How much to run an aircraft
 

Maybe at the end of the year I'm looking to purchase an aircraft, maybe a DA42 and just want to know what the average cost to run an aircraft? per hour and pear year

well, depends from many factor.. buying it? leasing? Hangar? Outside? which airport you will base it?

DA 42 for someone age 23?

You must be rich!

well, depends from many factor.. buying it? leasing? Hangar? Outside? which airport y
 

I just meant the running cost of it

Roughly the same as a decent coke habit! Or slightly more than driving a Porsche, but slightly less than driving a Ferrari.

If it f....., flies or floats, RENT it, don't buy it!

basically

insurance
hangar
annual

For my commander that is 4000€ + 5000€ + 3000€ .. that is without ever flying a single hour.

a da42 runs 12gph

However .. a da42 is extremely and ridicuously expensive to maintain.

you have your gearbox overhauls and your engine overhauls/replacement

I looked into buying a da42 from 2006 with 1950 hrs on it. It had been sitting on the ground for a year.

2 shops quoted maintenance in excess of 50.000€ to get her back in flight.
of this amount €12.000 was the standard 2000hr job. This amount did not include any engine or gearbox overhaul.

If you have to ask..................
:}

Azeman, your question is imposible to answer. How long is a piece of string?

Something i've used to get a very rough guide to ownership costs were to see what the flying schools hired a particular brand of aircraft out for at wet solo rates. I then add what it would cost me to insure the aircraft on top of the hire figure. Hangerage and landing charges are extras to be added.

...then hope nothing expensive dont make TBO..:)







.

This also doesn't answer the question, but I think it is pertinent and I would be interested in feedback.

Many years ago (in Western Canada), I looked at the costs of ownership versus renting for typical, light, fixed gear singles. Regardless of the type (Cessna/Piper), the magic annual flying-hours number came out at about 400.

Below 400 hours, the fixed costs per hour predominated over the variable costs (fuel, overhaul fund, etc.) and it was cheaper to rent. Above 400 hours, ownership was the cheaper option.

That can't be correct India. Or was it during the crazy period when aircraft increased in value for a few years? My calculations show around 40-100hrs before it starts to make sense to own.

Adam,

As I said, it was in the dim and distant past - mid-70s to be precise and we were looking specifically at the cost of a new Cessna Cardinal and factoring capital cost into the equation.

The 400 hour figure sticks in my head because it was a group of four and I felt that 100 hours a year for me, with a young family, wasn't workable, particularly since I was spending evenings and weekends in the summer at a gliding field!

A question for you. Does your 40-100 hours scale up to an Aerostar? :E

There are many ways to skin a cat, India - compared to a MU-2 the Aerostar saves me $600/hr...:ok:;)

... and think how much you would save compared to owning a Vampire.

The one I flew (briefly) in NZ uses about 260 US Gallons per hour!:eek:

azeman, there's a lot of factors to consider, and like a car, maintenance can vary wildly year on year, so it's hard to give accurate figures without giving specific aircraft examples, locations, frequency of flying etc.

Simple/short answer, for something like a 1980s single engine Cessna, a few hundred pounds per hour will cover all costs based on 100 hours per year.

You also need to have a lot of money on hand, engine overhauls for example can cost a lot of £££.

PA 28 Warrior
10K per year for 100 hours.

And it will cost even more NOT to run an aircraft !!!!
 

Beware of the hangar queen that has sat around doing nothing....unloved, unused, it will seize up and rot away! think of all those yachts tied up to marinas and never used, growing barnacles and weeds....and mould.

Any machine works best when used regularly, so be realistic about how much you might use an aircraft....I found it worked well to put a towhook on my Supercub and it was used by the gliding club happily for years and years, and when I had at last to sell, it had gained value because it had been looked after properly.

For about 40 years prior to 2000, many used aircraft increased in value by about 5% per year. That stopped as the bubble in the pilot population started to retire. Now, with values having decreased in real terms for perhaps 12 years, I think its really a very good time to buy a used aircraft... if you want fly versus invest. And if you're going to hold for quite a while, I suspect values will start to rise again in real terms for good examples. Right now, we are in a "realignment" ;)

My used aircraft ownership costs are dominated by monthly hangar expense... for a hangar that I'd want to have whether it had an aircraft in it or not. So I don't include it in my 'cost of ownership'. Beyond that its mostly fuel cost.

Buying new aircraft will always be extremely expensive in depreciation, together with insurance on the high new aircraft value a dominant ownership cost for a private owner.

One I flew (not a Vampire) used almost fifty gallons per minute during take-off alone!! :E