Tarheelpilot
Final Approach
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- Dec 5, 2010
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Tarheelpilot
That’s the problem. If it quits I don’t want to swim.
Rental Pilot vs. Ownership
- Thread starter Rgbeard
- Start date
The one point about flying more with owning versus renting is owning fits your schedule when you have a window instead of when the rental schedule allows. Owning is definitely a luxury and it can be an expensive one especially with a young family to consider. I was fortunate to get my Cherokee 140 for free but there is still the fixed cost of tie down at $80/month, insurance at about $600/year (renting requires insurance also) and annual averaging $800/year. That’s about $200/month to just have the airplane sitting there. However if I had a loan to pay monthly on the airplane owning would probably be cost prohibitive and renting would be the better option to poke holes in the sky occasionally. With today’s inflationary market and the huge increases in auto gas at the pump even $200/month can put a financial burden on a young family. As stated in the beginning of my post nothing is better than finishing the house chores on a weekend and going to the airport with my wife to go for a flight without looking for a hole in the rental schedule and having to get back to the airport for the next renter. I seem to enjoy flying much more owning than I did renting being feee of a rental schedule. Of course my situation is different since the children all grown with their own lives and no airplane loan to pay. To you young guys be patient, rent within your means to keep current and your window will come where owning is more financially feasible later in life.
For sure, with rentals, you’re constantly watching the Hobbs and your wallet in unison. With non-rental aircraft, I can fire it up, take my time and thoroughly enjoy. I’m a lucky cupcake too!