Just my two cents on operating costs... here's how I broke down the operating costs for my 1975 7GCBC. I didn't factor in the purchase price because I assume I can get it back...

I share the operating costs, so I broke it down as a sole owner and as a partial owner. Last year I flew my airplane 125.4 hours.

To start calculating the hourly cost, I took my “split costs” which added up to $5,150.00 and are broken down as follows:
# Insurance $1,700.00 (hulled for $55K, and my brother had less than 100TT)
# Shelter - $2,910.00
# Annual - $300.00
# Oil (~ every 50 hours)- $240.00

And then added them to my “variable costs” of Gas and my maintenance fund:
# Gas (avg price of $5.41 per gallon last year. Yes, I saved every gas receipt and averaged it) - $3,903.17
# Maintenance Fund - $1,046.50

These added up to $4,949.67.

The maintenance fund is a savings account I throw 10 bucks for every tach hour flown into. The Hobbs to Tach percentage is about 80%. At 2,000 hours it would give us enough for an engine overhaul. If we decide to sell the airplane before overhaul, it gives us an upgrade fund, as I like to call it.

Overall, add $4,949.67 to $5,150.00 and divide that by 125.4. This gives me an hourly cost of $80.54. If we take my split costs and divide that $5,150.00 by two, add it to the $4,949.67, and divide it by total hours flown of 125.4 we get roughly $60.00 per hour.

If I was the sole owner and flew 125.4 hours - it would cost me around $80.00 an hour, and as it sits, it cost me about $60.00 per hour to fly it having a partner. You could actually think of it more like $50.00 an hour since $10.00 of that is actually sitting in a savings account.

Chris

mtv wrote:Most airplanes I've run that are in good condition use a quart of oil every ten to twenty hours. I have run one or two that used a quart every four hours, but that is starting to get excessive, in my opinion.

So, who buys the oil for these airplanes, and how do you determine where the oil is going? Sounds like you might want to tighten up some of your procedures to help you track this kind of stuff.

You can find overhaul cost estimates from several engine overhaulers. Depending on the engine model, frequency of use, etc, the engines may or may not go to tbo.

In working with the one flying club I was in during my career (and never again), propeller abuse may well be one of the most costly functions, again depending on the type of aircraft and where they are flown. If any of hte aircraft ever go to gravel strips, you'll use up propellers regularly.

MTV