The old multi thousand hour Cessna's and Pipers are now semi worthless.
Keeping them flying and the cost per hour of an old PA28 does not make sense.
Looking back through my log books around 85 % of my four seat flying was with two empty seats. That means I was paying a fortune for the odd occasion when I took friends flying.
Really? Last point first. I bet around 85% of your driving in a 4-seat car is with 2 (or more) empty seats. Perhaps you run a 2-seat car, I don't know, but the vast majority of cars on the road have many empty seats in them. That doesn't mean they should all be scrapped - the utility value of multi-seat vehicles for occasional full occupancy justifies the extra costs of lugging those empty seats round.
Now, cost per hour. There's a thing! I'd say there's are passing few people who actually work out the REAL hourly rate for running their aircraft, including depreciation, ALL maintenance, fuel, insurance, hangarage, landing card/fees etc. So go out and buy a new aircraft if you think it's so much better than a 30 yr old C172 or PA28, then work out the REAL hourly rate and tell me it's cheaper. It just isn't.
The hourly rate on our PA28 Archer is £168, including VAT, all landing fees, contribution to a properly managed engine fund, all maintenance and a contingency for unexpected expenses. The PA28 is fully equipped for IFR and night flying and handles weather quite well, so it can be flown on many more days than the microlights and more lightly loaded a/c around. OK, you could own your own aircraft but our figures are based on 300+ hours a year, no private pilot is going to be able to do that many hours.
TOO
TOO