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aviation blog
TO RENT OR BUY AN AIRPLANE
This is a very tough question whose
answer depends on a lot of factors, especially the
number of hours you fly per year. Here is one scenario.
You want to fly a Cessna 182, with a useful load of 1100
lbs. This includes a maximum of 80 gallons (480 lbs) of
fuel and 620 lbs of payload. Or, you can reduce the fuel
and increase the payload. The plane will fly at about
130-140 mph true airspeed (equal to ground speed if
there is no wind) and burn about 11.5 gallons per hour
at 12,000 feet.
To rent this plane costs about $150-200
an hour (fuel included), depending on your location and
age of the plane. The major advantage of renting
is that you only pay when you fly. If you do not fly
during a certain period (financial problems, busy at
work, bad weather...), you have no flying expenses.
Major annoyances with renting are:
- the plane has to be available near where you live and
during the days you need it
- you usually have to rent it for a minimum of 3 hrs per
day for multi day trips
- you don't know how the plane is maintained (this is a
big one for me)
- expensive per hour cost
To co-own this plane in a club with 3
other members is very economical. The advantages are:
- it is located at the airport of your choice
- it is mostly available, and you can take it for an
extended trip without being forced to fly a certain
number of hours per day
- you are very familiar with the plane
- can save a lot of money during flight training
- per hour cost is much less than renting (about $80-100
per hour, depending on your club and where you buy fuel)
The disadvantages of co-ownership:
- you have some fixed costs per month, whether you fly
or not (usually $100-200 per month per member). These
cover the insurance, weather and map subscriptions,
airplane tie-down, and miscellaneous maintenance and
other costs
- sometimes you have a big expense, if a big item goes out
(this depends on how the club manages money reserves)
- your club members may be difficult to get along with
I recommend you look into both options
and see what works best. If you fly less than 50 hours
per year, renting is probably cheaper. If you fly
over 50 hours per year, co-owning will probably save you money.
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