(Captain Wubba) wrote
Hello. I'd like to get a better understanding of the true costs of
various light twins from people who have direct experience with them.
I've seen a bunch of opinions about how expensive twins are on here
from many different people ranging from 'not much more than comparable
single' to 'more costly that purchasing Western Europe'.

I'm squarely in the 'not much more than comparable singles' camp - but
realize that comparable singles (and I mean comparable in all ways -
speed, load, cabin room, handling) are few and far between. Something
like an Arrow isn't comparable to any twin that anyone other than a
flight school would ever own. When getting into comparable singles,
think Bonanza, Comanche, or Viking.

Does anyone
out there have some hard numbers that they could share? I'd like to
buy a reasonable older light twin (Apache, Twin Commanche, Travel Air,
Aztec). I'd really be interested in hearing from people who have
owned and operated these planes and who really know what they cost
over the long run.

First off, the Aztec doesn't belong in that group. It's a big twin
with big engines (470+ total hp) and thus costs a lot more to operate
than your other choices. Operating costs will be comparable to a
Baron or C-310.

I own a Twin Comanche and fly it about 200 hrs/year. Until just now,
I have not been hangaring it (but I have been paying $50/month for
tiedown) and my operating costs are about $100/hr, or about $20,000 a
year. They do not include a lot of my own time spent on maintenance,
but then again I have some very high standards for maintenance and
probably do a lot more than necessary. Here's the breakdown:

Tiedown - $600/yr
Insurance - $2500/yr
Fuel & oil - $7500/yr
Maintenance (incl annual) - $5000/yr
Engine/prop reserve - $4000/yr

My maintenance costs break down as follows: Over the course of 3
years (600+ hours) I've had the following major expenses:

Gear AD, push tubes & associated maintenance - $4200
Spare generator, voltage regulator, overhauls of same - $1000
Cylinders - $1700
Tires, batteries, brakes - $1000
Engine mount, Lycoming gear AD - $1500
Cracked gear trunion (parts and labor) - $1500
Exhaust stack - $600
Radio replacement - $500
Misc parts - $1500
Misc labor - $1500

I've also spent $6000 on upgrades - specifically, an autopilot,
Stormscope, AM/FM/CD Player, and interior. However, I suspect these
will increase the selling price (assuming the light twin market
recovers) so I'm not quite ready to expense these yet.

I'm not including the opportunity cost on the money. So far, even
with the twin market in the crapper, my twin has still done a lot
better than anything in my 401K.

Now the bad news - I estimate that even excluding the labor that went
into the upgrades, I have spent more hours working on the airplane
than flying it.

Michael