Jacko wrote:
So, you see, life is much more complicated than you can imagine for some poor Scottish airfield owners…
Spoken like a true farmer….
Guys, I don’t know what you’re drawing out of that discussion of “hours” vs “yearly” cost.
For me, one is the other, it’s just mathematics between them. If you like to express it per year, fine. I did that. If you like to express it per hour, fine, I did that by dividing it. Man, oh man.
Be happy and live long :)
MedEwok wrote:
Partial ownership might be the only solution.
Sure, that’s the best thing to do, I guess maximum would be three, better two.
EuroFlyer wrote:
Guys, I don’t know what you’re drawing out of that discussion of “hours” vs “yearly” cost.
For me, one is the other, it’s just mathematics between them. If you like to express it per year, fine. I did that. If you like to express it per hour, fine, I did that by dividing it. Man, oh man.
Agreed. So long as you know the numerator and denominator they are the same thing.
@Silvaire and Beech Baby: Guys, I don’t know what you’re drawing out of that discussion of “hourly” vs “yearly” cost.
For me, one is the other, it’s just mathematics between them. If you like to express it per year, fine. I did that. If you like to express it per hour, fine, I did that by dividing it. Man, oh man. It’s not really a difference. If you own a plane, the cost is with you anyway, and it doesn’t matter one dime how you express it.
Be happy and live long :)
MedEwok wrote:
Partial ownership might be the only solution.
Sure, that’s the best thing to do, I guess maximum would be three, better two partners. So, you and one other guy.
That way, there’s half the cost, and minimum interference with personal flying plans.
Hourly cost can be one of
Obviously #2 is bigger than #1 and for many owners is much bigger 
Only for a renter they are the same (excluding e.g. club membership fees).
One does need to be clear about what one is quoting and how it is composed, otherwise it might not make sense. You could have e.g. bought some old wreck which needs a 20k Annual and then if you fly 30hrs the hourly cost would be massive.
I don’t know how many hours I fly my planes in a year without looking it up, and doing so would be one more on a seemingly endless series of life’s book keeping tasks – most of which serve no purpose for me personally. I do check at annual time, but then I forget because I don’t care. It’s somewhere between 50 and 100 hours a year, most years. Likewise my PIC time, I add up the column in my logbook once a year when the insurance company wants it.
Which reminds me to mention again that the annual inspections for my 46 and 71 year old aircraft are $200 plus parts, maybe $500 total plus my own labor.
EuroFlyer wrote:
@Silvaire and Beech Baby: Guys, I don’t know what you’re drawing out of that discussion of “hourly” vs “yearly” cost.
Did I miss something? I did not realise I was in a discussion. Sleeping again, its that new autopilot…….
Silvaire wrote:
and doing so would be one more on a seemingly endless series of life’s book keeping tasks – most of which serve no purpose for me personally.
Well, exactly. The only reason I could tell you the hourly rate was that I didn’t completely fail in math. I don’t have it on a spreadsheet. It’s just in the back of my head because I know how much I fly and I can divide. Sometimes, someone asks me to charter the Beech. I give it to him, but only with a pilot I know. So, the question is, how much, and I am glad I have an easy figure to tell him :)
MedEwok wrote:
For me personally the results are quite disheartening. If even Mooneys ancient M20 costs 20k a year, there is no way for me to afford a plane in the near future, especially not one I would aspire to have.
Doc, may I suggest lowering your sights a little, onto an attainable target? The folks who write here mostly fly multi-seat IFR transcontinental rocket ships, which are obviously huge fun to own and fly, as well as being objects of justifiable pride and desire. But we can have a lot of fun in a C150 (or similar).
I bought one half way through my PPL, and nevertheless managed to sell it as a going concern. I later flew an FRA150 several times from Scotland all around France and the Alps. Megève and Courchevel, no problem. I think some nutter even flew a 150 from the New World to Africa…
That class of plane might not be your ultimate goal, but it’s not a bad choice for a pilot who is still in or near the so-called “killing zone”. You can only squeeze yourself and one other in it, and no matter how you smack it into the ground, you can’t hope to injure yourself as long as you slow down and level the wings. If you buy the acrobatic version, you are guaranteed a hearty round of applause at any competition, because there’s nothing better than to see a gritty beginner doing aeros in a 150. It’s an absolute delight to spin, it won’t break the bank, and if you buy carefully you should recoup when you sell it.
Just my 0.02 Euros…
We calculate 100h / year of flying, or 150 EUR/hr fixed, dry (which, at an individual level, is 75/hr).
How does that work?
