Real world airplane owners, thoughts

FBO

FBO= Fixed Base Operator. Usual a company that deals with aircraft maintenance and provide private charter to those that can afford it. They also provide services like fueling. Take a look at here for more understanding of an FBO.

http://www.millionairslc.com/
 
Airtj's got it...I would add that an FBO can be a chain, an individual, or it can be a single company. Normally leased out from airport's authority. The authority can be different also, usually though a local municipality (County, City, etc...). That's stateside. I would have to defer to our European and Asian members to better answer that question.
 
Flying club. Cheapest way to be an aircraft owner. There's one near me with 18 owners, only 4 active pilots and they're not very active. I never see that 172 flying when I'm driving by. I'm there 5 mornings per week. So it would be available nearly all the time, any time I wanted. The shares are relatively hard to sell if you lose your medical, that's why there's so many owners, so few flyers. But I could buy a share for $2k, and pay around $50 or $60 monthly. Then I pay for some lower hourly cost and fuel. Way cheaper than renting, and the insurance, maintenance, hangar, annuals, etc. are all figured into the monthly cost. They bought a 172 for about $40k or so, it's a nice airplane. I've sat in it.

I could be an airplane owner for $2000. That is stunning to me. Must...not....talk...myself....into it....

If you can't find one, you could start one.
 
TeaSea has covered most of the points.. however.. rather than jumping in with your own plane; why not see if there is a shared/fractional
owned plane looking for a new part-owner; it could prove cheaper and you'll get an idea of the running costs involved; before you put your hard earned into
aviation.

Again, get a pre-buy inspection and get your friendly A&P (or EASA B1 if in europe) to review the maintenance history.. there's nothing worse than buying into a share just as the engine becomes due for overhaul.


ttfn

Pete
 
In most countries in Europe there's no FBO. We have flying clubs and flying schools, sometimes a dedicated rental company. Fuel is provided by the airports/airfields.

As for the Cardinal: they are really cool planes, BUT do have an issue with the gear. I flew one with a friend of mine (he owned a share in one) in the UK for many years. It was grounded more than it flew. The gear switches were always trouble, resulting in a nose-wheel collapse even one day (and subsequent propeller strike and engine damage :-( ).
 
Francois said:
As for the Cardinal: they are really cool planes, BUT do have an issue with the gear. I flew one with a friend of mine (he owned a share in one) in the UK for many years. It was grounded more than it flew. The gear switches were always trouble, resulting in a nose-wheel collapse even one day (and subsequent propeller strike and engine damage :-( ).
Click to expand...
Retracts on single-engined Cessna's have always been problematic whether they be the Cardinal, 182RG, 337 Skymaster or 210 Centurion, though I think the Centurion had fewer incidents of gear hang ups than the others did. I do know there was an STC modification available some years ago for the Skymaster that eliminated the wonky gear doors for that airplane's system in order to simplify it but I'm not sure if it was adapted to the other RG Cessna's. The fact that the basic reliability problems were never really ironed out would be the chief reason why I'd opt for a fixed-gear Cardinal.

N.
 
I think 100 hours a year, as a watermark, is a bit low. The rule of thumb I came up with, is 20 hours per month (and that's a LOT of recreational flying)..

I've crunched the ownership numbers, every way imaginable.. and ended up being part owner in a club airplane, soley for defering insurance, and flying at the owner's, hourly rate. Anyway.. here are some rough numbers for a $100,000 C182.. all numbers are monthly:

- Interest paid on $100,000 loan (or income not earned if you tie up $100,000).. = $500
- Insurance (Hull and liability) .. = $300
- Hangar and misc. ground expenses .. = $300
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Cost to just stand next to it and say, "look what I own" .. = $ 1100 /month (nearly six hour of rental, right off the bat)
***************************************************************


Numbers for 20 hours of flying:

- Fuel @ $6/gal @ 14gph ... = $1680
- Engine wear @ 2000hr TBO / $25,000 engine ... $250
- Airframe/avionics, wear/depreciation ... $300
- Average annual-inspection cost (for a $100,000 C182 /12) .. $300
- Oil / tires / untimely equipment failure (ie. DG quits) ... $ $200
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total operational only, cost per month @ 20 hours ... $2730
**************************************************************
Cost for first 20 hours of flying per month.. $3850 .. or .. $191/hour (aprox. a wet rental)


Of course 20 hours/per month, every month, is a LOT of flying.. commiting you to nearly $4,000/month, just to break even on a per hour basis.

I you fly a reasonable (but still tough) 10 hours a month.. the fixed cost per hour doubles.
 
this thread still active?

hey guys

i'm a newbie here, flightsim nut and ultralight aircraft owner/pilot - it's my acft (0455) that anthony used for his Drifter dev (see website Ant's Airplanes)

i'm surprised nobody mentioned LSAs so far - in Oz you are restricted to 2 seats and 600kg AUW, but there are some brilliant little aircraft out there

as for the Drifter - well, i used to fly paragliders (and did a bit of skydiving) so the lack of doors isn't a problem for me !!!

cheers for now

BP
 
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