How does aircraft hire work?!
 

I am thinking about approaching various providers to hire a C172, it would be helpful to know how this typically works so that I can have an informed discussion.

Several publish hourly rates, however if I want to take the aircraft for 2 days but only fly for 2 hours over that period, how will they charge? I understand that it is a lost earning opportunity for them when it is sitting on the ground doing nothing, but equally it is putting no time on the engine. I guess a reasonable rate would be their hourly profit from a normal hour of flying? Although they may not see it like that!

Thanks

Generally, you pay the rate they state per hour - it will be on tach or Hobbs - it makes a difference - some will specify a daily minimum - one would not want to rent a plane for a week and find it only had two hours put on it.

You should buy renter insurance no matter what the renter may say about his cover - basically think of it as "you bent it, you bought it".

Also really you should try to rent from someone with whom you expect to have an ongoing relationship - not a stranger.

I understand that the Blackpool guy who was jailed after the accident with the overloaded PA28 used to do a lot of renting to strangers:)

I've never managed to get Renter's Insurance in the US. Not available without a US address - and possibly (probably?) invalid if I used an address which was not mine.
I have agreed a deductible with an FBO which was about what I'd pay for our Syndicate aircraft.

Don't we "hire" a person, and "rent" an object? I know that renting people is commonly frowned upon, hiring objects....?

'Just checking, I speak Canadian, so it may not be the same....

If I remember correctly you're somewhere where there is "bush". Most of the answers you'll get here are from UK, North America, Europe - and in one case - the Caribbean. You really need to find out how it works in your country. For example, most UK clubs and schools do have really good insurance, whereas in the USA the opposite is the case.

In the UK, 2 to 3 hours per day is the usual minimum rental charge.

Yes, it's true, they do things differently here! But I still thought it useful to have some idea of how it works in other places. I think the flying schools that I will be hiring from, hammer their a/c very hard, which hopefully means they will be well maintained if superficially tired. But it also means that they are in almost constant use so I imagine they will be hesitant to have them tied-up but not earning.

I have got renter insurance in the US, just gave the address of the place I rented the airplane from - Avemco were the company, when I spoke to them on the phone I explained and they had no issues with it.

Hire and rent - same thing in English in the context used - may be different for the moose molesters, but I think not.