Hiring out a privately owned machine
I bought my Raven 2 new in late 05 and it now has 300hrs on it. I wouldnt dream of hiring it out. As we all know, it is possible to cause a load of damage by overspeeding etc. If you do it yourself you know all about it. If somebody else does it, they ain't likely to tell you - you'll just wonder why they dont hire it any more.....
Take into account the extra insurance, inevitable maintenance increase and those annoying scratches and dings that were 'all there when I took it over' - add to it the premium price that I can expect for a pristine, cossetted, hangared 100% privately operated machine when I trade it for a new one in 2 years time and I just dont think it would be worth it.
The majority of private owners tend to share this view I guess. My machine was bought with hard earned money. Unlike a 'kick the tyres, light the fires, bang it on, dont tell anyone and forget the bugs coz they were on it before, clean the screen with an old gritty rag flying school fixed wing knacker' - an unreported event in the heli can either kill you or manifest itself down the road in the form of MR bearings, an engine that suddenly seems down on power and burning more oil etc etc.
The peace of mind when you open your own hangar door and know that you flew it last - incalculable.
Just off to get it out now.
Catcha
HP