After reading some of the above posts, it's a wonder there's anyone left out there that owns an aeroplane at all. It cost me a bit over $9500 to operate the 172 over the last 12 months. That includes fuel, insurance, hangarage and the anual inspection. There were some other incidentals such as landing fees, nav charges etc. (and some oil, forgot about that) that would have come to something less than $300.
I reckon that's pretty good. Certainly nowhere near the $20,000 to $30,000 suggested above. The hourly operating cost? Who cares. When the bills come in, you pay'em. I don't get hung up on how much it costs me to operate an hour. Couldn't care less.
You'll see people going over all sorts figures with all sorts of permutations and combinations. At the end of it all they'll say "I simply can't justify spending that much an hour to operate the aircraft". What they really meant was, they couldn't afford it in the first place. If you can't afford it, don't go there. Dollars held in reserve for the engine and prop? Yer, right. I simply wouldn't be disciplined enough to leave it alone. When the engines due, it's due. With a little bit of forward planning, I'll come up with the dollars then.
The reality is the difference is huge. Payload and speed and cost V say a C172 or Cherokee/Warrior. No Contest.
Correct. I'll take the 172 over a Jabiru or Technam any day. The 172 will do stuff that a Jabiru or Technam simply can't. It needs more horsepower to do that, which means it'll have a higher fuel burn. I'm prepared to accept that. I saw some prices recently for Technam's and they were in the region of $120,000 to $150,000. I'm not prepared to pay that amount of money to be at the same place that Cessna and Piper were at 60 years ago. You can get a very nice 172 for a $100,000 or less. The $50,000 you've got left over will buy a lot of maintenance and a lot of fuel.
Aircraft ownership can be very rewarding, satisfying and yes, at times very frustrating. It has always been expensive and always will be. But the picture might not be quite so horrendous as some people paint it.
Pick your market, do your homework, look for the lowest TT aircraft that you can afford and make sure, without fail, that you get a comprehensive pre-purchase inspection done by a reputable LAME (yes, there are some out there if you know where to look). If the aircraft doesn't come up to scratch and the owner won't come to the party over any defects, be prepared to walk away from the deal. You might feel as though you've done your dough on the pre-purchase, but you could save yourself thousands in the long run. Have fun.
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It cost me a bit over $9500 to operate the 172 over the last 12 months. That includes fuel, insurance, hangarage and the anual inspection.
How much higher would that figure be if you added provisions for: possible top overhaul, possible cylinder replacement, engine overhaul, prop overhaul, instrument and avionics overhaul, repaint each five years or so, ditto internal refurbishment etc etc etc.
Or do you propose to run our engine and prop hours and try to sell it with chalky paint and scruffy interior - and wonder why you can't get the same money for it as you paid for it?
As a matter of interest, how many flying hours did you do for your $9,500 in costs?
Sunny Woomera