"David Megginson" wrote in message
.cable.rogers.com...


ownership cost of a plane and the amount you fly. The Bonanzas and Barons
seem just to sit around most of the time, the 182s fly a bit more often,
the
Cherokees and 172s fly a lot, and probably the most-flown privately-owned
plane on our field is a little 152.

I think this may be true, but to the extent that it is due to economics I do
not think the owners are saving that much money by not flying. I believe
very much that between the range of flying 50 hours per year vs. 200 hours
per year, maintenance is due not to tach hours but to calendar hours. The
Bonanza or Baron sitting on the ramp will probably require as much -- if not
more -- maintenance in a year of flying 50 hours as in a year of flying 200
hours.

Part of your observation may also be due to the fact that it is easy to find
a qualified pilot to borrow or rent a C152 or C172 but the more rare or
complex an airplane gets it gets harder to find a qualified/insurable pilot
to share its use.

Supporting your original observation, I have made an anecdotal but
interesting observation among pilots who schedule IFR recurrent training
with my flight school. I encourage pilots to plan on a combination of
instruction in their airplane and my simulator, and single-engine pilots
almost always readily agree to this as long as there are not weather or
maintenance concerns. Yet twin-engine pilots are often reluctant to use
their airplane for training -- not just for engine-out work but even for
basic instrument approach practice. Their reasons are usually not directly
stated but I get a sense that the cost of flying the airplane is a major
factor.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com