Jack Allison wrote in
:

Good luck in the search Kevin. There's nothing like having your own
(share of a co-owned) plane.

I will second Jack's opinion above. There is no price on the pride of
owning your own airplane.

As far as cost, I *think* the first evaluation would be your flying
habits.

If you fly 100 hours a year, that's a cost of 10K in rental. Just like a
house, would you rather put that money into somebody elses pocket or
would you rather have the 10K shows something tangible?

If you only fly 50 hours a year, then it may not pay to own your own bird
since it would be a diservice to the airplane as it needs to be airborn
to keep parts lubricated and running up to speed (literally and
figuratively).

Your maintenance cost would POTENTIALLY increase due to parts failing
faster from lack of lubrication / usage. (don't ask, been there and done
it on buying an underused plane).

You would probably be spending the 10K a year on something anyway, so why
not on an airplane? And you have something to show for it.

For what it's worth, my CFI says based on his experience (20K hours of
flying) that 125 hours a year is where the break even point is from
owning vs renting a C172.

That figure does vary by type and make of airplane, so a C152, he said
100 hours would be more appropriate depending on the quality of plane you
get.

I fly no less then once a week, unless the plane is down for some major
part repair (engine overhaul) or upgrade (avionic upgrade).

Allen