LSA Ownership Costs

[VORTIME]

Hi there,

I am thinking of taking the plunge and purchasing a new LSA. Possibly Bristell NG5 or similar. What are people finding the annual ownership costs are working out to be?

My inspiration is to finally remove the race against the hobbs meter. I find I've no incentive to do any cross countries at the moment paying £140 per hour for an ancient aircraft (which I wouldn't drive if it were a car). The second incentive is to the freedom, rather than having a 2hour slot, being able to disappear off for a weekend etc. I'd hope to fly approx 80-100hrs p.a.

VT

[FleetFlyer]

I fly a Jabiru, and insurance is about £1100/year, hangarage is £100/month (though this will vary massively depending on your location) and permit renewal is around £200. Maintenance costs vary depending on equipment and how you use it but £5-10 an hour for a replacement engine and prop(people often seem to forget that props don't last forever). I think we spend about £500/year on other parts such as tyres, oil, filters, plugs, battery, etc. This works out at a monthly cost of about £300 and an hourly cost of £35. This would be less if we used mogas rather than avgas.
It sure beats a spamcan on price and easily equals one on performance, whilst being able to take on much shorter fields.
If you can bring yourself to start a group then even one partner will cut the cost of ownership in half.

[xrayalpha]

LSA ownership:

Well, depreciation is pretty low. Make sure you are one of those people who keep their property tidy!

Running costs:
For a Rotax - don't touch anything else (especially if you are new to aircraft ownership) you'll find it harder to sell! - perhaps £10 an hour in depreciation
For the airframe: a £10 an hour helps build a good fund.
For the avionics. Write them of as soon as you buy them. Tech stuff moves so fast they are worthless after a few years.

Hangarage: probably a couple of thousand a year - you may pay half that, and could pay double. The choice is yours - if you can find hangarage!

Paperwork: permit to fly, etc. A few hundred.

Fun: lots of it!

[FleetFlyer]

There's also nothing wrong with a Jabiru engine. Having sat behind several for a few hundred hours, I can vouch for their reliability. Plus, they actually sound like an aero engine.

[xrayalpha]

FF,

Didn't say there was anything wrong with a Jab....

But there are many that do, so it - as I said - makes them harder to sell.

[FleetFlyer]

It's just difficult not to infer that you don't have faith in Jabiru engines when you advised the OP not to touch anything that isn't a Rotax.