I think you will find maintenance no cheaper than the equivalent of $80 per hour in the UK. This is not a lot and I am happy to pay my engineer. He does a good job. I trust him. Things dont always go perfectly but thats life.
I strongly object to the rip off regulatory fees and all the hours the engineer charges me to complete the bull!!!! required by the regulatory authority. This time it accounted for about 30% of the bill.
It adds nothing to safety. Its just part of rip off Britain.
When I asked the CAA man why it cost so much for a permit for a single relocation flight his answer was "it keeps us in a job" and he laughed.
