What are you buying with your 40k drauk? An F16!!!???
What must not be forgotten is that a/c appreciate. The last two a/c I have owned and operated for 3 years each flying about 100 hrs a year in them. When I sold them they had both appreciated by 20%. Add that in to your flying Gross Margin and things will look a bit rosier.
What I'm getting at is if you own you musn't look at it as a "cost per year" as yo do when you rent. No different from renting a house and buying a house.
Example over three years:
Purchase Price £40 000
Servicing £ 4,500
Fuel £ 7,000 (based on 100 hrs per year)
Landings £ 1,000
Maintenance £ 4,500
Insurance £ 2,400
Hangarage £ 4,700
Total 3 Year Expnd. £ 64,100
A/C sells after 3 years £ 48,000
3 Year Flying Cost £ 16,100
Cost Per Hour £ 53.67p
Oh and before anyone tries to tell me I should have included interest on Capital Invested and allowed for fuel price rises and maintenance cost rises etc. etc please bear in mind this is only an example. Their gross effect is marginal anyway.
Worth noting though that even if the a/c only sells for £4k more than purchase price, the cost per hour is still only £67 per hour.
Hopefully some of you can see where I'm coming from??