PA-28-161 dry lease rate: am I being fleeced?

[Pilot DAR]

The old adage about 'if it flies or floats it's cheaper to rent' ~(leaving out the rude bit!) isn't always true.

For airplanes which you will use a lot, and for years, rather than a shorter period, renting/leasing would not be my first choice. I rent if I need it once of twice during calendar periods, I'll consider buying if I envision frequent use over an extended period. If you're renting something, someone else is taking a profit, why not keep the profit for yourself, if it's the result of high utilization? And, more importantly I really agree with TOO, if you want to improve the aircraft, you're going to want more certainty than just renting/leasing it. I suppose that you could find a "nice" plane to rent/lease, but most people who are making their plane available that way, don't invest a lot in them, improvement nor maintenance - just do what is needed.

I was thinking about this yesterday, as I have my Cessna apart for it's annual inspection. I've owned it for 32 years, and know it well, everything is the way I want it, and it never lets me down. I had recalled that recently the nosewheel had shimmied. So I took the torque links apart, cleaned everything, and reassembled with really carefully measured and fabricated shims, it took hours, but is perfect! I didn't mind spending my time, but it would be unlikely that a rental plane would every receive that amount of attention. It would get a quick fix, and go wrong again before too long. I checked other shims I had done really well 1200 hours ago, and they were just fine, it was worth my investment in time on those back when I did them.

when i started in 1978, £22.68p one hour Cherokee 140

The Cessna 150's I rented to learn to fly in 1976 were $18 per hour wet. When the 152 came along in 1977, they were $22.50 wet per hour. The SAME 152 I rented in 1977 for $22.50 is now available for rent at a different local flying school for $145 per hour - with what appears to be original paint!

[Maoraigh1]

In 1965 I gave up flying for over 20 years when solo rental of a C150 went to nearly UK £7 per hour. Jackeroo was £3:10/ in 1964. Might have been £3:15/.