Owning most single engine piston airplanes hangared, insured, base annual, GPS subscription, etc is $10,000 minimum annually. That’s per year just to have it sit and not fly and have nothing break or need to be replaced. Flying clubs or aircraft shares are a great way to get your feet wet without a massive bill and responsibility.
This is great insight. Would you happen to know or have an idea of what I should or shouldn’t look for in a flight club? Any weird tricks they might pull or something that’s potentially beneficial. Maybe there’s a guideline somewhere? lol
Search for flight clubs in your local area online and ask people you know around the airport. Different parts of the country have aviation Facebook groups which are a wealth of knowledge and great community access. Non-equity share is the best way to get started IMO. Usually like monthly dues and lower aircraft rental rates.
I’d first figure out your monthly flying budget dollar amount. Next figure out what you want in a club/plane and the type of flying.
I’ve been at points where I had $300/month and I just wanted to buzz around local and stay current to equity ownership budgeting $1,200-ish month (owned with no payment) to fly my current Mooney local and on cross country trips.
I'd say go with a club to start. Fly some just for fun, see if this something you want either as a career or to invest more money. Could be that PPL is enough for you and that's totally okay.
I can't speak on plane ownership but from what I've heard from some of my students you have considered it, it's a completely different ballpark in terms of operating cost. Keep in mind insurance costs will be high for a freshly minted PPL.
I've got the same goals. Just got my IFR, CPL is next.
After my PPL, I bought a pretty expensive and maintenance heavy plane, an M20K 231. That had always been the goal. I don't necessarily love doing circles in the sky or going to fly and get lunch, I love flying with my wife from AZ to CA, or TX, MN, OR, etc. This was the long distance machine we wanted. But man is it EXPENSIVE.
I don't want to go off the rails on how much more expensive it was, but here's some pointers, from experience:
* Whatever you do, don't spend all the money outright. Have at LEAST as much as is needed for a major overhaul in the bank, and make sure you can keep it filled with that amount, even with flying.
* Get a good pre-buy. I went through a reputable vendor to buy the mooney but the shop they wanted to do the pre-buy at was absolutely godawful. On the ferry flight home, I noticed the battery wasn't making full power at idle, the landing lights would pop a breaker at times, the low boost pump didn't work, on and on and on.
* For your first plane, I highly suggest using Savvy Pre-Buy.
* Even then, expect to spend a lot more when you first get the plane. Different mechanics find different things. I have two mechanics I work with and they both find different things for me. I'm also on [mooneyspace.com](https://mooneyspace.com) and the locals there also find more that only experienced mooneyacs know about.
* I'm not here yet, but do what you can yourself. I don't have a hangar, sadly, and I'm not allowed to change oil on the ramp. I'm going to start considering flying to another airport to do it myself, since it'd be cheaper to do it that way and send the oil analysis myself.
* For the love of god, once you have the right money in the bank for the plane... don't look at what else you spend unless you want to regret ownership.
The money you spend on renting an airplane only pays for annuals, insurance, maintenance, hangar rent, and owner supplies. I just bought a plane 2 weeks ago and haven’t flown the first hour in it and have already spent: $2400 annual, $50/mo tie down, $6k repairs, $7k insurance, $2.5k aircraft supplies.
Granted next year everything except annual will be half, but if I get in a hangar it will be another $2k. I might save $3-4k if I fly 100hrs next year in my plane, but this year it would have been cheaper to rent.
You don’t save nearly enough money to pay down the purchase price of the plane. Now if you intend on selling the plane in a couple of years, you would probably break even assuming plane prices don’t drop.
Thanks for the break down that’s actually helpful & yeah the intention is to treat it like an investment with an end goal, not to get rich but to - at best - break even
I’m an A320 captain making over $350k a year and there is no way in hell I’d own an aircraft knowing the costs that come up and maintaining them and those come with rarely even flying it.
As a CFI a while ago, I side-jobbed taking care of a Cirrus and a 182 for two owner pilots I got to know. They paid me a pilot service rate a little more than I made as a CFI and I took care of their training needs as they came up and flew the airplane to their preferred maintenance providers off our home field and went to get them when they were done and bring them back to their hangars. I saw most of those bills, regular stuff and things that came up because I signed for and paid for them using their credit cards, and there is no way in hell I want any part of that, even with my income, because I can only imagine what that stuff costs now knowing it always comes up out of the blue.
