On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:16:35 -0700, Peter Duniho wrote:

The break-even is actually somewhere else, at a lower utilization, but the
above is trivially true and suffices as a counter-proof to your claim.

You're missing a factor. Rentals typically have a daily minimum. This
can add up for a vacation that lasts a week, two, or longer.

I'd just landed when another club member was getting ready to depart.
He's taking the family for a three (?) day trip to an island about an hour
away. Even if you ignore that our hourly rates are lower than rental rates
for the same aircraft, and ignore that we use tach time rather than hobbs
time, the daily minimum of a rental would have added at least a few
hundred to his vacation's cost.

And that's just for a three day trip.

Partnerships, clubs, ownerships, and fractionals can offer significant
savings over rentals when one uses airplanes for travel that involves
extended stays.

- Andrew
http://flyingclub.org/