A new video from the FlyWithGarrett YouTube channel breaks down what it really costs to buy and operate your own airplane, using Garrett’s 1975 A36 Bonanza as a starting point.
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$200/hour to own a Bonanza? Not likely, though he doesn’t say how many hours on which his number is based. If they borrowed the money to buy and upgrade it, there’s $15k in interest right there. For 100 hours/year that’s $150/hour before anything else. If they had the cash, they’re losing a similar amount in not making $15k per year with investments. $3k/year for an annual? For a 50 year old plane, loaded with very expensive parts with 9,000 hours on them? Come back in 5 years and tell us what it really cost.
If I ever added up what it cost me to fly, I probably would have to reconsider flying.
This is a well done review of the costs to purchase, upgrade and maintain a high end, complex, high performance aircraft…. which few of us can afford….$250k and $250 per hour to Fly.!
Other pilots, like me, fly a 60 year old Cessna worth $40k and costs me about $62 per hour to fly, having 3 co-owners and flying the aircraft 150 hours a year.
the fixed costs are shared;
Hangar $275/mo.
Insurance $900 , [ a simple, fixed gear a/c ]
annual $400 [ We do 90% of the work. the A&P/IA inspects ]
so , this is $4,600 / 150 = $31….divided by 4 = $ 7.67 per hour
The variable costs for each pilot;
fuel [ 8 gph x $4.75 ] = $38
oil [ $7/qt / 7 hr/qt] = $ 1
Maintenance reserve $15
So , this is $54 per hour
Total to fly is $61.67 +/- per hour.
The $2,250 reserve usually pays for any parts or repairs each year. We replaced 5 of the 6 cylinders over the last 10 years, which now cost $1,500. They run for about 1,000 hours, so are a minimal cost per hour.
If this was a single owner, the cost is $ 85 per hour., for 150 hours flown .
The largest cost is fuel at $5,700, followed by the hangar at $3,300 per year.
Other, lower performance aircraft, like a Cub, Aeronca, C150 are lower cost to fly..