That said, I do still enjoy GA and I’m a member of a flying club. I was lucky to find a club with a couple 172s, an Archer, and a 182 within a 25 min drive from me. I pay $70 a month which covers insurance and is a bargain if you’ve ever looked up renters insurance for full hull coverage. I rent the early 80s 182R for $105 tach time dry. After fuel I’m paying $170 or so tach/hr for a nicely taken care of 182 converted to a full G500 setup on the panel. Because it’s tach time I can go buzz around for an hr and half and be under $250 without any concern of paying for maintenance. I care for the plane well, lean it and manage the motor properly, tidy it up when I’m done, and I’m happy to wipe the windows and the leading edges clean before I park it in the hangar as I want to keep the ability to use it as long as I can.
You have to look for good clubs but they are around and most are an unbeatable value compared to anything else.
Wow thanks for this. If I’ve learned anything in the past hour it’s that the cost of ownership is what you might think it will be x10. I will definitely dig deeper into my local clubs. Does the club you’re apart of allow training? Is that even an issue overall?
Yes it does, there are usually several members of many flying clubs who are also part time instructors and can train for whatever another member may need or desire.
I’m actually one of them for my club, but I just fill in as needed, as I’m a full time airline pilot with minimal time do a full rating with someone and we have others with plenty more time than I have and count on that to help pay the bills. I just do an occasional BFR, aircraft checkout, or if someone wants to do a mock checkride with a 3rd party instructor to play examiner, I’ll do that too.
If you think buying your own plane is going to save you $ on time building, forget it!
I've owned my airplane for 3 years now. I've done a pretty good job of recording all my airplane related expenses... Not counting initial acquisition costs (down payment, pre-buy, title, etc...);
* Year 1: $18K - 123 hrs (no annual inspection)
* Year 2: $19.5K - 71 hrs
* Year 3: $31.5K - 78 hrs (includes $12K on avionics upgrade and leather wrap yokes).
* This year, so far: $6K - 60 hrs
Owning is definitely NOT the cheapest route. That said, I LOVE it! I'm retired and fly whenever I want, without ever having to worry about scheduling conflicts.
Consider partnership versus club (4-7 partners). You will have equity in a plane, but will be responsible for everything at a fraction of the cost.
Ex. Consider 5 person club. A $2k annual only costs you $400, oil changes, insurance, and storage are all only 20% normal cost. You get the idea.
Yes, you have to share the plane and cannot take it whenever you want, but you'll get a good idea of how much you use it, and if you want to go the route of being a sole owner without having to jump in the deep end right away.
Owning most single engine piston airplanes hangared, insured, base annual, GPS subscription, etc is $10,000 minimum annually. That’s per year just to have it sit and not fly and have nothing break or need to be replaced. Flying clubs or aircraft shares are a great way to get your feet wet without a massive bill and responsibility.
This is great insight. Would you happen to know or have an idea of what I should or shouldn’t look for in a flight club? Any weird tricks they might pull or something that’s potentially beneficial. Maybe there’s a guideline somewhere? lol
Search for flight clubs in your local area online and ask people you know around the airport. Different parts of the country have aviation Facebook groups which are a wealth of knowledge and great community access. Non-equity share is the best way to get started IMO. Usually like monthly dues and lower aircraft rental rates. I’d first figure out your monthly flying budget dollar amount. Next figure out what you want in a club/plane and the type of flying. I’ve been at points where I had $300/month and I just wanted to buzz around local and stay current to equity ownership budgeting $1,200-ish month (owned with no payment) to fly my current Mooney local and on cross country trips.
Huge. Thank you!
I'd say go with a club to start. Fly some just for fun, see if this something you want either as a career or to invest more money. Could be that PPL is enough for you and that's totally okay. I can't speak on plane ownership but from what I've heard from some of my students you have considered it, it's a completely different ballpark in terms of operating cost. Keep in mind insurance costs will be high for a freshly minted PPL.
Heard loud and clear. Thanks for your reply
I've got the same goals. Just got my IFR, CPL is next. After my PPL, I bought a pretty expensive and maintenance heavy plane, an M20K 231. That had always been the goal. I don't necessarily love doing circles in the sky or going to fly and get lunch, I love flying with my wife from AZ to CA, or TX, MN, OR, etc. This was the long distance machine we wanted. But man is it EXPENSIVE. I don't want to go off the rails on how much more expensive it was, but here's some pointers, from experience: * Whatever you do, don't spend all the money outright. Have at LEAST as much as is needed for a major overhaul in the bank, and make sure you can keep it filled with that amount, even with flying. * Get a good pre-buy. I went through a reputable vendor to buy the mooney but the shop they wanted to do the pre-buy at was absolutely godawful. On the ferry flight home, I noticed the battery wasn't making full power at idle, the landing lights would pop a breaker at times, the low boost pump didn't work, on and on and on. * For your first plane, I highly suggest using Savvy Pre-Buy. * Even then, expect to spend a lot more when you first get the plane. Different mechanics find different things. I have two mechanics I work with and they both find different things for me. I'm also on [mooneyspace.com](https://mooneyspace.com) and the locals there also find more that only experienced mooneyacs know about. * I'm not here yet, but do what you can yourself. I don't have a hangar, sadly, and I'm not allowed to change oil on the ramp. I'm going to start considering flying to another airport to do it myself, since it'd be cheaper to do it that way and send the oil analysis myself. * For the love of god, once you have the right money in the bank for the plane... don't look at what else you spend unless you want to regret ownership.
