Originally Posted by
PrivateAviator
Hi guys,
just went back into flying after spending nearly 8 years of my life skydiving...
well,I'll keep things short:
I'm thinking of buying an airplane,mainly because renting the usual 172 at the club is crazy expensive per hour,but also it's never easy to have it for long trips or for a long period of time.
Undeniably true.
Besides the hangar/maintenance costs (which are mostly dependant on location/airplane) I've been thinking that the engine is what makes the huge difference.
Yes, but fuel burn is only a part of that. As a very basic rule of thumb, running costs on a light single are about 50% fuel, 25 engine maintenance, 25% everything else.
at the moment I'm not really sure wether to go for a 2 or 4 seats,but the question I'm asking is the following:
Bearing in mind that you can always still hire a C172, unless a significant proportion (say more than 1/3rd) of your flying is with 2 or more pax, stick with a 2-seater. Economically you'll win, and the choice of interesting 2 seaters is much better than the choice of interesting 4 seaters.
how good are the thielert/diesel engines?
Experiences are of reasonable engines, that are however moderately unreliable and a bit of a pain to look after.
I've noticed that the TBO is rather low (1.200 to 1.500 hrs) but the operating costs seem low (i'm just talking about the fuel burnt)
what about the maintenance?is it more expensive than AVGas engines?
Experiences is limited, but yes, maintenance costs seem higher than equivalent AVGAS engines.
the main reason is that where I'm planning to fly AVGas is almost impossible to find.
and therefore I'd have to stay either on mogas or jet A1...
For private flying, in my opinion, you'll get far better value out of a Rotax 900 series engine in a 2-seater, than a Thielert Diesel in anything. They run very inexpensively on MOGAS, are fairly easily owner-maintainable, and there's plenty of support for them.
last but not least:I've been told that ALL cessna aircraft need to have their wings inspected which means £££,is that true or is it just a rumour??
Many of the singles, not all, and yes it can be expensive. But only REALLY expensive, if there was a mainspar crack found - and compared to not finding that crack, that's still cheap. The simple solution however is only buy an aircraft that's already had the checks done.
The other really good reason not to buy a Cessna as a private owner is that whilst the 152 and 172 are two of the best training aeroplanes ever designed, there are just so many other - usually more fun - choices out there. Lots of those will be cheaper to run than any Cessna as well.
G