What does it cost to own an airplane?

Larry D. Cosby wrote:
What are the real cost of operating a single engine airplane in today's
economy? I've rented planes over the years since I've been a licensed pilot.
(1976) . Would like to own my own, but wife says it cost too much in
maintenance costs to own our own. I'm thinking along the lines of a Piper
180 of the mid to late 60's. A Cherokee 235 would be great for hauling the
family, but it burns a lot of fuel. 15-17 GPH. Would rather stay below about
12 gallons an hour. Any ideas?
Larry



OK, theses are rough numbers. I owned my plane outright and it was paid
for. So not mortgage. I live in a small N TX town and hangars, when you
can get in, were reasonable. Our airport also kept the fuel margin low
so that helped. I did all annuals as owner assisted and learned
everything inside and out of the aircraft. By regulation I changed my
own oil and did minor work under the supervision of an A&P/IA. With that
said, I calculated I spent roughly $7k-$8k per year to operate the
plane. Oil, gas, hangar, insurance, etc. I flew about 60 hours a year.
My mechanic is also a personal friend, however, very strict on
maintainence. This is general. In 2001 it cost me a lot more due to the
fact that I put in a factory OH Lyc O-360. That was not cheap. But, we
did it our selves and cleaned up a lot of firewall forward mess. The
plane was a '65 Skyhawk. Unfortunately, I wound up with a medical
problem and had to sell it. I got my asking price. So for 12 years I had
inexpensive flying. (all terms are relative) since I got more for it
that I paid.

It will be higher if you live somewhere where you have to pay $500/month
for a hangar, $6.00/gal for 100LL and you take your plane to a mechanic
with the keys and say fix it or annual it, then be ready to pay.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
Sold
KSWI

A sophistry I am currently using to justify owning the plane is to not
figure in the costs of the hangar in the airplane costs.

The hangar is just a building that I store things, one of which is the plane.
If I had to pay the going rate in my area for self-storage for my hangar
then I would have to pay close to $4,000 a month (figured on a square foot
basis). Now I happen to outright own my hangar (I do have to rent the ground
for ~$300 a year), but if I was paying a 15 year mortgage on it I'd be
paying something like $500 a month on the note. Soooo, by owning a hangar
I am saving something like $3,500 a month.

Please don't bother to point out the fallicies here. This is my accounting
and it doesn't seem that much more dubious than what I see a lot of hedge
fund managers doing.

Besides, this is America. It doesn't matter how much you pay, what's
important is how much you save.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Boise, ID