Does Mike Busch have this one right?

Ballpark seems right. And that's not including a) upgrades, and b) potential wallet destroying ADs or Mx events.

-G
 
Yep...the only real reason I'm working now is to own and fly without a partner.

Okay, its really health insurance but that's way too depressing of a reason ;)
 
I just don’t get the connection between fuel burn and overall cost of flying. Overall cost includes price of fuel but fuel use would by no logical means directly implicate the rest of the costs. Let’s step out of aviation.

driver one buys car 30mpg new top of the line car. They have pricey oil changes due to demand of synthetic oil, no repair cost due to warranty, insurance is crazy high. Drives 9000 miles a year thus burning 300 gallons of gas.

driver two buys a used car, 30mpg same model as driver one. His insurance is less as he paid cash and does PLPD insurance, repairs are more as warranty is over, quits using Mobile One synthetic- opts for Walmart brand and does it at home. Drives 9000 miles a year thus burning 300 gallons of gas

driver three buys brand new car, 30mpg but economy model. Oil change can use conventional oil but must be done more often, has warranty, insurance is moderate in cost Drives 9000 miles a year... 300 gallons.

Who wants to bet those three spend the same amount of year on their car overall. And that’s using three that get same mileage! It’s just balderdash to find a connection of gas costs times x equals....

Just doesn’t add up
 
Someone mentioned budgeting for engine and general upgrades. I agree! Even the occasional avionics upgrade can be extremely expensive. Interior furnishings and paint work are easy overlook looked when factoring hourly cost. We try to update something every year and never seem to get ahead of the upgrades.
Carpet, seatbelts and wingtips this year. Avionics last year. Engine mount is next. Paint is coming up soon.
Gotta love it!
 
Jdm said:
Someone mentioned budgeting for engine and general upgrades. I agree! Even the occasional avionics upgrade can be extremely expensive. Interior furnishings and paint work are easy overlook looked when factoring hourly cost. We try to update something every year and never seem to get ahead of the upgrades.
Carpet, seatbelts and wingtips this year. Avionics last year. Engine mount is next. Paint is coming up soon.
Gotta love it!
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i don’t keep a separate saving for it, just try to be responsible with finances and when an expense comes up deal with it myself.
 
asicer said:
On a Cherokee6? Ouch!
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6x...so a 15 year old plane worth 4 times what a Cherokee 6 normally goes for. I was more alarmed by the 6,000 annual maintenance bill.
 
Huckster79 said:
I just don’t get the connection between fuel burn and overall cost of flying. Overall cost includes price of fuel but fuel use would by no logical means directly implicate the rest of the costs. Let’s step out of aviation.

driver one buys car 30mpg new top of the line car. They have pricey oil changes due to demand of synthetic oil, no repair cost due to warranty, insurance is crazy high. Drives 9000 miles a year thus burning 300 gallons of gas.

driver two buys a used car, 30mpg same model as driver one. His insurance is less as he paid cash and does PLPD insurance, repairs are more as warranty is over, quits using Mobile One synthetic- opts for Walmart brand and does it at home. Drives 9000 miles a year thus burning 300 gallons of gas

driver three buys brand new car, 30mpg but economy model. Oil change can use conventional oil but must be done more often, has warranty, insurance is moderate in cost Drives 9000 miles a year... 300 gallons.

Who wants to bet those three spend the same amount of year on their car overall. And that’s using three that get same mileage! It’s just balderdash to find a connection of gas costs times x equals....

Just doesn’t add up
Click to expand...

By far the biggest difference is how much you fly. In reality, it's more like the first hour each year costs $20,000 and all the ones after that cost $50. If you only fly the one hour, you're still going to have to pay for the plane, the hangar, the insurance, the annual, etc... And none of those things costs any less because you only flew one hour. If anything, it'll cost you more.

But, like all rules of thumb, this isn't ever going to be exact. It's just a reasonable approximation for an average pilot/owner who flies maybe 100 hours a year.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
By far the biggest difference is how much you fly. In reality, it's more like the first hour each year costs $20,000 and all the ones after that cost $50. If you only fly the one hour, you're still going to have to pay for the plane, the hangar, the insurance, the annual, etc... And none of those things costs any less because you only flew one hour. If anything, it'll cost you more.

But, like all rules of thumb, this isn't ever going to be exact. It's just a reasonable approximation for an average pilot/owner who flies maybe 100 hours a year.
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I think you're on the right track, but I think it's a bit of a parabolic curve. If you fly enough, the expenses start going back up with increased recurring AD's, mechanical issues, etc.
 
Salty said:
I think you're on the right track, but I think it's a bit of a parabolic curve. If you fly enough, the expenses start going back up with increased recurring AD's, mechanical issues, etc.
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If it's an hour-based recurring AD that also gets taken care of at annual, you may increase the hourly just slightly for a few hours after you hit the limit and have it done an "extra" time. If it's purely hour-based, it just increases the price per hour all the time.

Also, while there is obviously some wear and some "chance-of-something-breaking" stuff that can increase with extremely high usage, by far the most expensive maintenance per hour is when you rarely fly. Lots of metal things to rust and rubber things to dry out and crack if the plane just sits, plus early overhauls, will increase the total maintenance cost. Plus, now you're spreading that cost over fewer hours.

It's definitely a parabolic curve, though.

One other thing that changes that curve: A plane that is flown consistently one hour per week or about 50 hours per year is going to be cheaper than an airplane that sits all year and gets 50 hours in one or two trips.
 
I know how much it costs, but I don't really like to think about it. It just is...
 
Hey, it's that about what a rental costs!!! :)
 
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