Helicopter cost to operate?

Mike Smith

Mike Smith

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For you rotor wing guys, in general terms, if you own a Bell Jet Ranger III, what would the cost per hour to operate be? Obviously you have fuel, what is that per hour generally? Average maintenance costs etc.? I know it can vary, just looking for a range or generic "about this much".
 
A 206B3 figure about $550.00 an hour. They typically burn around 25 gph. With full fuel you have a payload capacity of about 200 to 210lbs max - not very impressive.
 
luvflyin said:
Damn. My piggy bank only has 100lb payload. Oh well...
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The POH payload of my piggybank is bigger than yours. But it's remained exactly at empty weight all the years I've had it. :(
 
I think hourly costs are around $350-$400. Last I read, the 407 runs around $550-$600 per hour. Much better aircraft all around. Full (840 lbs) of gas and I still have about a 1000 lbs of payload. Double the full burn though.
 
For the purpose of this exercise, payload isn't an issue. Just trying to come up with a realistic cost of a four hour flight.
 
It depends on the specific helicopter you buy. If you get one that has expensive parts close to life limits then your hourly cost will be really high opposite is true if you get one with lots of life left. Also have to pay attention to calendar limits on some stuff. Example in the jet ranger are the tt straps. You can buy 24 or 36 month straps. The flight time limit is the same but with one you have 3 years to use up the time vs 2

I think the 5-7 hundred range works for the jet ranger in general but cane move from that average quickly depending on component times.

Helicopters are definitely a buyer be aware situation. An experienced mechanic on the type you are looking at is mandatory for prebuy.
 
My question stems from a little controversy we are having here in the great state is Alabama. Our esteemed governor forgot his wallet on a beach trip and had the state police helicopter bring it to him. It was about a 4 hour round trip and his people are saying it only cost @ $1000. Anywho, it's a big stink right know and was curious if his people were close on the cost or if it was spin.
 
mikeinbama said:
My question stems from a little controversy we are having here in the great state is Alabama. Our esteemed governor forgot his wallet on a beach trip and had the state police helicopter bring it to him. It was about a 4 hour round trip and his people are saying it only cost @ $1000. Anywho, it's a big stink right know and was curious if his people were close on the cost or if it was spin.
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That's complete bs. No way a jet ranger flys for 250 an hour.
 
mikeinbama said:
My question stems from a little controversy we are having here in the great state is Alabama. Our esteemed governor forgot his wallet on a beach trip and had the state police helicopter bring it to him. It was about a 4 hour round trip and his people are saying it only cost @ $1000. Anywho, it's a big stink right know and was curious if his people were close on the cost or if it was spin.
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Man, that guy can't get out of the spot light. :rolleyes:

The actual cost shouldn't be an issue. I imagine they have an annual flying budget to operate that flight program just like the military does. You're authorized X number of hours a year. As long as you stay under your allotted hours, you're good.

Flying to the beach could easily be chalked up to a XC training flight.
 
No matter how you try to blow the smoke, it's still blowing smoke, and with taxes what they are, with depreciation what it is, no one has any give when it comes to a career politician living the high life on all of our backs.
 
'public use' has different cost structures. They may not have to account for time limited parts and the pilot is salaried. This may not be an outright lie.
 
weilke said:
'public use' has different cost structures. They may not have to account for time limited parts and the pilot is salaried. This may not be an outright lie.
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That's kinda what I'm getting at, the base cost of operation per hour.
 
There is more than one way of figuring costs. One is "incremental cost". This is how much it costs to fly "one more hour". For incremental cost, you get to ignore fixed costs and just take the hourly costs into account. So....they can always say "well, THAT is not how we figure the cost of the helicopter." And there are other ways to figure it.

Just as an aside, losing a wallet, for a governor and those documents getting into unknown and possibly criminal hands, well, that is worrisome and might be worth whatever the cost was...
 
coloradobluesky said:
There is more than one way of figuring costs. One is "incremental cost". This is how much it costs to fly "one more hour". For incremental cost, you get to ignore fixed costs and just take the hourly costs into account. So....they can always say "well, THAT is not how we figure the cost of the helicopter." And there are other ways to figure it.

Just as an aside, losing a wallet, for a governor and those documents getting into unknown and possibly criminal hands, well, that is worrisome and might be worth whatever the cost was...
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I would agree that if you have an unusual and unexpected event, like the Gov losing his wallet at the beach, it's legitimate to calculate incremental expenses (like gas and oil), i.e. ignoring fixed costs. If the crew got overtime pay, I'd throw that in, but not base pay.
 
