Purchasing Used Helicopter(s) - Considerations
For all you Rotor Aviation professionals, I have some questions regarding purchasing a used helicopter:
1. Total Time on Airframe (TTAF) How many hours are too many? Is a question like this too general? Looking through the used market of various types it looks like there can be aircraft out there with almost 20K hours on it that look better than aircraft with 5K on them. Obviously component times remaining is a huge factor in cost, maintenance, etc. But would a very high TTAF scare you away if the aircraft was thoroughly maintained, up on all inspections, etc. ? (Obviously not talking about Robinson's, that would be like 9 rebuilds!) Also, is there a legal limit to TTAF where the aircraft has to be retired no matter what?
2. Online pricing information for parts and labor, etc. Does anyone know a good source? As this is currently purely academic for me as I try to gain a deeper understanding of the economics of rotorcraft aviation I'm loathe to call up businesses and waste their time with pricing questions that will not result in a sale. But I'd love to find out how much those tail rotors are, epicyclic gears, engine modules, etc.
3. Insurance? Assuming a safe and competent pilot? What is a good yearly budget figure as a percentage? It seems like I've come across figures ranging from 3% of the value all the way up to 10%... must be a more accurate figure out there? Also does anyone price by the hour instead of yearly? Might be a more accurate way to measure risk?
As I said, this is currently purely academic right now but would love any professional thoughts and insights.
Thanks.