Average annual hours

[Creep Feed Grinder]

I'm interested to find out how many hours PPL's fly per year.

I've done 50 hours in the last 12 months and I'm told that this is above average.

I'm researching ways of reducing flying costs and your feedback would be appreciated.
CFG

[airborne_artist]

There's only two ways of reducing costs: reduce your hours, or reduce your hourly cost. What are you paying at the moment?

[Rod1]

I normally manage 70 – 100 but this year it looks like being 40 ish.

If you are looking at cutting costs have you considered a group? Depending on the type of flying you do you can get a two seat aircraft (Jodel D120 for example) for £3k capital, £35 per month and £35 per hour wet.

Rod1

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

While I was renting I averaged ten hours a year. The last three years of group ownwership is more than 60 p.a. The total outlay may be higher, but value for money is much better!

[IO540]

UK PPL average is thought to be 10-20/year.

However, this average hides a large standard deviation. There is a sizeable group of 100-200hr pilots (incl. myself; these are mostly owners since few will be doing this on self fly hire) and there are a fair few 400+hr pilots though these will be doing a lot of own-business stuff on their PPL.

There are also very many who do the min i.e. 12hrs every 2 years.

[Mariner9]

I've done just short of 400 over the last 6 years, which equates to ~67 hours/year. However, ~300 of them have been done in the last two years since I became an a/c owner.

In my PA28-renting days I averaged ~25hours/year :(

[S-Works]

Around 400 a year.

[stiknruda]

Mine fluctuates but 90-100 hours per year is the norm.

Most of my flights are 0.4 or 25 mins.

[Lister Noble]

In the last year I have flown 33 hrs P1,this is my first full year as a PPL.
It may increase a bit when I retire in 2008;)
It has been great fun!:)
Lister

[172driver]

So far about 55 hrs this year

[Human Factor]

I tend to average about 30 ish per year, although I've had a bit going on this year so I've only done about 15 so far. Effectively just keeping recency (and not counting the 90 hours a month I do for a day job).

[tegwin]

50 in three months...OUCH! Only a few more to go before CPL:ugh:

[Barcli]

Bose-X - 400 hrs a year - for fun ?? nearly 8 hrs a week / every week ?
Blimey:uhoh:

[AfricanEagle]

Good year so far, 75 hours since January.

But on average 35-40 hours year.

[QDMQDMQDM]

About 80-90.

[BackPacker]

About 65 in total since I got my license exactly two years ago. Can't say whether I'm going to do more or less than that in the future.

[AfricanEagle]

Just a thought.

Pilots on the forum may not represent your average PPL. Most of those that spend time on internet on aviation sites are passionate about flying above average.

[S-Works]

Bose-X - 400 hrs a year - for fun ?? nearly 8 hrs a week / every week ?
Blimey

I never get bored of flying!

[Tall_guy_in_a_152]

In the words of Dave Gorman, "what you need here is a graph", so here's my flying over ten years.
1st six months is PPL, then minimum hours for four years renting 152's and occasionally an Archer. Took a break from flying for two years then back in the saddle in '03 I spent a year getting checked out in various types (including SuperCub) before buying a share in a seriously under-utilised PA28. Have never looked back.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.holder/pics/hours.jpg

[flybymike]

Every time anyone posts this question, then just as we are all getting to some sort of concensus on the subject of "average " hours, along comes Bose x with his zillion hours a year and cocks up the whole research project...:)

[LysanderV8]

In 2006 I did 94, but so far this year only managed 51, largely because of the lousy weather we have had during the summer.

Lysander

[S-Works]

Every time anyone posts this question, then just as we are all getting to some sort of concensus on the subject of "average " hours, along comes Bose x with his zillion hours a year and cocks up the whole research project...

Oops sorry........:O

[Mariner9]

Put a statistician on the case. He'll have Bose excluded as an outlier ;)

[IO540]

More seriously, I do wish somebody did a decent statistical study of UK and European GA and what sort of things people get up to.

I am sure it would make fascinating reading.

I've seen a few studies but they are always fatally flawed by an obviously stupid choice of sampling categories. For example that Ontrack report on CAS busts, which I am sure used up thousands of man-hours of well meaning individuals, had categories like "get-home-itis" and "over reliance on GPS" which are prejudiced but more importantly are poorly chosen because they are largely meaningless.

