sosouth
a couple of points:
Finance is not 10% more like 7% for a van. You'll find the older the equipment the higher the interest rate, so a 25+ year old PA31 will attract a significantly higher interest rate than a young aircraft (and brand newies are the cheapest by far in this respect)
and
that's why I said 1000hrs a year (for most freight aircraft this is
fairly normal).
the difference is more like $50-$60/hr, which is easily made up in the significantly cheaper DOCs of the 208.
But you are still not comparing apples with apples. The 208 is a 1200-1500kg freighter or a 14 seat aircraft, the PA31 is about an 700-850kg freighter or 10 seat aircraft, yet the van is still cheaper and more reliable to operate.
D6
here ya go