Originally Posted by
206 jock
I note you say 'personally': bear in mind that many of your costs (maintenance etc) will have VAT added, but you can't charge it out unless you put the a/c inside some sort of registered corporate wrapper.
Sorry, not true in UK (though not sure where the OP resides).
As a sole owner (not corporate) if the machine is used solely for lease then you can register (UK HMRC might try to argue otherwise, so you do need to know what you are doing and stick to your guns) and recover the purchase VAT and any further VAT charged on maintenance, replacements, etc. You do then charge VAT on the lease to the school. That means either "no personal flying" or that you lease all the hours on the machine to the school, and you use it yourself like any other self-fly hire would do (and you don't get the VAT back on that use - it is a personal, not a business, expense).
As a sole owner, if you intend some partial use yourself (not as above) you will find HMRC trying very hard not to let you register for VAT. However, if you know the law and stick to it you can succeed. Then you have to estimate private use and you will not recover that fraction of the purchase VAT or VAT on other costs (maintenance, etc). You have to monitor the actual private use, and if you use it more than your estimate then HMRC will claw-back more VAT from you.
And don't forget the business taxes, either!
As to whether you can make money - the number of privately-owned small helicopters mean that schools and charter businesses can access aircraft at a price below break-even for the owner. Many people do this for a contribution to cost, and so you can't break that ceiling.
There are (rare) examples of people making money; they have identified a niche market, they have the right helicopter; they have found a way to control the risks (such as the overspeed mentioned above) and they have a lot of hours on the machine; and you do need a lot of hours to cover the fixed costs and move to profit.