Originally Posted by
steveking
My friend gets anywere between 40-55ltrs an hour.
Presumably Gena has, up until now, been showing your friend the fine art of starting the Yak-52, warming the engine, and taxying to the pumps.
The best I've
ever managed in a straight-and-level economy cruise transit was 60 litres an hour - maybe ours runs a little rich, but I'll put money on a ground frost in hell before you see 40 litres an hour in a 52.
Once you start to rock and roll, you'll see the wrong side of 120 litres an hour - and worth every penny.
FWIW, we currently run the group with a fixed cost of £7800 a year, and a variable (wet, airborne hour) cost using the following formula:
£130/hr + ((pump price/litre - £1) * 80)
Which has worked fairly well - however, Yaks are made for sharing - sharing the fun, and sharing the costs - a couple of years ago, our annual/airframe life extension inspection was estimated at £4K, and finished at £17K.
Be prepared for the occasional monumental trouser-accident of a bill if you want to operate anything on a CAA Permit.