No, governor drove to the the beach. Left his wallet at home. The helicopter flew Montgomery-Tuscaloosa(where his house is)-Gulf Shores-Montgomery. It was like this, hey, I brought my mistress to the beach, but I forgot my wallet and can't buy drinks....could you be a sport and fly my wallet down here?
 
coloradobluesky said:
.....

Just as an aside, losing a wallet, for a governor and those documents getting into unknown and possibly criminal hands, well, that is worrisome and might be worth whatever the cost was...
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In that case just send the local PD out to grab the wallet.
 
I forgot to bring one of my prescription medications when we went to Oahu a couple of weeks ago. My mother in law sent them to me via UPS, I had them the next afternoon.

It cost $48.

The governor should reimburse the state for the expense. AFAIK there aren't any documents in a governor's wallet so critical to operation of the state that it couldn't wait 24 hours.
 
mikeinbama said:
That's kinda what I'm getting at, the base cost of operation per hour.
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That's the thing. An agency has a flying budget. The pilot, the TT straps, the phase inspections etc. are already paid for. Rotables that come due in the next budget year get put in the budget. An agency doesn"t put money in the piggy bank to save up for a gearbox overhaul. They just pay for it. The cost to operate a snowplow, helicopter, sewage pump 'one more hour' is limited to fuel and oil. Fuel is bought in bulk, probably through one of the fuel card vendors, so the cost to the state is not what it would be for someone who just tells the fueler 'fill er up'.
So while it would cost a commercial operator $550/hr to operate a Jetranger (and $950/hr to charter), it is entirely possible that the 'cost' in agency internal accounting (e.g. If agriculture needs to use fish and wildlifes helicopter) is indeed $250/hr (and that's how we end up with trillions of public debt ;-) ).
 
Corrections to my original assertion. It wasn't a Jet Ranger, it was an OH-58, don't know what difference that may make. Also, the governors people are saying the cost was $1380.
 
weilke said:
That's the thing. An agency has a flying budget. The pilot, the TT straps, the phase inspections etc. are already paid for. Rotables that come due in the next budget year get put in the budget. An agency doesn"t put money in the piggy bank to save up for a gearbox overhaul. They just pay for it. The cost to operate a snowplow, helicopter, sewage pump 'one more hour' is limited to fuel and oil. Fuel is bought in bulk, probably through one of the fuel card vendors, so the cost to the state is not what it would be for someone who just tells the fueler 'fill er up'.
So while it would cost a commercial operator $550/hr to operate a Jetranger (and $950/hr to charter), it is entirely possible that the 'cost' in agency internal accounting (e.g. If agriculture needs to use fish and wildlifes helicopter) is indeed $250/hr (and that's how we end up with trillions of public debt ;-) ).
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Of course, I understand. But in the end, all those costs are amortized and paid at whatever $ per hour.

ETA...to make my point clear, if the aircrafts operating life is 10,000 hours at a cost of $5,000,000, then the operating costs over the life is $500 per hour.
 
mikeinbama said:
Of course, I understand. But in the end, all those costs are amortized and paid at whatever $ per hour.

ETA...to make my point clear, if the aircrafts operating life is 10,000 hours at a cost of $5,000,000, then the operating costs over the life is $500 per hour.
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I understand your point. But reality has no bearing on the accounting practices of public entities. Some used to take surplus OH58s, just put fuel into them and replaced parts on condition. Probably the cheapest way to fly a helo
 
mikeinbama said:
Corrections to my original assertion. It wasn't a Jet Ranger, it was an OH-58, don't know what difference that may make. Also, the governors people are saying the cost was $1380.
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Oh in that case you're looking at $75 / hr. :D Those things are old, ragged out, former Army hand me downs. Probably still has crappy military radios and analog instruments.
 
mikeinbama said:
Corrections to my original assertion. It wasn't a Jet Ranger, it was an OH-58, don't know what difference that may make. Also, the governors people are saying the cost was $1380.
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Ignoring the fact that he was pretty naïve thinking something like that wouldn't get out, it was still a stupid move. $1380 wouldn't cover the cost of renting an R44 and pilot for the flight.

But like most things in life, the money was well-spent considering the entertainment value this mini-scandal provides.
 
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