On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:42:05 -0700, "Douglas Paterson"
wrote:


OK, that's a good data point. Truckee/Tahoe are around 8,000', yes? What's
the elevations in the pass(es) you go through to get there?

Field elevations there are around 6000 feet. Surrounding mountains
are high, but no tricky passes like CO, WY, etc.

The difference is between the 235 and Cherokee 180s and 172s Ive flown
into those airports with. With those punier planes, getting out of
the valleys involves hugging the mountain sides to pick up some lift
until you're high enough to go somewhere. With the 235 it's less
dramatic, though you still want to lean for maximum power before you
take off.

Sort of. In my cost-to-own spreadsheet, I'm using 15 gph and $4/gal,
assuming that those should give me pretty conservative figures (i.e., a
"worst case"). In my head, I've been using whatever 100LL cost around here
the last time I looked (pretty close to $4 still, I'm sorry to say) and 12
gph. Then I shake my head and think about something else, quick, before I
realize I have no excuse to be spending that kind of money....

Sounds like you're being conservative. Good. While I'm typing, let
me give you some numbers.

I belong to a club with 11 members and two airplanes: a '67 235 and a
'73 PA-28-180 Challenger. We've had the 235 for well over a decade,
and the 180 for a year and a half. (Had a 172 before that, but people
hardly ever flew it.)

We have monthly dues to cover fixed costs (hangar, tiedown, insurance)
and hourly rates for variable costs, including fuel, engine reserve,
and maintenance based on historical data on these particular aircraft.

The mechanic who does most of the routine maintenance has a very low
hourly rate, which skews things a little to the cheap side. (OTOH,
right now, we're all working off an assessment that's paying for an
early major following a prop strike on the 180.)

But by May, the assessment will be over. Based on historical numbers,
and assuming fuel near $4.00, the club treasurer figures we ought to
be charging $77 for the 180 and $100 for the 235, tach time, wet. At
those rates, the 180 will be subsidizing the 235, but if we were to
keep the 235 at $117, where it is now, and lowered the rate on the
180, the 235 probably wouldn't fly enough.

As a reality check, a big local club West Valley) has a Dakota that
goes for $140 (Hobbs, Wet)

So your spreadsheet ought to put you somewhere in that ballpark.

Don