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How and why we have decided to buy our own aircraft - Zoom EuroGA Meetup, Monday 11. May, 19 UTC

On Monday 11. May we will run the zoom meeting to discuss with several aircraft owners why and how they bought their own planes. The main questions are:

1. What were the main reasons for buying in general?
2. Which different types have you considered and why?
3. What was your main reason to decide finally for the chosen type?
4. Looking back: Are there any drawbacks or limitations in your aircraft compared to other types?
5. Does it make sense to continue flying your own aircraft instead of a rented one and if yes what are the main reasons?

We will have 4 speakers, each limited to 20 minutes. Every speaker is free to modify the questions to his needs.

Speakers will be:
@EddsPeter – Bonanza owner
@Peter – TB20 owner
@Emir – DA42 owner
@loco – turboprop owner (sorry I don’t know your type)

EDDS , Germany

Is it ok to throw in other questions here, that the speakers might be willing to address? Obviously it would be up to them individually if they wanted to address them or not, but it might helps make bring some more variety to the different speakers where some choose to address different questions?

EIWT Weston, Ireland

Sure.

Or the telegram group. Joining link: https://t.me/joinchat/BcKpDhmMVzC-Z2ANLFUBJQ

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Then I’d like to ask two questions.

1. How did you manage the process of doing a pre buy inspection? Eg how did you select someone suitable to do it, and would you do anything differently if you were to do it again?

2. How did you manage the process of payment and transfer of title? Obviously there can be very big sums involved, and both parties want to protect themselves. The seller doesn’t want to part with the aircraft until they are sure they are paid, and the purchaser doesn’t want to part with the funds until they are sure they are getting title to the aircraft. Did you use an intermediary, or was it just a matter of trust and possession? Would you do anything differently next time?

EIWT Weston, Ireland

@duplinpilot Thank you for your questions! They are absolutely welcome!

Is it ok to throw in other questions here, that the speakers might be willing to address?

Every other question is welcome too.

EDDS , Germany

My question would be : once you have estimated your average annual flying budget, how do you translate it to a range of aircraft ? How did you make sure you were bot buying too much airplane for your finances ?

This topic is a great idea.

LFOU, France

@loco flies a TBM-930 (for the turboprop anyway, and an Extra-330 – edited to add)

Last Edited by tmo at 08 May 13:54
tmo
EPKP - Kraków, Poland

I think this sounds like an extremely interesting / informative discussion topic. As I think about it there are quite a few questions that come to mind, both out of personal curiosity and what I’ve heard through broader discussions. Maybe the below will help as a sounding board for some points you may wish to touch on.

General

  • What were the main reasons why you purchased?
  • What were your capability requirements and hence which types did you consider? How did you ultimately decide on the chosen one?

Purchase of aircraft

  • How did you think about value? How did you determine a fair purchase price and was there any negotiating in price? Is there usually a discount to the price advertised?
  • How did the purchase process work (i.e. search, pre-buy, money transfer, title transfer etc.)
  • Any views on buying an aircraft as an individual or via company (VAT, liability, cost offsetting etc.)
  • Any other important considerations during the purchase process?

Ownership of aircraft – general

  • How did you determine the “breaking-point” between renting and owning? (i.e. if it makes sense to own vs. rent)
  • An aircraft needs to fly both to keep the engine healthy and ease the financial impact (through spreading out of the fixed costs). What would you say is a minimum per annum for an SEP?
  • How do you cost out your own flying? Do you make provisions for depreciation / maintenance or take it as it comes?

Ownership of aircraft – maintenance & other

  • Any general considerations in regard to EASA-land vs. FAA-world for aircraft registration?
  • Any major costs that you have encountered over the years of ownership that you think may not be obvious? The obvious being, annuals, routine maintenance / checks, insurance, hangarage, database fees, oxygen, oil etc.
  • Buying a plane with new avionics vs. old & upgrading yourself post purchase? How much value can be attributed to the upgrade?
  • How to avoid large bills on annual checks (especially the first few post purchase)?
  • Any other tips to keep maintenance costs in check?
  • How do you differentiate between “nice to do” and “need to do” maintenance?

Ownership of aircraft – cost mitigation

  • Do you use any cost offsetting measures? The likes of non-equity rentals, leasing to professional flight instructors / schools etc?
  • How much liability do you open yourself to by renting out your aircraft in some form? I presume the main risk is if someone totals the aircraft and insurance refuses to pay – how likely is that? If you do rent out, how do you deal / mitigate with such risk?

Sale / concluding points

  • Would you buy again?
  • If you would buy again, what would you do differently (aside from upsizing asset)?
  • Private sale vs. using a broker / agent? Pros/cons?
EGSX

It was a good presentation last night and thanks to those who did it.

Since we ran out of time, shall we run say a 1h Q & A session one evening in the next few days?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Thanks to the speakers. Very interesting!

always learning
LO__, Austria
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