Robert, you lost me a bit in the math also..that said, I think, as in everything, some people delude themselves when it comes to operating costs. Whether a boat, a car, a tractor, the easy bit is buying the asset.The difficult bit is running them, and I mean running them properly. Older aeroplanes in particular have a propensity for truly drawing cash from your pockets. Friend has just had delivered an out the box, Platinum, Cirrus SR22GTX. He was fed up with increasing operating costs on his older airplanes. It floats his boat. I like retro, so I am happy to spend my money, and keep my nearly vintage assets in the air. If that were to change, I will put the money into a new Cirrus, or whatever, it may be more cost effective in the long run, than keeping this Bonanza in the air. Maintain the legacy, and all that….
Achimha well spotted, the arithmetic should be £100/HP/annum! Now corrected.
Friend has just had delivered an out the box, Platinum, Cirrus SR22GTX. He was fed up with increasing operating costs on his older airplanes
Where will he take it for servicing? A main dealer?
His unplanned downtime should be reasonably low, however.
That Peter is of course the issue. Like the car dealer, sells you the car, then screws you senseless for the next three years. To keep in warranty, you must get it serviced,by us. Great cash cow. His decsion was also driven by he wanted a reliable, safe, stable IFR platform to do business trips. Fair enough, until I saw most of the destinations were NPA. Home made GPS let downs also. Oh dear……..reckon the BRS will figure strongly.
BeechBaby wrote:
Like the car dealer, sells you the car, then screws you senseless for the next three years. To keep in warranty, you must get it serviced,by us.
The EU has outlawed that practise for cars. I wonder if the same legislation works for aircraft?
Probably not, but it’s moot because most people who buy a new plane have to buy it from an official dealer (ok, sole agencies have been illegal in the UK for about 20 years but that is another story) and they will go back to the dealer for servicing – especially servicing within the warranty.
Out of warranty, they often go elsewhere, but the higher up the food chain you go, the more people you find who don’t really care about the breakdown of the invoice. And a new SR22 is pretty far up the food chain.
Obviously, with so few new-plane players today, somebody could interpret this as a criticism of the customers of the very few current production aircraft, which it isn’t. It’s just an observation on human nature. The buyer of an Aston Martin is far more likely to go back to the dealer (who will obviously claim that only he has the required expertise) than the buyer of a Ford Fiesta.
From here
I’m surprised no-one mentioned an older Beech 35.
Is it because they’re too expensive? Or are Bo’s not really liked/used in Europe?
I’ve considered trading the Mooney for a Bo, as the payload is ridiculously good.
Maintenance seems to be the sticking point, but I’m not experienced enough to really know the diff, just an armchair quarterback at this point…
Anyone have experience with Bo’s that can shed some light on this option?
I’m actively considering a v-tail beech or possibly a36. I’ve just been trying to gather information about operating costs and bits and pieces.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s views.
@Off_Field
Just saw this V-Tail Beech 35 on planecheck:
http://www.planecheck.com?ent=da&id=35663
I’m suprised they still ask for 80.000 Euro for a 60-year old plane. It apparently had a prop strike in 2011 if I interpret that correctly (shock load+new prop)
Medewok,
I looked at that and it seems very expensive for what it is, especially considering the avionics inside.
As is often said on here, I do think it’s better to try to buy the aircraft with the bits you want already on. For me that’s a good condition, a good certified gps, autopilot, good engine monitor , ideally also tip tanks.
I’d also want to operate out of grass strips, which by most accounts online the bonanza is good at although it will increase maintenance costs a bit.
