Owning A Private Aircraf

[Danny_manchester]

Hi, i think when i get my PPL, that i will invest in shares or buy my own aircraft to hour build on with money from my family. I was just curious really to know the costs of.

A, INSURANCE per year? rough estimate?
B, RUNNING COSTS eg single engine c150 per hour?


any information atall would help me greatly,
thanks

[Hour Builder]

Don't know how much this will help, but I own a 1/12 share in a C-150 and my share is worth £1400. The group pays £40 each a month for storage etc, and its recently gone from £33 to £40 per hour to fly wet, do to fuel prices. Would recommend joining a group.

HB

[foghorn]

The costs of privately-owned shared aircraft are usually quoted as monthly rates (to cover parking and periodical maintenance) and hourly rates "wet" (ie. fuel included) per hour flown.

For the sort of two or four seater aircraft you'll be used to from your training you're looking at anything from £30 to £150 per month depending on location (farm strip vs regional airport) and share fraction.

It should cost in the £40-60 per hour bracket to fly.

There are plenty of caveats that I should add to even this simple description of how private ownership works, but I won't for the sake of clarity.

[Keef]

It depends on the aircraft, how many shares, prior experience, and more.

Insurance on our Arrow (6 named experienced pilots) is just over £2,000 a year. A C150 would be less, but inexperienced pilots might increase it again.

Maintenance: anything from about £1,500 a year (a very good year!) to astronomical.

Parking or hangarage: anything from "not a lot" at a friendly farm strip, to £750 a month or even more (multiply that by 12 for annual cost, and weep).

Divide the total of that lot by 12, and then by the number of shares, and you have a rough idea of monthly cost.

Hourly: ought to be fuel, plus a bit for 50 and 150-hour checks, plus a bit for the engine fund so that you have the money to buy a new engine come the TBO (or whatever deadline you pick).

But there will be as many opinions about what it should be as there are participants in the debate...

[cubflyer]

Id guess you could get insurance for a 150 for around £1000 per year on a group aircraft. Maybe more with low hours. Ive got a J3 Cub that would be similar value thats £800.

As for running costs, well I guess if you fly a 150 you know the fuel burn. Change the oil and filter at least every 50 hours or 3-4 months if you dont fly it that often. So that will probably be around £40 each time (assuming you do it yourself) Other than a bit of lubrication here and there, inspection and cleaning, there shouldnt be that much else to do. New tyres every couple of hundered hours.
But as a 150 is on a CofA you will probably have to take it somewhere to get a lot of this done, so it will cost a lot more.
Its a lot cheaper on a PFA or BMAA permit aircraft where you can do it yourself and just get an inspector to sign off what needs to be.

Hangarage, well that really depends on where you live. If you are in Manchester, then check out rates at Barton and other places reasonably nearby, Sleap, Woodvale. Private strips tend to be cheaper, but you would want to look at your experience and the quality of the strip. I fly from a farm strip in Wiltshire that is a lot smoother than most grass airfields and has good approaches and a fairly wide runway. It would be little problem for a fairly new PPL who has been reasonably well trained. Others are not and you need experience and good training.
Strips can be as cheap as £50 a month, but then good airfields away from London can be as low as £100 a month for parking in a big hangar.

If you are going to fly 40 or 50 hours a year or more, then a group is a good idea. If you are flying less, its probably better to rent, particularly if you are low time.

Depending on what you want to do, you should look at PFA or BMAA Permit aircraft, they are often a lot cheaper to run, more fun to fly and more capable. However if you want to fly at night and in IMC, you cant in a permit aircraft.

Good Luck!

[Mariner9]

Old adage:

If it floats, flies or fcuks, its cheaper to rent.


Mind you I'm a married aircraft owner (though I haven't got a boat :ok: )