that all 25 hours would be more or less used in ONE trip to Europe and back, the salesman just shrugged.
2. He offered me Fractional on a G650. Or maybe it was a 550. Again, one plane, could not switch. 1/16 share: Price: 3.7M up front, $27K per month maintenance and hangar cost, $8K per hour flight. So I said that for 3.7, I could buy a nice G4 OUTRIGHT, and pay 27K a month in maintenance and less than 8K per hour, and yet I would own the WHOLE plane. Again, a shrug.
Maybe I am looking at the wrong fractional outlet.
So for me, the numbers I am seeing for fractional and jet card appear to wholly justify ownership, however small the use, and in fact, they are driving me towards ownership. I am not too worried about maintenance surprises because my manager is a top notch guy, and many of my friends have planes with him, and he knows all the players at both Long Beach and John Wayne so I feel confident that we can pick the right plane in the outset. He is picky as hell.
But what I am feeling from all this is that even if the G4 makes no sense, the G3 makes even LESS sense.....correct?