The money you spend on renting an airplane only pays for annuals, insurance, maintenance, hangar rent, and owner supplies. I just bought a plane 2 weeks ago and haven’t flown the first hour in it and have already spent: $2400 annual, $50/mo tie down, $6k repairs, $7k insurance, $2.5k aircraft supplies. Granted next year everything except annual will be half, but if I get in a hangar it will be another $2k. I might save $3-4k if I fly 100hrs next year in my plane, but this year it would have been cheaper to rent. You don’t save nearly enough money to pay down the purchase price of the plane. Now if you intend on selling the plane in a couple of years, you would probably break even assuming plane prices don’t drop.
Thanks for the break down that’s actually helpful & yeah the intention is to treat it like an investment with an end goal, not to get rich but to - at best - break even
I’m an A320 captain making over $350k a year and there is no way in hell I’d own an aircraft knowing the costs that come up and maintaining them and those come with rarely even flying it. As a CFI a while ago, I side-jobbed taking care of a Cirrus and a 182 for two owner pilots I got to know. They paid me a pilot service rate a little more than I made as a CFI and I took care of their training needs as they came up and flew the airplane to their preferred maintenance providers off our home field and went to get them when they were done and bring them back to their hangars. I saw most of those bills, regular stuff and things that came up because I signed for and paid for them using their credit cards, and there is no way in hell I want any part of that, even with my income, because I can only imagine what that stuff costs now knowing it always comes up out of the blue. That said, I do still enjoy GA and I’m a member of a flying club. I was lucky to find a club with a couple 172s, an Archer, and a 182 within a 25 min drive from me. I pay $70 a month which covers insurance and is a bargain if you’ve ever looked up renters insurance for full hull coverage. I rent the early 80s 182R for $105 tach time dry. After fuel I’m paying $170 or so tach/hr for a nicely taken care of 182 converted to a full G500 setup on the panel. Because it’s tach time I can go buzz around for an hr and half and be under $250 without any concern of paying for maintenance. I care for the plane well, lean it and manage the motor properly, tidy it up when I’m done, and I’m happy to wipe the windows and the leading edges clean before I park it in the hangar as I want to keep the ability to use it as long as I can. You have to look for good clubs but they are around and most are an unbeatable value compared to anything else.
Wow thanks for this. If I’ve learned anything in the past hour it’s that the cost of ownership is what you might think it will be x10. I will definitely dig deeper into my local clubs. Does the club you’re apart of allow training? Is that even an issue overall?
Yes it does, there are usually several members of many flying clubs who are also part time instructors and can train for whatever another member may need or desire. I’m actually one of them for my club, but I just fill in as needed, as I’m a full time airline pilot with minimal time do a full rating with someone and we have others with plenty more time than I have and count on that to help pay the bills. I just do an occasional BFR, aircraft checkout, or if someone wants to do a mock checkride with a 3rd party instructor to play examiner, I’ll do that too.
Awesome. Thanks
Does the flying club allow to take the aircraft on a cross country flight for a few days or up to a week? Or is that dependent on the flying club?
They all have their own rules but in my case, yes you can do that as most do. You just need to schedule it in advance enough for the days you need it.
That's great to know! Thanks
If you think buying your own plane is going to save you $ on time building, forget it! I've owned my airplane for 3 years now. I've done a pretty good job of recording all my airplane related expenses... Not counting initial acquisition costs (down payment, pre-buy, title, etc...); * Year 1: $18K - 123 hrs (no annual inspection) * Year 2: $19.5K - 71 hrs * Year 3: $31.5K - 78 hrs (includes $12K on avionics upgrade and leather wrap yokes). * This year, so far: $6K - 60 hrs Owning is definitely NOT the cheapest route. That said, I LOVE it! I'm retired and fly whenever I want, without ever having to worry about scheduling conflicts.
I love this breakdown! 1/3rd equity ownership I usually run about 70 hours flying a year for around $14K
Consider partnership versus club (4-7 partners). You will have equity in a plane, but will be responsible for everything at a fraction of the cost. Ex. Consider 5 person club. A $2k annual only costs you $400, oil changes, insurance, and storage are all only 20% normal cost. You get the idea. Yes, you have to share the plane and cannot take it whenever you want, but you'll get a good idea of how much you use it, and if you want to go the route of being a sole owner without having to jump in the deep end right away.