Ballpark budget to buy and own an airplane

Keep in mind that I live on the east coast so my numbers tend to be
higher. For reference, I have a PA28-140 which I paid around $30K
for.

Acquisition cost: your numbers look good here. Someone probably
already told you that this is the "cheap" part. Your first annual
reserve looks fine depending on the squawks. A cylinder job at first
annual (it happens) can run around $1000/cylinder.

Fixed costs: these look good as well except for the annual. My first
annual was in the neighborhood of $3K with a lot of little fixes.

Hourly: Assume about 10gph as others have suggested to be on the safe
side. Call your engine reserve a maintenance reserve as that's more
likely what you'll use it for. As others have said, you're probably
more likely to sell the plane before overhaul. Learn to change your
own oil, if you fly a lot this adds up. Even if you don't fly a lot,
it's an easy job and a good way to get comfortable with maintenance.
At least learn to clean, gap, and rotate your plugs. That's about the
easiest do-it-yourself maintenance there is.

Miscellanious: avionics are an oft-desired and expensive upgrade.
Decide now (and be realistic) if you want to make your bird IFR legal.
I spent almost $10K on mine for an IFR GPS and a few other minor
things. And now the bad news: avionics probably only add $0.30 on the
dollar to overall value. Interior and paint upgrades are closer to
even.

best of luck,
mark

TTA Cherokee Driver wrote in message ...
Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane
in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those
who are wiser appreciated:

Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down.

Startup costs:

Down payment: $8,000
Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing)
pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc)
reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need
to have available in case)

Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12):

Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO)
Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator)
Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160
hr VFR pilot)
Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals)

Hourly costs:

Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per)
Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul
will be $15K)
Other reserves: $10