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Long Term Motorglider Launch costs
On Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 2:40:32 PM UTC-8, Dan Marotta wrote:
The launch itself is way less expensive than the aero tow.Â* It's the capital cost that's killer. Last week another Stemme driver and I had a wonderful wave flight of about 360 km with a 280 km triangle.Â* At some point in the flight he asked me if I hated him for taking me for my first ride in a Stemme.Â* I called him a ******* for causing me to spend so much money and then we had a good laugh.Â* It's only money and I'll get a piece of it back when I sell. A little arithmetic is in order.Â* A Grob-103 or an LS-4 can be rented at Moriarty for $50/hour.Â* Add to that about $65 for a tow. So a 4 hour flight (you're only charged for the first 2 hours) would cost $165.Â* Average that to $82.50/hour.Â* Now, if I sell my Stemme for, say, $50K less than I paid for it and, to date, I've flown it 750 hours (in 4 years), that cost would amount to about $67/hour not counting maintenance, fuel, insurance, etc.Â* Let's be generous and say $100/hour which, given the comparison between the Stemme and the above ships, is not a bad deal.Â* Not consider that I'll probably fly this ship another 8-10 years and another 1,000-1,500 hours and that hourly price drops considerably. To sum up, the expense of the tow is not really how much it costs on a per unit basis, he's really saying that he laid out a lot of money to be sitting in that cockpit.Â* He'll get a bunch of it back when he sells.. On 12/14/2019 4:23 PM, Nick Kennedy wrote: Several years ago I was helping Wilf Krueger K2 strap into his DG 800B motorglider. He looks up at me and says "here goes the most expensive tow I'll ever buy" He smiles and takes off. I'm curious from those in the know, how much did that launch really cost him? Over say 25 flights a year over 10 years how much roughly does it cost per gasoline powered motorglider launch? Including ALL maintenance and fuel and parts. And hands on time to keep the engine running at say 75/hr labor. Extra annual inspection costs too.. That's 250 launches In my LS3a my average launch seems to be about 65 bucks. 65X 250 launches = $16,250 What are you motorheads really paying per launch over time? Do you try to keep track? Or is it just one of those necessary life expense's you really don't want to know the total as you'd pay it no matter what ? Thanks in advance T -- Dan, 5J What price can you put on launching whenever and wherever you want? Priceless is my answer. I have watched pilots come out to the field at dawn to prep their gliders and be one of the first in the tow line. And when the towplane leaves, so do they. Just not having to travel every weekend to fly (and forget about weekdays) was enough for me to buy a MG. People mostly don't buy MGs because they can't afford them; if you can, go for it. Tom |
#12
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Long Term Motorglider Launch costs
On Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 10:04:40 PM UTC-3, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Nick Kennedy wrote on 12/14/2019 3:23 PM: Several years ago I was helping Wilf Krueger K2 strap into his DG 800B motorglider. He looks up at me and says "here goes the most expensive tow I'll ever buy" He smiles and takes off. I'm curious from those in the know, how much did that launch really cost him? Over say 25 flights a year over 10 years how much roughly does it cost per gasoline powered motorglider launch? Including ALL maintenance and fuel and parts. And hands on time to keep the engine running at say 75/hr labor. Extra annual inspection costs too. That's 250 launches In my LS3a my average launch seems to be about 65 bucks. 65X 250 launches = $16,250 What are you motorheads really paying per launch over time? Do you try to keep track? Or is it just one of those necessary life expense's you really don't want to know the total as you'd pay it no matter what ? The direct cost of a launching my ASH 26 E is small, I think. A typical launch uses 0.5 gallons of fuel, puts less than 10 minutes on the engine (including taxi time), and that's about it. What has cost money over the years is AD's (like requiring a muffler replacement); age related items such as coolant and hoses, fuel lines; and drive belt changes (one belt in twenty years). A water pumped began leaking around 10 years, an oil hose leaked after 20 years. The extra cost of the annual inspection due to the motor varies, but about 3 hours if the engine is removed, one hour if it isn't. The motor is not just for launches, but for retrieves: I've avoided some long car or aerotow retrieves by starting the motor and running for just 10 minutes; sometimes I've used for it up to 20 minutes, but it's pretty cheap compared to having a towplane come for me. And you should consider how much your time is worth to avoid siting around for few hours at a lonely airport, waiting for the car or towplane, when you could sitting around with your buddies, back at the field instead. So, focusing on the launch costs misses the cost avoidance of retrieves. If you never land out, you don't have retrieve costs, but you are flying very conservatively. You would find a motorglider very liberating, setting you free to explore the weather, find the real limits of your soaring ability, and still get home for the after flight festivities. My wife thinks our motorglider is the best glider we've ever had, and worth every penny! -- Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me) - "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation" https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1 True, only a motorglider allows one to explore remote places and /or fly in marginal weather. |
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