@Ultranomad
What does an average overhaul of the M-701 cost at your facility?
MedEwok, not too much for such a device, normally about 20k EUR. But I don’t remember any being done recently, at least the stand has been taken out of the shop for at least 3 years… Maybe there is even an engine or two in storage, the owner is hoarding all kinds of stuff.
MedEwok wrote:
… I think I’ll buy my personal L-39 just for the hell of it.
Why buy a cow when you only want to drink a glass of milk every now and then? Make your next training sortie to Paderborn and take the opportunity to fly an L-39 Albatros for real. The prices qouted reflect the operating cost of such an aeroplane in this part of the world, I doubt the owner is making much profit from this operation: http://www.migflug.com/en/jet-fighter-flights/flying-with-a-jet/l-39-albatros-in-nrw-deutschland.html
Of course you can also sample the L-29 but you’ll have to travel to Slovakia for that: http://www.migflug.com/en/jet-fighter-flights/flying-with-a-jet/l-29-albatros-in-slovakia.html
MedEwok, not too much for such a device, normally about 20k EUR.
I see, Ultranomad. I expected it to be much more expensive. So fuel seems to really be the only thing that makes these planes unviable for anyone but the richest to operate.
From the price list what_next linked to
2.600 € for a 20 minutes flight
3.800 € for a 30 minutes flight
I was expecting it to be expensive, but more like 1500€/h. Well as I said above, when I’m filthy rich, I might look into this someday. Nowadays I cannot afford to spend my net salary on 30 minutes of flight (and I don’t even know if I will enjoy it…I didn’t even like 45° turns during PPL training so far 
)
There is one also in denmark:
http://www.warbird.dk/
A few years ago a part was for sale at 275.000 DKK (~ € 37.000)
you can convert money/fuel to noise even more effectively…. I believe they got that one for free.
PhilG wrote:
When we were operating G-DELF at Manston in the late 90’s
I recall that a different L29 (G-MAYA) was involved in the sad accident where Ted Girdler lost his life. I don’t think the aircraft type was a factor.
So fuel seems to really be the only thing that makes these planes unviable for anyone but the richest to operate.
I think that depends a lot on where you are based. If jeta1 is only 0,60 eur / liter the consumption is not as bad as fueling at German rates.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I believe they got that one for free.
And what a bunch of sissys they are: They wear ear protectors… that takes away all the fun!
Regarding the operating cost of vintage jets: My guess would be that they require around 10 hours of maintenance per hour flown on average. That’s all old stuff designed for a short service life with difficult and time-consuming access to many areas. Not like modern civilian aircraft.
Take the hourly rate of a specialised maintenace technician in this part of the world plus his travel expenses and add to that the cost of spare parts (for how many landings will a set of tyres last? 10? 20?) plus the time consuming effort in locating them and getting them shipped to your site… Fuel cost will be of lesser concern compared to that.
Due to the very high direct operating cost (mainly fuel+maintenance), there are big issues with pilot currency in these old jets. Some of it is highlighted in the report on the Shoreham crash. Almost nobody who owns them can afford to maintain (or pay a pilot to maintain) the sort of currency which would have been the case in the military and which is arguably needed for safe operation. And for some really bad stuff you can read about the Thunder City (South Africa) crashes.
However… if the F16 ever came on the market…then I would understand
