Oh come on...an IO550 doesn't make THAT much difference. The version I heard was they looked at how many new A36s Beechcraft sell annually and decided their wasn't a market for many more US$600k 6 seat, retractable singles. That a Cessna can't compete with a Beechcraft is hardly news
The 'fact' I find fascinating is that US Insurance companies
will not, according to Richard Collins, insure P210s at any price, even with "9000 hrs on type"..and that they have such a poor engine failure record.
I think there was more to Collins' parking his, apparently extremely well maintained, P210 than meets the eye of the reader.
It didn't even need new windows, by his own admission, for several thousand more hours. Perhaps it was his age, 73...loss of nerve or extreme insurance company requirements...he mentions in the article that he was getting more and more conservative and essentially, by the sound of it, limiting himself to VFR weather. I find it hard to believe that his aircraft was only good for the knackers yard.
Do older aircraft actually need more maintenance...well in as much as they need some maintenance and new aircraft need little if any then I suppose yes.
Does that make them unaffordable? I don't think so if the maintenance is thoughtfully done. My Bo is having, essentially, a ground up restoration and I fully expect when finished will be as reliable and 'economical' as any Bonanza out of warranty.
A new Bonanza when I bought mine was running 10 times what I paid. The
interest alone on that amount of money over the period I have owned my Bonanza
FAR exceeds what I will have spent
in total by the time I wheel it out for the post maintenance test flights...and I include the capital cost in that estimation.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, unless you have a tax deductable reason to own an aircraft and high, recompensed utilisation, new is out of the question unless the capital cost is not a consideration...you have more money than sense. Certainly that reality does not apply to me.
There is not a damn thing wrong with 20 or 30 year old aircraft that have been maintained well for private ops. Type ASO into google and peruse the Bonanzas, or whatever is your poison, for sale in the US...dozens of immaculate aircraft with 2000-5000 TT and upgraded everything...for 1/3rd the cost of a new aircraft.
While aircraft ownership is without doubt not one of the smarter things you can do with your money it aint near as dumb as some...and you're dead an awful long time.
As to what a 210 costs to own...as a starting point on a
nice, well maintained aircraft in this class you could work on annual fixed costs of $5-6k insurance, $3-4k hangarage. Maintenance $3-6k and DOCs $130/hr wet.
Plus of course capital cost...I own mine so bank repayments not something I think about.
Having it on line at an aeroclub
will cost you money. What is worse than the $ cost is the stress attendant with hirers treating your aircraft in a manner that will leave you seething.
Stress being the result of the mind overcoming the bodies natural desire to choke the $hit outa some ar$ehole who desperately deserves it.
As FTDK suggested above...keep it to yourself and a small group of experienced and trusted individuals who you KNOW will treat it as you wish it treated. The only benefit of having an aircraft on line is it is flown regularly, which is good for the aircraft generally and your pocket, if you cannot, as was the case with me. I am based overseas and only get to fly it once every 6 weeks or so then a couple of big trips a year. A handful of enthusiastic mates can solve that problem even if you let them fly it for petrol money only, occasionally. Or come up with a rate that encourages them to fly it regularly.
As an example if you took that wet DOC figure above and said to your mates "yours for $230/hr wet +landing fees" and if they do 60 hrs a year between them you have offset your Insurance or shove the money in a maintenance account for the shiny new IFR GPS, new navcom or whatever. Every once in a while you gather your mates and several cartons of beer and wash and polish your bird. And $200-230 wet for an aircraft in this class is CHEAP!!