Hughes / Schweizer 300 maybe better than an R22 ?
Hi There
I recently looked into this a lot. I went through all the options and the thing that kept coming back to me was how unprofessional some shared aircraft groups were and (on the other hand) how some of the more professional groups charged for the privilege.
I didn't want to end up part of a group that owned an aircraft on the ground that couldn't be flown and nobody took care of.
The obvious thing about shared ownership is the cost per hour is lower and the upfront purchase price doesn't really depreciate, therefore it's possible to buy and sell your share when you finished for the same amount.
Everybody I spoke to kept coming back to the same group G-BOXT - a Hughes 300C (not CBi), stating that it was well run and there were no management fees. The group is extremely religious about maintenance and adhering to CAA regs.
The costs are substantially cheaper than learning to fly (or self-fly hire) with a commercial organization - about £100 an hour less. There is a standing charge of £100 pm to cover hangar, insurance, block landing fees, online booking website etc.
So if you fly more than one hour a month on average you are saving money.
The H300 is comparable with the costs of flying an R22, the way that G-BOXT is charged out, is per hour wet.
The only problem for me was that there were only four members of the group, which meant the shares were £20K each.
As a result of several discussions it was agreed that all of the members would split their shares and therefore each sell 1/8th (or 1/2 their current interest).
I bought one 1/8th share and another share was sold. There are currently 2 shares for sale.
Being a member of a shared ownership group does have the potential than an unexpected bill comes in and it has to be shared between the members, but the flip side is that
I'm a big guy (6ft 3in and over 17st), so that brings the R22 capabilities into sharp releif. Obviously I have never flown an R22 but people that fly and instruct on both normally say they prefer the H300 - and students tend to need less hours to pass PPL.
They also say the Enstrom 280 is probably the easiest to fly but also doesn't have the same power/useful load as the H300.
So I'd say "then don't bother looking at anything other than a R22" maybe a bit blinkered or even imprecise, perhaps I'd say "then don't bother looking at anything other than a single engined piston, such as a R22 H300 B47 Enstrom280 or similar"
Also remember that TRTO conversions to R22/R44 are available everywhere and it's easy to get time in an R22 (if you aren't a giant like me) but flying in a H300 or B47 gives you another string to your bow. H300 instructors are a bit more in demand than R22 instructors - and you can cary 2 passengers in a H300 (as long as they aren't giants as well).
If you are interested in flying G-BOXT, I'm sure I can arrange a trial flight/check ride with my instructor (Ray Jones).