I did the unthinkable...

My wife saw how much I spent just flying Angel Flight missions last year when I was doing our taxes. :eek: Plus we did trips too. :eek::eek:
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
If my engine goes tits up, I will pay for it out of my pocket. I don't add money into any sort of maintenance account per hour.
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That’s certainly an easy way to handle it when you own it solo. Not having any mx amount in there though will make your hourly rate fluctuate wildly. It’s low in a year with no maintenance, but have a repair or two in there and it jumps up.

Owning it solo you have options. You can set aside money for engine rebuild, just pay it when it happens or plan to get less when you sell the plane later due to the engine time. It all comes out it the end, but it’s there.
 
"I did the unthinkable..."

thought you might have said the "W" word before a fly-in.
 
Hank S said:
Tach hours is all I have in my plane, besides an installed clock and my watch.

Maintenance = tach hours.

Flight Time = clock time.

Fuel changes, endurance, etc., are all based on the clock, since it doesn't vary depending on RPMs.
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That’s how I run, too. Just wondering if that’s how everyone does it.
 
Whew.... I read the title and thought you went flying without an empty Gatorade bottle....
 
$100/mo tiedown, $100/mo insurance, $500/mo payment. Everything else is in the noise, except for the deposit... and the avionics upgrade... we'll see what the annual brings...
 
most people mean "13th month mx" when they mean annual. I certainly do.
 
ya but....one day you will own a Cirrus and this is preparing you for that day. ;)
 
EdFred said:
Not for me anymore. My annual is good though april. I'm not tearing it apart during prime flying season by pushing it into may/jun/july...
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I'm with you...except I think I'm going to pick Feb or March as annual month. I just add the "lost" month to all the other insane living expenses up here. I'll make it back down south one day!
 
Radar Contact said:
I'm with you...except I think I'm going to pick Feb or March as annual month. I just add the "lost" month to all the other insane living expenses up here. I'll make it back down south one day!
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My annual month used to be January but it ended up with a long annual drifted into February and another long annual that drifted into March and another along annual that drifted into April. and it's just insane in the Chicago area come to the other side of the lake and it gets a whole lot cheaper
 
If it makes you feel any better, my fuel bill last year was about $50k.
 
mtuomi said:
Fact in life: You'll have at least 1-2 "major" maintenance events per year if you use your plane for 50-70 hours. Count 2-5k for those.
It's still cheap to own an airplane.
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I’m knocking on wood, I haven’t had any costs to date except for brakes, oil, etc. on my tiger after 4 years.


wayne said:
My wife saw how much I spent just flying Angel Flight missions last year when I was doing our taxes. :eek: Plus we did trips too. :eek::eek:
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Only my accountant see what my plane costs me
 
For the sake of comparison, here are the last year's numbers, best I can recall. I don't normally keep track much.

1bMdY7lsa-NxFxU8GuapBlFx8kTZ7acey4qmV9OwuKx0aHfPbm9LNxyJFZ6diZkM6Jf2OlShYXY-kbrqW3CagW-NRu5e9ZKbc7smQCgXMHA83Fqo6uyktI228Y3LLJYEbwMW4txBSIu3XBRvOv7fTCljrs0gtK-XEIpO7xx2eNIOAUlIhsr8mVdWQ1bJTMn1G6oiYhT2VmPwlLkS1MOGFieavLUmtQE07KT4huMH40djYuh3zBcn3EIo7wwfD7HDuS8rXxNARYvlqV60e6DT4pPf9NGD1lqB7Ukm1BlIs9Qu_EfroJOJXC5TF9V5mCX1FbXSxeH20fVeOcY69WH-besbA6wsZ4qis7JdVUnaSY6oOU6plx9NrCRJ-wnHstJtfB6PFKN0UTCBK1SAq39MMPj0w6Ge5Ac9kXnAsJ3dkhvNdJhFPRy3zDEB_IBiU_gCdsY_LkKc6R0ZT5N_UPKpYxD6O6r0_lvDyYd11OtOUmVpHaRB_XmSaG5qSIhPrxcTdkiDKOEIF9P7jVEHwNnRIvEDv13aubPR0CQHdYQWgqi6cG0Vynax1MMLEhKf5ibzFaDRcRGnj89FNqW8KoYKNdsHn_1onko3HXTzOec=w348-h253-no

Mogas and Owner Assisted annuals make a pretty big difference. And of course the cheapest enclosed T hangars in the civilized world don't hurt.

So, $163 all in for 128kts and 1100 lb useful. At 70 hrs, it would be about $125/hr. Once she's paid fer, she'll cost less than $100/hr to operate @ 50 hrs/yr. I like the sound of that.
 
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OkieFlyer said:
All that said, do you guys really need to keep this kind of stuff from your wives, or are you just messing around? I let the wife know every time I need to spend some money on the plane. She doesn't ask, nor does she care, but I tell her anyway.
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I have found that keeping myself from a wife alleviates this issue.
 
Always informative to see these. If it isn’t already, your loan line probably could be split for principal and interest, as the first bit you get to keep. Then the interest becomes like the hangar expense.
 
Tell her it is common practice in aviation not to count the first hour since that skews the results.

Eliminate the hanger, annual and insurance required to fly the first hour and it isn't so bad.
 
I just ran my numbers for the year and for my 180HP C172N I'm about $84/Hr over 65 Hrs for the usual Tiedown, Insurance, Annual, Fuel, Oil and Maint. Next year I anticipate the cost to be closer to $65/Hr - $70/Hr...
 
I just one upped you Bryan.

I flew home almost 100nm, from under a Bravo without the use of GPS or charts!!
 
The credit card doesn’t pay for the plane / flying?!?!? :yikes::hairraise::hairraise::hairraise::yikes::smilewinkgrin:




We made a cost comparison after the first year of owning the C172 versus the flying club (4 planes, only few active members). We were slightly cheaper owning the Cessna.

With the Mooney, we did a cost calculation once and broken down to the hourly cost, we were cheaper. The reason is that we do long X-country trips more often and we accumulate more hours. With the Cessna those XC would have taken ‘forever’ and we therefore rarely did them.

Owning your own plane - priceless!
 
Skywalker said:
We made a cost comparison after the first year of owning the C172 versus the flying club (4 planes, only few active members). We were slightly cheaper owning the Cessna.

With the Mooney, we did a cost calculation once and broken down to the hourly cost, we were cheaper. The reason is that we do long X-country trips more often and we accumulate more hours. With the Cessna those XC would have taken ‘forever’ and we therefore rarely did them.
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My Mooney makes a trip jn less time, and uses less fuel, than the same trip in a 172. The longer the trip, the more noticeable the differences are.
 
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