Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Is this one worth $25K ?

Like Mike said, you need to bump up the fuel cost a bit (6 gals per hour x $4.50 to $5.00 per gal x 150 hrs). Add in insurance. Also, figure in "cost of money". If you're getting a loan, figure in the interest. If you already have the money, that cash can earn some interest if not tied up in the plane. So, there's still a monetary advantage for you in buying vs renting, but it's less than $8K.

It may appear that we seem to be trying to talk you out of buying, but we're just playing devil's advocate. On average, only 25% of student pilots go on to finish their training, due to work, family time, shortage of money, loss of interest, medical problems, etc. We just hate to see you get stuck with an airplane if you don't get your PPL for one reason or another.

Well stated, Reg and Hung.

Mike.

I thought it was more like 2%.

I want to emphasize what Hung said. We are not necessarily trying to talk you out of purchasing an airplane, but the costs are bit more complicated than buying a car.

The other factor is the completion rate. Even in my short flying career (about seven years) I know several folks who quit flying either during their training or shortly after getting their license.

I had already scared myself a couple times, and knew I was going to keep flying, before I purchased an airplane.

Reg

It is increasingly difficult to find rental airplanes. After getting my PPL, Jeanene and I took a long driving trip through most of the states west of the Mississippi and turned into about every airport that we saw (mostly smaller ones because we avoided larger cities). At none of them could I rent an airplane right away. Either no rentals, rentals only to members of a flying club, rentals to those being trained, or a checkride was required and no CFI was available to give the checkride unless we waited until the next day or even the next week-end.

I don't think I save any by owning, but I do believe the cost is about the same as rental. So somewhere along the line toward or after PPL, it does make sense to purchase a plane. Its nice to have a plane available whenever I'm ready to fly, and I can go somewhere, park it, and not need to return it for the next renter.

And safety, too. I know the plane is in the same state at which I left it. Headphones, charts, radios, transponder, gas level, position of seats, etc., have not changed. That, along with getting to know the plane, has to make it safer to fly.

Finding rentals is still relatively easy around here, so this is not the issue. 75% drop out rate is rather interesting - I have never heard this one before. I have couple friends who completed training few years ago and I never ever heard about somebody stopping flying after getting license...

If it comes out the same price as rental then the question is do I want to have a feeling of "owning plane" vs "dealing with hassle of managing plane"...

Lot's of people I've tried to introduce to flying have stated that they already have several hours logged, but never completed the training. I don't find a 75% dropout rate alarming. Flying is an expensive luxury for most of us, especially when you work with your hands and you're raising a family, so the dream is often postponed. I put off finishing until I was in my 40's.

Even then, I stopped flying for several long years after getting my license, as had several others on this forum! In my case, I couldn't afford the time or money in order to stay current, only logging about 10 or 15 hours a year in an expensive club rental situation. I was apprehensive on every flight, and never achieved a level of confidence and competence that I was comfortable with. I realized that I was degressing as a pilot and couldn't afford remedial instruction, so I quit for safety's sake. Those were very sad times!

Years later I stumbled onto my current home and hangar at a bargain price, and jumped back into flying with both feet. It was much easier to maintain currency when all I had to do was drive home from work and climb into my own plane for an afternoon or evening flight (sometimes almost every day)!

Still, I couldn't afford to fly if I had to pay tiedown or hangar fees, or rent somebody else's airplane, or had to pay for maintenance (I do all of my own). Everybody's situation is different.

I know you left off, after "I do all my own", the words "under the supervision of a qualified and appropriately licensed mechanic".

I just thought I'd add that in there so you wouldn't need to go back and edit your post.

We all be lookin' out for each other.

Mike.

True! I would never recommend violating the regs. Although I do have my powerplants license, that's not the point. The point is that I can't afford to pay someone else to work on my airplane. In the long run, renting will be cheaper than the costs of ownership for many pilots. My situation is in the minority.

I did know about the Powerplant License. I also knew it was a slip of the finger to leave off the work on the airframe.

By the way, how did you find a place in a residential airpark. Web-site, word of mouth? You know some of us (like all!) hope to find the same arrangement some day.

Where does a guy/gal start?

Mike