I owned a 28C and I didn't think it was that expensive to maintain. Yes the early blades have a delamination issue. In fact blades will delaminate if you don't take care of them. Keep them clean and waxed goes a long way.
There is only 9 life limited parts and several of them have such high time limits that it makes them for all practical purposes 'on condition'. Also the only regularly required inspections are the 100 hr/annual. No 1200 or 2200 hour inspections.
As for fuel burn, my average fuel burn ran between 8 to 10 gallons per hour.