Flaps on take-off and landing

Marc Adler wrote:
Thomas Borchert wrote:


No, he can't. A long history of postings shows that's not in his
repertoire (sp?).


(Correct spelling.) That's a relief, because if you just rent aircraft,
you don't have to worry about anything but rental charges and gas,
right? In other words, insurance, maintenance, etc., are all the
responsibility of the rental agent (the FBO?), right?

I'm completely new to this, but it doesn't seem to me like owning is
such a great proposition if you're just a recreational flyer. Aside
from the cost of the plane itself (min. $50K, right?)

Depends on what you own. If you want fast, etc. you are spending a few
$$, but if you are handy, have a nice A&P to supervise you (and have the
time to do your own work), and don't mind a slower, smaller aircraft you
can do quite well. I know people with lots of $$ with nice aircraft and
I know people with considerably fewer assets with nicer aircraft, but
they spend lots of time.

you've got to pay
for maintenance, repairs, insurance, taxes, parking, etc., etc., etc.
The operating costs have got to pile up real fast.

We used to base at Dulles (was $125 to tie-down, now it's over $350,
moved to Culpeper in a hangar for $200). I used to help out a lot on
maintenance, but time became more valuable than $$. There are ways to
make it cheaper.
I don't know why a
recreational flyer would want to own. Plus, if you don't own, you can
fly lots of different planes.

I like my plane, I don't need to fly lots of different planes. My plane
is always there when I want it. I can take it for the weekend whenever
I want. If it's broke, I broke it and know it.

As I say, though, I'm completely new to this, and this is an uninformed
opinion, so I welcome all responses.

It's great to own (cheaper to rent unless you fly 100 hrs/yr)

Margy

Marc

Margy Natalie wrote:

It's great to own (cheaper to rent unless you fly 100 hrs/yr)

Interesting. How do you arrive at 100 hrs/yr?

Marc

Marc,

Interesting. How do you arrive at 100 hrs/yr?


A rule of thumb. There's a ton of articles and books comparing the cost
of owning and renting. Since all the fixed costs of owning (hangar
rent, insurance et cetera) go down per flight hour the more you fly (as
opposed to the cost per hour, mainly fuel, oil, maintenance), the total
cost per hour goes down the more you fly. At about 100 hours per year,
the profit an FBO makes starts to show itself in a substantial way
compared to the cost of owning.

Oh, and flying 100 hours per year is A LOT for most recreational
pilots.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:

Oh, and flying 100 hours per year is A LOT for most recreational
pilots.

Yeah, that would be around two hours every weekend, which is way more
than my schedule would permit, at least now. I might consider it if I
win the lottery/sell my screenplay/inherit those oil wells...

Marc

Marc Adler wrote:
Margy Natalie wrote:


It's great to own (cheaper to rent unless you fly 100 hrs/yr)


Interesting. How do you arrive at 100 hrs/yr?

Marc

That's considered about the average break even point. We try not to
count up how much we spend on flying, it makes it easier for us :-).

Margy