Ben,
I was just at the airport (klom) and they had a Tomahawk for sale on the
bulletin board. I don't know the particulars. Call Montgomery County
Aviation and ask them to get the contact information off the bulletin
board for you, if you're interested. Their website is
www.wingsfield.com. Call everyone selling a tomahawk in the country
and talk to them about their plane, even if the plane is too far, too
much money, needs too much work, etc. You'll start to get a feel for
what they're worth. See if there's an internet group dedicated to the
tomahawks. They're tons of help. I joined the citabria group on
Yahoo.com before I got my plane. Those folks are great.

BTW, at wings a grass tie down is $75/month and pavement is $125. My
leaking hanger without a door is $175/month and I'm happy to have it!!!
Fuel is $3.00/gallon except on Wednesday when they knock $.40 off.
Good luck in your search.

Dave
68 7ECA

Ben Hallert wrote:
Thanks everyone for your replies so far! After some thought, I've
turned this blue-sky sequence towards the Tomahawk. I've got a big
frame, and I don't expect that will change as I lose weight, so the
extra width of the cabin appeals to me, as does the enhanced
visibility. I'm not as wild about the uncontrolled flat spins (We'll
never forget you, Goose!) but there are enough that haven't fallen out
of the sky that I think I can manage that.

If anyone could take a look at the basic figures I'm coming up with and
tell me if any of them are in fantasyland or not, I'd appreciate it.

Cost to purchase: $20,000 (roughly, figure an inspection in there too)
Fuel cost to operate: ~$10 an hour
Insurance: ~$1,000 a year, but I have no basis for that figure other
then some poorly remembered usenet posts.
Tie-down: ~$50 a month? Total guess, based off taking the average
tie-down cost in Wisconsin ($35) then adjusting it for longitude.
TBO: $8,000 - I couldn't actually find anyone saying how much they
spent having their O-235-L2C overhauled. I looked, I really did, but
the closest I got was a post where someone replaced theirs with the
engine out of their Subaru, so I guessed.

I found a specific plane listed with 1,400 hours left before TBO, so
I'll figure 1,400 in this excercise for math's sake. I'll also assume
100 hours of flying in a year, though I hope it would be more. I know
100 is a magic figure in a lot of discussions around renting vs.
owning.

I know I'm missing something, but I can't figure out what. Here's what
I get for an hourly cost using: (hourly fuel) + ((rebuild cost)/(TBO -
SMOH)) + ((yearly tie down) / 100 hours) + (insurance / 100 hours)

(10) + (8000/1400=5.71) + (600 / 100=6) + (1000 / 100=10) sums out to
$31.71 an hour. Figure another $10 an hour to cover things like
keeping a 'holy crap, the propeller hit a bird' or 'I just GOTTA put a
glass cockpit in' fund full, parking fees, etc, and it comes out just
over $40 an hour.

Am I missing anything big that can't be fit into the extra $10 an hour
I tacked on at the end? Or could I really be owning for that type of
cost?

Thanks!