The one about aircraft owners getting a great rate for their aircraft jumps out at me a bit.
You clearly have no concept of the true running costs of a typical GA single.
I can assure you that unless you're getting 40 hrs a month minimum you have little hope of covering all the costs and no hope if there is an allowance for the cost of capital (paying it off).
The vast majority of aircraft owners who lease their aircraft back to flying schools, aeroclubs or charter companies are subsidising the affore mentioned operations substantially.
That's why it's so common...the average flying school operation is flat out affording a couple of 30 yr old C172s...all the substantial aircraft, Cherokee 6s, C210s, C182RGs, Bonanzas etc are owned by romantic dreamers (like me) who then rent them back at the 'going rate' based on 'promises' of monthly utilisation that make the whole proposition seem workable. Charter companies are worse.."Yeay mate, she'll do at least 40hrs a month!" Can I have that in writing? "Er...um no...but she'll be right!!" The reality ends up being 15-20hrs a month...because the few aeroplanes he does 'own' get flogged and yours ends up filling the gaps as a standby.....maintenance in places like Darwin and Broome, where these aircraft mostly still operate is a minimum of 3 times more expensive than it is in places like BN, SY or ML.
A decent Bonanza, say 30 yrs old...about average for the breed..C210s being no different, costs $255/hr to run (based in the J curve) if it does 10hrs/mth...assuming you own it outright....if it's doing an average of 5hrs/mth (probably typical of many schools/aeroclubs) and you are paying it off then it is still costing you 100s of dollars an hour to own/fly.
The above figures are very accurate...many, if not most, owners don't put aside anything for the engine/prop overhaul, new paint job every 6-8 yrs, much if anything for new radios (how many hire aircraft have radios less than 20yrs old in them?), new interiors etc...that's why the Trader plane is full of aircraft with KX175s and a few hundred hrs engine life left...the 40-70K bill around the corner is just not affordable.
99% of hirers have not the first idea how heavily they are being subsidised....and most owners, initially, have no clue how little leasing back helps defray the costs of ownership....depending on the complexity of the aircraft it probably makes it more expensive.
Still wondering why new aircraft are as rare as rocking horse poop?
The cost of capital makes it completely unrealistic...and if you can afford a new aircraft you most assuredly don't need to put it on line. For aircraft that are flown less than 5-6 hundred hrs a year the capital cost would be several hundreds of dollars/hr alone...before you even thought about DOCs.
But I still love my 1970 Bonanza
