It always seems to me that people make up a budget beforehand that they then make the plane fit. And that's where the disappointments come.
Airplanes that are for most parts 30 years or older, don't really behave exactly predictable. Also, more often than not, if a plane is for sale it means the previous owner hasn't been flying it as much as he should and it's been sitting etc. Planes break down when they don't fly. They need to be flown regularly, which is why I've always advocated not to shy away from higher time airplanes.
When I bought my plane a wise man said "you're going to end up spending as much as you did buying her the first year just to work out all the gremlins". I laughed. Of course not. Impossible. What a madman!
A year later that was exactly, to the dollar, what it ended up being.
But since then, in over 70hrs, there basically hasn't been a single squawk. I've done at least three plus 1000nm cross countries in adverse conditions, one over 3000nm. Nothing - she's been behaving flawlessly. I know it won't last, but for every hour I fly that initial spending gets diluted.
My point is, don't do budgets. They won't work. Buy the plane, make sure you have as much as you bought it for on top to sort everything else out in the beginning and iron out kinks. Then pay and play it by ear as you go along.
For a big twin I pay $92/month in tie down. I pay $2000/year for insurance. Those are my only two fixed costs.
Last edited by AdamFrisch; 29th Jun 2012 at 15:37.