How much to run an aircraft

[Molemot]

The short answer is that aircraft ownership will cost you at least twice as much as your highest estimate. Utilisation is key to lower hourly costs, so group ownership makes sense to keep the aeroplane flying. As has been said, aeroplanes that only rarely fly deteriorate quickly and require shed loads of money to bring them up to standard. We never managed to get all four (or sometimes five) of the owners to stay in good standing financially...there would always be one laggard!

However...I know of no other way to get properly involved in flying; the level of commitment is way ahead of renting, and you get to choose what aeroplane you buy...thus escaping from the ubiquitous Cessna/Piper offerings.

[Silvaire1]

The whole point of owning an aircraft is to get away for the cost/hour paradigm. Instead, you think about how much it costs to own the thing per year, in total. If you can afford it, you can choose to do it. Then you can fly it as much as you want without worrying about the relatively small additional cost/hour.

I have absolutely no idea how much it costs me per flight hour to own my aircraft... ownership and enjoyment of ownership is the primary goal, not the side effect of a calculation.

[Tinstaafl]

It's just not possible to answer the OP's question. He or she hasn't even defined what aircraft type to apply the question to. Homebuilt or factory? Single or twin? 2 or 4 seat/fixed gear/4 cyl or 6 seat/retractable/constant speed/6 cyl turbo? Hangared or parking fees? New or 2nd hand? How many hours left on the engine & prop? Insurance for the type of operation & will it require some sort of annual recurrency training?

Utilization makes a huge difference. Fly a single hour per year and all the fixed costs have to be covered in thatsingle hourl's cost. Fly the same aircraft for 1000 hrs and the fixed costs/hour are only 0.1% of the single hour situation. For example, let's say the annual costs come to $10,000. That sole hour/year will cost $10,000 + variables such as fuel. Fly it for 1000 hrs and the cost per hour drops to $10/h + variables.

[Silvaire1]

Utilization makes a huge difference. Fly a single hour per year and all the fixed costs have to be covered in that single hour's cost.

Which makes precisely zero difference if you'll be paying the total cost regardless.

[AdamFrisch]

The whole point of owning an aircraft is to get away for the cost/hour paradigm. Instead, you think about how much it costs to own the thing per year, in total. If you can afford it, you can choose to do it. Then you can fly it as much as you want without worrying about the relatively small additional cost/hour.

Well said, Silvaire.

With a rental you have to pay for each hour every time. As an owner, you can defer that to whenever it suits you. Only thing you need to pay that's directly related to your flying is the fuel. This suits some people better than others. For me it's perfect - I fly 30hrs and just fill her up, and then when she needs servicing/repairs I'll do that when I have the money. And if I don't have the money (bad month, many bills, whatever), then I defer it to next month, or the month after that. I don't have an engine fund or repair fund - I just pay that as it comes along. I don't even budget, because I actually don't want to know how much they cost to run. Far too depressing!.

[Tinstaafl]

The original post requested cost per hour and per year. Even if you'll be paying the fixed costs irrespective of utilization, knowing the $/hr is still useful eg for tax purposes if the plane was used in some way to earn income.

[M14_P]

I can tell you right now, with my limited involvement in aircraft ownership, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. The ongoing checks are fine, if there are no problems, but when the big jobs come up, you need some serious dosh in the bank, even for the most straight forward aircraft.

[Dan the weegie]

My annual cost is about £2500 for a permit super cub. It isn't the cheapest but it is bloody close to it. So now you know the lower end, the upper end is without limit.
The rest is only fuel, a few parts, some oil, and my time to service it.
Once you start looking at EASA certified machines then the cost will go up to about 6k a year minimum for a c152 or similar and then jump a couple of thousand for each additional seat.

[piperboy84]

I seen your question and thought i would throw some numbers together just to get an idea of what i am currently spending, think i will go lie down i am feeling a little lightheaded.

Note for accuracy I included some costs i don't actually have like hangar fees




Assumptions:
1 Purchase price 60,000
2 Buying a reasonably good condition + equipped used 160/180 HP
Cessna/Piper spamcan
3 With zero or low time engine that will get to TBO by babying it
4 Hourly + annual cost does not include cost of money for purchase
5 Engine reserve based on non factory OH at TBO in todays money @ 20k
6 Flying 100 hours per year which foklore has it is the minimum
break-even for buying over renting
Uniit price Annual Hourly
Fixed cost
Fuel 30LPH X100 Hours per year 3000 2.10 6300 63
Insurance Low time VFR/ 60k hull 1 1000 1000 10
Annual Maint Test 1 3000 3000 30
Hangar 1 2500 2500 25
Landing Card Home field 1 500 500 5
Landing away fees 30 15 450 4.5
GPS Subscription 1 100 100 1
Flight Planning Sub i.e. skydemon 1 100 100 1
Engine reserve 1 1000 1000 10
Misc. out of the blue ****
Repair/Troubleshoot outside Annual 1 1000 1000 10
Tyres 1 200 200 2
Oil+filter 3ea 25hr outside annual 3 100 300 3
Spark Plugs 2 30 60 0.6

£ 16,510 £165

I cant seem to get the columns aligned but basically the four numbers after each line item are, Unit , price, annual , Hourly
Bottom line is £16,500 per year or 165 quid an hour