It would be interesting to see a decent study of pilots, their flying patterns, what determines how much they fly, business/pleasure mix, aircraft and license type and how this limits what they do, etc. Do this for other places e.g. France and Germany and the results would provide a fascinating insight into this activity.

Whether such a study would do GA much good in the eyes of the regulators is another matter.

[muffin]

Approx totals for last 12 months

50 rotary
30 fixed wing
10 microlight

Average flight time for all 0.5 hours. Having a choice of aircraft to fly and no time to do it spreads it rather thin.

[denhamflyer]

About 70hrs (about 9000 nm in 50 legs) this year so far (not as much as I would have liked :{ ) - but I dont bimble.

muffin your post intrigues me since you and a number of others seem to have average short flight times (i am not having a go - each to their own - as long as we ALL enjoy flying).

So it would be interesting to have a view of the distance from base people typically fly (and exceptionally), since obviously 0.5 at 90kts is not far compared to 0.5 at 185kts and several legs to southern Spain is very different from several short bimbles with no land aways.

I suppose this would also affect the cost of flying since I assume most homebases dont charge more per takeoff/landing. Fuel drawback etc.etc.

[172driver]

So it would be interesting to have a view of the distance from base people typically fly (and exceptionally), since obviously 0.5 at 90kts is not far compared to 0.5 at 185kts and several legs to southern Spain is very different from several short bimbles with no land aways.


I very rarely bimble and my figures are approx 6000NM in 45 legs. Most of my flights are x-country, i.e. not returning to base on same flight. Exceptions tend to be what I call 'insurance flights'. As I am regularly renting :{ at more than one location, I sometimes need to fly a certain type of a/c at a certain club / FBO - even for 30 mins - to remain current from an insurance point of view.

[CDH]

22 in the last 12 months...
due mainly to 2 things:-
1) a little thing called work getting in the way
2) the crap summer

[muffin]

My short flight times are mainly because during the Summer most of my f/w flying is a quick half hour or so on the way home from work in the evening. I pass the airfield on the way home and turn in the gate for a flight if the sun is shining. The microlight is a friend's Skyranger that lives in the same hangar which I use occasionally if I fancy a different sort of flight.

Also I use my helicopter as a local runabout. We go to the pub or one of a few local nice places for lunch at the weekend, and if the weather is OK and the days are long I commute to work in it during the week. It is an R22, so a journey time of up to an hour or maybe two is OK. However a long flight is like driving an old Mini from Lands End to John O Groats whilst at the same time balancing on a pogo stick - OK maybe in my younger days but I am too used to comfort now.

The only times I ever get a long flight is if I have aviation minded friends staying and we go on a day trip somewhere. When I first started flying 28 years ago the limiting factor was definitely cash. Now I am old and grey I can afford it but am so busy that I never have the time. hence the half hour average trips.

[S-Works]

I try to use my aircraft for all of my business and personal travel. My car has done 6,000 miles from new in 10 months I have flown the equivalent of nearly twice around the world this year.......

In the last 7 days:

Spanhoe-Leics-Haverfordwest-Spanhoe - Meeting
Spanhoe - Le Touquet - Lunch
Spanhoe-Leics-Spanhoe - Night flying for curry!
Spanhoe-Sandown-Spanhoe - Flyer forums fly-in
Spanhoe-Cranfield-Popham-Spanhoe - Avionics work and Popham meeting
Spanhoe-Leics-Wickenby-Spanhoe - Dropping my children back with mother

Leics is generally a fuel stop.

Rest of the this week I have a meeting in Cornwall, meeting in Le Touquet, collect my son from Wickenby tomorrow and DA42 delivery on saturday plus 2 license renewals to do for people.

Whenever possible I try to collect and deliver my children by air and I always arrange my meetings at airfields when I can, preferably those with IAP so I have a 98% success rate.

I have an unusual lifestyle so it was actually quite easy to adjust it to make flying work as transport. Obviously have an IR helps with the bad weather!

[stickandrudderman]

Hey Bose, do you need an assistant?:8

[Bahn-Jeaux]

Pilots on the forum may not represent your average PPL. Most of those that spend time on internet on aviation sites are passionate about flying above average.

Level of passion may not be matched by level of spare income or willingness of other half to allow said spare income to be frittered away aloft. :{