Heli ownership

[365drvr]

Is there an easy way to work out accurate maintenance costs. I have always been put off owning a helicopter due to prohibative costs but I would like to know the figures.

[Negative 'G']

I would'nt have a clue(Dirty,Noisy,Smelly things),maybe the question is more suited to the 'Rotorheads' forum.

[365drvr]

I posted it there too thanks anyway.

[Whirlybird]

No reason why this question isn't suited to this forum and I'd like to know the answer too. I'm more interested in group ownership though - only thing I'm even remotely likely to be able to afford. Anyone any experiences of this?

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Whirly

To fly is human, to hover, divine.

[rightstuffer]

365drvr - I got very close to it about 4 years ago. I currently own an AA-5 but I can tell you that an R-22 is an order of magnitude more in terms of the cost of ownership. Apart from complexity (which is where much of the money goes) helos have a lifespan of 2000 hours AND/OR 10 years - whichever is first. The secret is to get it to both at about the same time and this is often done by lease-back to a school to use up hours near the end of the time limit. Conversely, you might find one with 1700hrs on it with 2-3 years left to run. A private owner would typically do 200 hrs per year so you might be lucky. Trouble is, a lot of private owners are looking for just this sort of machine....so their price goes up..!

A new R-22 is just over £100K and a grounded, out-of-hours airframe is worth about £20K. A fully rebuilt one back to zero hours is worth - surprise surprise - just under £100K!!!

Good luck.

BTW - if you want more details, try talking to Sloane Helicopters at Sywell. They usually have a few in stock and their sales chappies can give you current figures. Make sure you're sitting down before you ask about maintenance costs...
RS

[This message has been edited by rightstuffer (edited 18 February 2001).]